NYT article on Kerry on climate change

[karynnj]

Interesting for some of the comments by other Senators. This is a real background type article which confuses me to some degree. It speaks of Kerry's near win of the Presidency and how that prepared him to some extend to understand other parts of the country. Landrieu has a weird quote complaining that, like the House, it is CA and MA again - but says Kerry is a very respected voice.

Carper has a beautiful comment:
It's helpful to have someone whose heart is in this, whose mind is in this, on our side," added Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.).

One surprisingly nice comment was from Murkowski - maybe Kerry's efforts for collegiality on the SFRC are working.

It's not just the United States, and what policy we put in place," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "So much hinges on the cooperation, the collaboration we have of other nations. I think Senator Kerry can lend certainly his experience and his leadership on foreign relations to that effort."

The author, maybe concerned their was too much praise content, really attacks Senator Boxer.

What seems really clear is that this will not be a bill the purist will like - but a bill they would like couldn't pass. It will be incredible if they get a bill passed this year, though I wonder if healthcare mising its dates, means they will be pushed back too.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/07/28/28climatewire-former-democratic-standard-bearer-takes-glob-40866.html?pagewanted=2

[Blaukraut]

1. Nice article!

It must be extremely frustrating for JK and Barbara Boxer to try to build consensus. Everyone of their colleagues seems to first and foremost worry about their own backyard. That's all well and good, but these folks must realize that climate change is not local.
As to Landrieu's comments. She is an idiot. If it weren't for liberal Democrats from CA, MA, NY, NJ, etc, who would pioneer such issues and create bills? The Landrieus and Nelsons of this world? I think not.
I've really had enough of her and her ilk to last me more than a lifetime.

[TayTay]

2. I think that article foreshadows how the debate will go

From the article:

But Kerry lost to then-President George W. Bush in many of the states with senators needed to pass a climate bill in 2009, from the Dakotas to Montana, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri. And there are also questions about his pairing with one of the party's biggest lightning rods, Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), especially following this summer's controversial House debate, which also featured lawmakers from Massachusetts and California.

"I don't think he plays as well in Montana as he does in Massachusetts," said Andrew Wheeler, a former top aide to Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.). "What he doesn't want to do is become the story in those swing states."

We learn several things from that. The conservatives/Republicans will use a class based argument and will also try to tie the argument against energy/climate change legislation to personalities. They already have a plan to defeat the cap-and-trade bill using known fault lines in the Democratic coalition.

Sen. Landreiu is not wrong to say that we need more faces in this debate outside of the two coasts. That does not disparage or discount the work done by Boxer or Kerry, it says we need more voices. Sen. Kerry seems to have that uppermost in his mind as well.

Republicans will woo minority voters to their side by citing price concerns. Their argument will be that the coastal elites, who don't have to care as much what it costs for gasoline or heating/cooling needs, are going to raise prices for their snooty "climate change" stuff. This has been an effective strategy and has prevented legislation from going forward in several states. We are well-warned that this is what is coming and how the opposition will frame the argument. That argument will merge voters from the "tea bag" movement from this spring with concerned low-income voters who have tended to vote Dem. The Repubs figure if they can undermine minority support the Dems have and cut it away and deploy the anti "tax and spenders" in their base, then they win and the energy/climate bill will not pass and cap-and-trade will die for this session of Congress. They may well be right.

[beachmom]

3. Perhaps Van Jones can help out on some of those Republican attacks.

[TayTay]

4. I hope so. And we need other voices as well

When it becomes doing the right thing versus the pocketbook, the pocketbook concern wins nearly every time.

Of course, the Repubs lie when they frame this because the economics favor low-income people on this. We need good people like Van Jones to lead on this.