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The Midmorning Refill: Denying global warming like it's 1999

Today’s Flickr Photo

Climate zombies at a protest in Essex, England. Flickr photo by fotdmike.

If you read one thing today . . .

Is it really possible that all but one of the Republicans running for the U.S. Senate refuses to accept the scientific consensus  that global warming is real and that the root causes are man made? It’s one thing to hear the right-wing fringe call climate change a liberal conspiracy but another thing to realize that one of our two major political parties has completely turned its back on reality. As a New York Times editorial points out the candidates “are not simply rejecting solutions, like putting a price on carbon” but they are denying like it’s 1999 all over again:

A few may genuinely believe global warming is a left-wing plot. Others may be singing the tune of corporate benefactors. And many Republicans have seized on the cap-and-trade climate bill as another way to paint Democrats as out-of-control taxers.

In one way or another, though, all are custodians of a strategy whose guiding principle has been to avoid debate about solutions to climate change by denying its existence — or at least by diminishing its importance. The strategy worked, destroying hopes for Congressional action while further confusing ordinary citizens for whom global warming was already a remote and complex matter. It was also remarkably heavy-handed.

Overheard:

Texas Rep. Pete Sessions has choice words about what he calls a trillion-dollar boondoggle, otherwise known as the stimulus package. How deep does his conviction against government give-aways run? Not so deep. The Washington Post reports that after the GOP furor over the stimulus settled down, Sessions worked behind the scenes to grab some of that dough for his constituents.

“What I have not done is allow my strong, principled objection to the bill to prevent me from asking federal agencies for their full consideration of critical infrastructure and competitive grant projects for North Texas when asked to do so by my constituents,” [Sessions] said.