Lisa Murkowski And The GOP Thwarted In Their Attempt To Gut The Clean Air Act

Lisa Murkowski's attempt to gut the Clean Air Act yesterday failed 47-53. But she was outraged-- just outraged-- that anyone would attribute-- the way we did-- her attempt to the gigantic amounts of bribes she (and her father) have accepted from Big Oil. Afterall, it was all about Big Carpets. And a pizzeria in Ohio.

Joining every single Republican-- including self-proclaimed "moderates" Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Scott Brown-- were half a dozen Democrats who always seem to feel their constituents are corporate lobbyists: Blanche Lincoln (who slimy insider Bob Menendez celebrated yesterday as an "independent" voice, but who is always a champion of whatever anyone pays her to champion), Mark Pryor, Evan Bayh, Mary Landrieu (see Blanche Lincoln), Ben Nelson, and Jay Rockefeller.

A Democratic champion of clean air and a steadfast pollution opponent-- both of the industrial and the K Street kind-- is Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold. After voting against Murkowski's toxic amendment he made a statement to voters in his state:

“Climate change is real and we need to address it. By blocking action on climate change, the Murkowski resolution would have stalled our march toward energy independence through more efficient vehicles, alternative fuels and renewable energy, all of which can spur new American jobs. And as we continue to grapple with the crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, we need to move away from dependence on oil. Instead of giving the oil industry a gift by passing the Murkowski resolution, we need to end the cozy relationship between big oil and the federal government.”

As yesterday's NY Times pointed out, "Democratic opponents of the Murkowski proposal said its backers were protecting oil companies and other industrial interests at the expense of public welfare and were ignoring science that substantiated the hazards of greenhouse gas emissions. They said Ms. Murkowski and her allies wanted to prevent the E.P.A. from taking action while simultaneously stalling Congressional action, essentially protecting the status quo."

"This is about delay in changes in our energy policy,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, who said many of Ms. Murkowski’s allies “want nothing to do with comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. What they want is the E.P.A. to go away.”

I wonder if people like Lisa Murkowski-- or any of the Beltway hacks-- ever watch shows like Rachel Maddow's. Doubtful...



UPDATE: Grassley vs Roxanne Conlin

As usual, Grassley just marched along with the rest of the GOP lemmings in denying climate change. We reached Roxanne Conlin, the progressive Democrat running for the Senate seat Grassley's been occupying since just before the War of 1812. Basically I asked her what I'm asking everyone, something to the effect of are these Republicans just insane or do they hate their own children (and humanity)? She told us Grassley's vote to stop the EPA from trying to prevent climate change was troubling. "The vote," she said "shows us that he is a career politician who cares only about his next election and not the next generation. He obeyed the Republican party and the wishes of his contributors; Halliburton, oil companies, and Wall Street. We owe our children and grandchildren a livable planet. Today he said no to cleaner air. I'm glad this amendment was sounded defeatedly by senators who care about the next generation."