Democrats Are Trying to Save Climate Policy From the Senate
Why has the United States done so little politically to combat climate change?
Blame the Senate. For the past quarter century, the world’s greatest deliberative body has killed virtually any bill that would ensure the continued habitability of the world. Through its slow process, excessive use of the filibuster, and scheme of allotting votes without regard to a state’s population, the Senate has smothered even the meekest climate policies that arrive on its floor.
Among its victims are the expired climate goals of Democratic presidents since Jimmy Carter. Bill Clinton’s energy bill, in 1993, and Barack Obama’s major climate bill, in 2009, passed the House of Representatives before perishing in the Senate. Even the a single word that would have required the Senate to approve the whole document.
