Inside The Senate's Battle Over Climate Change

Ryan Lizza's recent article in the New Yorker provides an inside perspective on the recent attempt by Senators John Kerry (D), Lindsey Graham (R), and Joseph Lieberman (I) to push a clean-energy bill through the senate. While I will not try to summarize this lengthy article, I will say that it offers an unprecedented look at the forces that are helping to perpetuate our current political gridlock.

I think the most troubling aspect of this story is highlighted by the Obama administration's unwillingness to throw their full support behind the bill. An Obama advisor's rationale for this- "The horse has been ridden hard this year and just wants to go back to the barn." Our current political system can barely address issues back-to-back, let alone simultaneously. This climate change bill would have begun a process to significantly reduce America's GHG emissions while also spurring American innovation in various alternative energies. How much longer will we continue to push this issue to the back burner?



P.S. If you want a quick summary of Lizza's piece, check out Tom Friedman's Op-Ed in the New York Times.