I read with mixed feelings the news that the Senate had decided not to "nuke' itself by enacting the completely reasonable position that a president should have the right to pick his own cabinet free from partisan interference or the general craziness we've come to call "Congress".
Why? Because I think the Senate is broken—truly broken—and no amount of reasonable people getting confirmed will change that.
What was decided this week was essentially to change nothing—any senator can still filibuster anything at any time, including an executive branch nominee. Now, alot of my friends in the blogosphere are feeling pretty good—and even conventional media are calling this a win for Senate Democrats—because they broke the filibuster of McCarthy just by threatening to change the rules. "The spell is broken" goes the logic from Kos and others "now the Senate will be a lot less likely to filibuster anybody in the future (at least nominees) because they know the Democrats will be willing to bust out this rules change again."
But I, for one, am not as convinced that this fragile peace will hold. As I write this climate denier Sen. James Inhofe, who famously called climate science the greatest hoax ever perpetuated on the American public, is standing on the floor of the Senate telling his colleagues that the only vote that matters is a vote to block McCarthy's nomination from even being considered.
And even though I think McCarthy will be confirmed today or tomorrow after only another 8 hours of debate (a small extra price to pay after over 150 days of waiting through filibusters, secret holds and absurd objections) Inhoffe and his handful of allies are going to go on filibustering anything to do with climate change.
Who would want to keep giving the most profitable polluters on the planet - including ExxonMobil and BP - $4 billion dollars a year in taxpayer money? About 40 Senators would and they've filibustered every vote to end those subsidies.
What is so special about the Keystone Xl oil pipeline and the tar sands that legislation endorsing it (which has absolutely no effect, by the way) gets added to every Senate bill having to do with energy policy? Because 41 Senators make it their mission to shout drill baby drill anytime the topic comes up and there's nothing you, me or common sense can do to stop them under current rules.
And why can't the Senate at least consider legislation like the bills introduced by members like Senators Whitehouse and Sanders to regulate global warming pollution like we do acid rain, or other environmental hazards? Because 41 Senators say no and the bills care doomed to never see the light of day.
Look, I'm excited to see McCarthy confirmed, don't get me wrong. But as long a a minority of fossil-funded members are able to obstruct all conversation on the most important issues facing the planet, it's going to be a lot harder to solve this problem.
In the short term, it means we're going to have to ask a lot more of McCarthy and other members of the Executive branch - because they're literally the only people in government who can talk sensibly about solutions to climate change. And in the long term, we've got to do a lot more to hold climate deniers in Congress and in the media accountable for their outrageous statements.
That's the unfortunate legacy of this week's anti-nuclear decision. We may have won the battle, but the war continues to be fought on an uneven playing field dominated by the tinfoil hat wearing team.
Drew Hudson
Director | Environmental Action
Cross posted from http://www.environmental-action.org/...