Republicans Seek to Stall Senate Climate Bill
After a week of hearings convened by the Environment and Public Works committee chair, Senator Barbara Boxer, it appears that the Boxer-Kerry bill is facing some obstacles.
Republican Climate Change Skeptic, Senator James Inhofe
Yesterday it was reported by Reuters that all of the Republicans on the committee will boycott Tuesday’s scheduled meeting to mark up the bill in anticipation for a full committee vote. This effectively stalls committee work since at least two of the committee’s seven Republicans have to show up for a mark up to commence. Boxer could pursue other avenues to bring the bill to the floor.
Republicans are demanding that the EPA conduct a full cost analysis of the bill before moving forward in spite of EPA Lisa Jackson’s release of a preliminary analysis [.pdf] last week that contends the economic impact of the bill will be negligible.
Republican obstructionism is compounded with lack of Democratic unity on the bill as it stands now, making the promise of swift passage of Congressional climate legislation slim.
