Frigid Legislative Climate Freezing Out Global Warming Bill

Democrats have a huge majority in the House and a veto-proof majority in the Senate and still are seeing major legislation tied up by a concerted effort by right-thinking Americans and the GOP elected officials riding our coat tails.

Because of this confluence of events, Cap and Trade is dying a slow death:

With the fight over health care reform absorbing all the bandwidth on Capitol Hill, Democrats fear a major climate change bill may be left on the cutting-room floor this year.

A handful of key senators on climate change are almost guaranteed to be tied up well into the fall on health care. Democrats from the Midwest and the South are resistant to a cap-and-trade proposal. And few if any Republicans are jumping in to help push a global warming and energy initiative.

As a result, many Democrats fear the lack of political will and the congressional calendar will conspire to punt climate change into next year.

“The reality is [the health reform bill] is going to happen before cap and trade,” said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Collin Peterson, who’s been working with farm-state senators on the climate legislation. “Who knows if it will ever come out of the Senate?”

That last sentence is a thing of absolute beauty. If we can keep any global warming legislation out of the Senate it would be the single-best thing accomplished this year short of stopping health care.