Earth Equity News

More Talking Than Listening in the Senate Debate About Climate Change. By David M. Herszenhorn, NYTimes, June 5, 2008. "Even for the Senate, where members are well-known to prefer talking to listening, the amount of unilateral jabbering on the climate bill has been remarkable, with lawmakers both for and against... arguing repeatedly over how much time was allotted for them to speak... To help give everybody time... the senators on Tuesday proposed delaying the weekly party lunches by 10 minutes. The majority leader, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), said that was all right, but... urged [them] to be back in time for their official portrait... The Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has expressed glee that the Democrats chose to bring up the climate bill... at a time when Americans were already furious at the high cost of gasoline... It was Mr. McConnell who insisted that the entire bill be read aloud (as punishment, he said, for Mr. Reid's breaking a deal on judicial nominees)... [and] in response... Mr. Reid requested a late-night quorum call, summoning senators back to the Capitol as Washington was being hit by scattered thunderstorms... 'This bill is going down in flames, as it should,' [said Tennessee Republican Bob] Corker. 'And we'll have a real debate about this next year.'"