Warner-Lieberman: Tough Enough?
By: TheGreenMiles
Published On: 10/18/2007 9:49:52 AM
Today Sen. John Warner (R-VA) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) are unveiling their long-awaited America's Climate Security Act. The bill is stronger than the outline introduced this summer, strengthening short-term targets, but the final goal of reducing carbon emissions roughly 70% by 2050 is still short of the 80% by 2050 that scientists say is needed to curb the worst effects of global warming.
So is it tough enough? Reaction from environmental groups is mixed. While Environmental Defense and the National Wildlife Federation are fans of the bill, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Union of Concerned Scientists feel it could use further strengthening, and the Sierra Club thinks it's just plain too weak to be worth supporting. They'll likely back the Boxer-Sanders bill already introduced in the Senate.
What do you think? Should we support Warner-Lieberman because it could draw support from less-extreme Senators like Norm Coleman and Elizabeth Dole and at least start us on the path of cutting emissions? Or since President Bush will likely veto any tough cap-and-trade legislation anyway, should we hold out for a Democratic president to sign Boxer-Sanders in 2009?
Comments
Zero credibility with me... (The Grey Havens - 10/18/2007 9:52:53 AM)
Been burned by these two bozos one too many times for me to have faith in anything either of them ever says or does.
Agree 100% (PM - 10/18/2007 12:16:59 PM)
Both of them are highly suspect insofar as anything they say they stand for.
agree (S. Becker - 10/18/2007 1:02:52 PM)
Deomcrats have the majority, so we shouldn't have to place the fate of our world in the hands of two Republicans.
I think it ought to be passed (legacyofmarshall - 10/18/2007 1:46:06 PM)
I'm currently watching Lieberman's counterpart on the far-left end of the party (Bernie Sanders) talk about how we need stricter laws, and I agree with most everything he's saying, but I've had enough of NO ACTION on climate change. We need this bill. After 2008 we'll have a much larger majority in the senate (including dropping Coleman and Dole with all luck), and we might even control the White House, we can pass something stricter then. For now, let's do something!
A REAL Democrat should pen a bill (relawson - 10/18/2007 3:29:14 PM)
It's really a waste of time. Wait until 2009. I doubt anything they draft will have teeth anyways.
Agree with the other replies here... (KathyinBlacksburg - 10/18/2007 4:39:13 PM)
Why would we trust Joe Lieberman, the "independent" who defected after promising he wouldn't, and John Warner, who never found an issue to actually hold firm on when pretending to disagree with the prez? At this point I will never support anything Joe Lieberman authors. By definition, any such bill is suspect.