New GOP Climate Change Strategy: Ignore It Altogether

In the past, the climate strategy of Congressional Republicans has been to crow about "sound science" and bitch & moan when hearings don't include spokesmen for polluter front groups. But now they've got a new scheme: Refuse to talk about climate science at all. 

For the 15th time this Congress, House Energy & Commerce Committee Republicans have rejected Democratic efforts to hold a hearing on global warming. That's despite the wildfires raging in the West, drought killing crops in the Midwest, and intense storms knocking out power to millions in the Mid-Atlantic.

Instead of trying to win debates on what to do about things like global warming-fueled extreme weather and sea level rise, Republican leaders are now just pretending the problems don't exist. I'm sure the grandkids will be proud.

Virginia Republicans Flunk Latest Congressional Conservation Scorecard

The latest Congressional scorecard from the League of Conservation Voters flunks every single Virginia Republican, including House members like Scott Rigell, Rob Wittman and Frank Wolf who'll be trying to sell themselves as moderate in November. Committed opponents of clean air & water, public health, and wildlife like Eric Cantor, Randy Forbes, Bob Goodlatte, Morgan Griffith and Robert Hurt all scored in the teens. Meanwhile, Virginia House Democrats Gerry Connolly, Jim Moran and Bobby Scott all scored 100%.

What drew the LCV's ire? Every single Republican voted for the House Republican budget resolution to gut the Clean Air Act & Clean Water Act, to protect billions in tax giveaways for oil corporations that banked $137 billion in profits in 2011, and to weaken offshore drilling safety rules even as they pushed to bring oil drilling to the Virginia coast. 

On the Senate side, both Sen. Mark Warner and Jim Webb scored 100%, though given that both support oil drilling off Virginia's shores and Webb has opposed clean air regulations, neither is perfect on conservation.

Here's the Virginia House scorecard:

The GOP is Counting on You To Blame Gridlock on "Congress"

Republicans know how easy jokes about Congress are to make. It's even less popular than lawyers! Plus, Republicans know jokes about "Congress" go over better in mixed company - no better way to turn half a crowd against you than by pointing out that Congressional Republicans are obstructionist, am I right, Mark Warner?

That's why roadblock Republicanism works so well - the GOP can create gridlock, count on the media to falsely blame "both sides", then watch anger at "Washington" & "Congress" fuel its destructive, cynical political agenda (current top item: holding America's economy hostage in hopes of defeating President Obama in 2012).

The whole Republican brand is built around hatred for government. Not desire to improve it - desire to destroy it. As longtime GOP Congressional staffer Mike Lofgren said:

A couple of years ago, a Republican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this obstruction and disruption. Should Republicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would further lower Congress’s generic favorability rating among the American people. By sabotaging the reputation of an institution of government, the party that is programmatically against government would come out the relative winner…. Undermining Americans’ belief in their own institutions of self-government remains a prime GOP electoral strategy.

And look how well it's working - approval ratings for Congress sit around 12%, while Republicans are at 41% on the generic Congressional ballot.

Congressional Republicans are like The Emperor in Return of the Jedi. Hatred only makes them grow stronger.

Remember, Luke didn't do anything to destroy the second Death Star except keep The Emperor & Darth Vader occupied. It was the people he'd organized with who took down the shield generator & destroyed the main reactor.

Green Groups Giving Up Carrying The Torch For Carbon Pollution Limits?

In yesterday's post on how we need a climate bill not just individual action on Earth Day, I wanted to include a link to email your member of Congress to ask them to pass clean energy & climate legislation.

So I checked the website of the Sierra Club ... then Repower America ... then NRDC ... then the National Wildlife Federation ... then Greenpeace ... then Friends of the Earth ... and there could have been more ... before I finally found a climate bill action alert at the Environmental Defense Fund. I'm not saying there are definitely no climate bill email links at those groups' sites, but I couldn't find them with a few clicks & quick scanning.

If national conservation organizations aren't going to keep talking about limiting carbon pollution, who will?

I understand House Republicans aren't going to do much of anything that's positive on energy or environmental issues at all this year, never mind try to solve our biggest problems. When it comes to protecting public health & wildlife, we're playing defense this year, beating back attacks on the Clean Air Act & Clean Water Act. And after years of rallying around a climate bill, I can understand mixing in some other issues as well to keep people's eyes from going crossed.

But what I don't understand is the conservation groups' continued focus on compromises like renewable energy standards. If we're in a political climate in which nothing is achievable, why focus on the achievable? If you're going into a negotiation and you know the other person's going to say no, why water down your ask? Why not ask for what you really want?

The next milepost in this debate is January 2013. The House can only get more friendly to tackling the climate crisis, the Senate has about a 50/50 chance of staying where it is or getting friendlier, and President Obama is a good bet for reelection against a weak GOP field.

Now is the time to push the reset button and set the goal for the debate after the 2012 election (there can be plenty of watering down after that). Where do conservation groups want the carbon pollution debate to start? A carbon tax? Cap and trade? Cap and dividend? In a dreary time, let's dream big.

Climate Security Act Vote This Morning

Watching the Climate Security Act cloture vote in the Senate right now on CSPAN2. An aye is to move forward with debating and amending the bill. A no is a vote to get behind the Roadblock Republican filibuster against climate action. I'll let you know what happens!

UPDATE 9:33am: Cloture vote fails 48-36 (need 60 to break Republican filibuster). An additional six senators entered statements into the record that they couldn't make the vote but would've voted to move forward with the bill, bringing the total to 54 senators in support. 54-36 is nearly a reversal of the 38-60 vote in June 2005 on the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act, a much weaker bill. Amazing how far the Senate has shifted in just three years!

UPDATE 9:47am: Only four Democrats voted against moving forward -- Sherrod Brown (OH), Byron Dorgan (ND), Tim Johnson (SD) and Mary Landrieu (LA). After some questions about his position, Sen. Webb voted to end the filibuster. Thanks to all the Virginians who urged Sen. Webb to vote the right way!

UPDATE 10:28am: Here's the full roll call vote.

Two Critical Votes on Capitol Hill This Week

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today has taken up the Climate Security Act, sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. John Warner (R-VA). While the mark-up could take days, early indications are it will pass and head to the full Senate for a vote as soon as February. There it will face a filibuster from Republicans. It's uncertain if there will be the 60 votes needed to override that veto, but it should be a good test to see if senators like Lamar Alexander, Lindsay Graham, and Gordon Smith are more loyal to their party or their planet.

Over on the House side, it looks like there's finally movement on the long-stalled energy bill. Somehow, it looks like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will manage to shepherd through legislation with both stronger corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards and a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of 15%. In other words, we can look forward to more fuel-efficient cars in our driveway and cleaner energy powering our homes. As Grist puts it, Nancy Pelosi is kicking ass!

Want to make sure your representative votes for a strong energy bill? Email your representative right now!