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By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger
(reposted with permission)

Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), though down one man, finally released their stab at climate legislation this week. One of the most crucial sections in the bill covers off-shore oil drilling, an issue that was supposed to help solve the tricky math of reaching 60 votes. But since the Deepwater Horizon rig sank in the Gulf of Mexico, drilling has become a wedge issue.

Continue Reading The Weekly Mulch from the Media Consortium: Is the American Power Act Doomed?

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Louisiana oil spill - Nasa satellite image, April 29, 2010 By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger
(reposted with permission)

Two disasters flared up this week, one environmental, the other political. Off the coast of Louisiana, oil from a sunken rig is leaking as much as five times faster than scientists originally judged, and the spill reportedly reached land last night. And in Washington, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) jumped from his partnership with Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) just before the scheduled release of the draft of a new Senate climate bill.

Continue Reading The Weekly Mulch from the Media Consortium: That Sinking Feeling – Oil Rigs and Climate Bills

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Republicans: From no to no-showAs promised, Republican members of the Senate Energy and Public works committee failed to show up at the mark-up session for the Kerry-Boxer climate and energy bill convened by chairperson Senator Barbara Boxer, save for a brief appearance by Ohio Senator George Voinovich – who showed up for a brief time to deliver a prepared statement as to why they weren’t showing up. Ostensibly, the Republican’s justify their refusal to participate in the deliberative process (i.e. their jobs) because they claim there is not sufficient cost-analysis on the bill from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Continue Reading Senate Climate Negotiations Falter on Republican Inability to Participate