Reply #4: Well, Mass, I actually think in this case that the problem is less about

[beachmom]

the Senate and more with the American people. Global climate change simply is not a priority for a lot of Americans, even liberals. For example, I have joined a couple of e-mail lists where people can e-mail a DailyKos diary they have written about the environment. Why are lists so important? Because global climate change and the environment has a lot of trouble making the rec list as other issues are deemed "sexier" like health care, torture, civil liberties, anti-GOP diaries, positive Obama diaries, bitching about Obama diaries, etc. If a liberal hub like DailyKos can't get itself to focus on climate change, then that is a microcosm of what is wrong in this country with respect to the environment. The problem is for most folks (except Alaskans), they can't see, feel, touch, or smell this problem. Instead, they have to rely on scientists who are experts in this field. And with all the right wing propaganda in knocking down the science plus Americans not having great science education, only 50% of the American people even agree that the theory of global climate change is true.

In the meantime, we have a horrible economy where people are losing their jobs and can't find new ones. And now they are hearing that there is a bill that combats something they can't see is going to RAISE their energy bills? In my state of Georgia, your average person doesn't care about this issue, except that they don't want their bills to go higher. Now there is a lot of spin back and forth going on; what I do know is that my German relatives' energy bills did go up in part due to cap and trade. So then one has to craft a bill that will take some of that pain away, but it will be difficult to explain to constituents. Cantwell & Snowe have introduced a bill that will help consumers; I hope their ideas are listened to as well.

I think there is a debate going on amongst liberals: liberal purists vs. liberal pragmatists. I am in the latter group. So I guess I am probably part of the group that you are not happy with. But living in a red state and living amongst almost exclusively Republicans gives me a different perspective. Thing is, as much as you dislike the framework bill Kerry crafted with Lieberman & Graham, we could also end up with only a Webb bill, which completely blows off cap & trade altogether in favor of giveaways to various industries. I think you need the carrot AND the stick, and at least in the K/L/G bill, the stick, although weakened, is still there. And I do think it being sold as an energy independence/jobs bill IS a winning frame for the bill. Here is my illustration from my state:

http://www.ajc.com/business/jobless-claims-high-and-237...

Jobless claims high and state fund nearly dry

Nearly as many Georgians filed new jobless claims last month as in November a year ago – a grim sign that the job market continues to deteriorate badly.

Nearly 73,000 laid-off workers placed initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits, the state Labor Department reported Thursday. That is a decrease of just 2.9 percent from the same month last year in the aftermath of the financial meltdown that sent the economy diving.

More than 1 million people – more than 20 percent of the state’s work force -- have filed for jobless benefits since recession started in late 2007, said state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.

“It is astounding,” he said. “That is why I think the crisis is worse even than it first appears.”

The recent filings not only signal a miserable job market, but they also force the state’s benefits system close to the edge.

In two years, the state has paid roughly $2.6 billion to laid-off Georgians. That flood of checks has left the state’s trust fund nearly dry. In the next week, Thurmond will likely ask the federal government for a loan so the state can keep paying its share of the benefits.

Now on the same day of this horrible news, there is this article:

http://www.ajc.com/business/for-norcross-based-company-...

For Norcross-based company, solar energy production is hot

Solar-cell maker Suniva recently finished the first stage of a possible half-billion dollar deal with an Indian energy company.

The Norcross-based company is helping a North Carolina firm build a “solar farm” outside Asheville. It also plans to construct a $250 million manufacturing plant in Michigan.

But the real payoff for the still young, high-tech start-up may come from Washington.

President Obama promises $150 billion in alternative-energy spending – money for solar, wind, ethanol and other renewable energies -- over the next decade.

“We’ve seen a good deal of progress in the last 11 months or so, but more can be done,” Bryan Ashley, chief marketing officer for Suniva, said Thursday. “Still, things are heating up quite a bit.”

Obama travels to Copenhagen next week for the United Nations climate change summit where calls to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants, automobiles and other sources could lead to a greater emphasis on renewable energy – and profits for Suniva.

The solar power industry notched 16 percent growth last year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a Washington-based nonprofit. Jobs created by photovoltaic solar cell manufacturers, like Suniva, jumped 81 percent from the previous year.

Ashley said Suniva will increase its Georgia workforce next year by 50 percent. Today it employs 130 people at its clean, un-factory-like factory in Norcross.

Connecting the climate change bill to creating jobs is the best way to get it passed. And it is possible that if the system is put into place, the rush to alternative energy (and away from carbon producing fuels) will go faster than expected. I am less worried about the offshore drilling provisions because I think in reality they will go nowhere. They tend to turn into local issues, and get slowed down if not stopped.