Since Congress has been too spineless to require automakers to make more efficient cars in light of global warming, and President Bush has been focused on requiring them to make Hummers that can fly (“I think they should call ‘em Hummercrafts… That sounds real good… I’d drive one of those…”), the states have stepped in to enact higher emissions standards. California is leading the pack, proposing to mandate carbon dioxide reductions, with ten other states eager to follow suit.
Before California's standards can go into effect, the state needs a waiver from the US Environmental Protection Agency… To support the request from California and the 10 states, 21 senators recently sent a letter to the EPA's head, Stephen L. Johnson, arguing that the tougher standards are necessary and feasible.
The twenty-one senators included most of the ones representing the eleven states, and all of the Democrats except two – John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. The Boston Globe called out Kerry and Clinton:
It is not a good sign for Democratic leadership on the issue of climate change that two of its leading potential presidential candidates in 2008 do not have their John Hancocks on the letter, and the leading potential Republican candidate [McCain] does.
Kerry’s explanation was that he favors nationwide regulation as opposed to state-by-state rules. Whether or not you agree with the “all or nothing” mentality, it’s interesting to see such a stubborn stand from a member of the current Democratic leadership, which is famous for shifting the left so far right it looks more like a doughy, uncertain middle. Kerry also stated that while he may run again on the Democratic ticket in 2008, he’ll be voting for Ralph Nader.
Senator Clinton, who recently made headlines with her oddly inflammatory remarks commemorating MLK Day by comparing leadership in the House of Representatives to plantation owners (“…And you know what I’m talking about,” she concluded pointedly, nudging the all-black audience with her elbow), offered less explanation for her actions.
When asked why she didn’t sign the letter, she said that she didn’t have a pen on her. When reporters suggested that there was probably a pen next to the letter, she changed the subject to her upcoming speech celebrating Earth Day, in which she’ll compare leadership in the House of Representatives to a Vogon construction fleet. “And you friggin’ geeks know what I’m talking about,” she plans to assert gravely.