Pelosi Wants Climate Change Bill In 6 Months, With Or Without GOP

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wants climate change legislation moved from draft to passage within the next six months -- with or without Republican support, she said on a conference call with environmental bloggers Tuesday.

"We would hope to have Republican votes as we go forward on this," Pelosi said. "Will I not put it forth unless I do? No. No. There's an inevitability to this that everyone has to understand."

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), co-author of draft legislation released today, said that he has been working with the House GOP and hopes to have "many Republicans" on board. He and Pelosi noted that dozens in the GOP had backed energy legislation two years ago, to the surprise of some.

But if they're not on board, Pelosi said, she's leaving without them. "I always say to members, there are two ways to look at this: either we're a convoy and we go as slow as the slowest ship and we [don't get] the bold legislation we want, or we are a bandwagon that is leaving the station and we hope that everybody's going to be on board, but we are leaving the station."

Pelosi highlighted the dramatic shift in the politics of climate change, noting that within recent years the president was still denying that human behavior had anything to do with it.

"It's still inconceivable to some," she said of the pending legislation. "And we want to shorten the distance between the inconceivable and the inevitable and we want to shorten that distance to no longer than six months."

Comments

[prosha]

There's just no credibility with these folks. Flies a big honking plane across the country all the time. Got to be close to her district, like she spends much time on that. Stay in Washington, stop driving SUV's everywhere, then maybe you can reason with the rest of us. Put some of that plastic surgery money into buying a tree or two, it's not doing much for your looks.

[Top 411]

The case for man-made CO2 driven global warming is quickly falling apart. And yet the alarmists want to cripple the economy even further, and put the financial burden on the poorest among us by taxing everything that involves energy, which is pretty much everything. If you are measured and taxed by your carbon footprint, then you are being taxed for simply ‘being alive’. It`s all about money, political power and control. Why should we devote our scarce resources to what is a non-problem, and ignore the real problems like unemployment, poverty, hunger, disease, real pollution, not to mention the threats of terrorism and nuclear wars. And are we really prepared to deal with natural disasters and pandemics. Millions of people on Earth living without electricity, now that is a problem. Yet politicians and the elitists would prefer to squander our limited resources on fashionable theories and political agendas, rather than concentrate on the real problems. Just consider the ridiculous predictions emanating from supposedly world figures, the chief scientist of Great Britain tells us that unless we insulate our houses and use more efficient light bulbs, the Antarctic will be the only habitable continent by 2100, with a few surviving breeding couples propagating the human race. Seriously, how can anyone believe this ridiculous nonsense. How did we ever get to this point where junk science and extremists are driving big government to punish it`s citizens for simply living life, that energy provides for us.

[CrittersRTasty]

Nice picture!!
Is it just me or does she look more and more like The Crypt Keeper?

[arealamerican68]

The whole "global warming" thing is a hoax for her to spend more money. Just like Al Gore. I am sick of hearing about it. It is a lie. It has been proven to be a lie. The media and liberals use the lie to push for stupid agendas like "green" cars. Kinda funny they still have to use fossil fuel in one way or another. How hypocritical.

[theone718]

Woah so Climate change and health care should be at the forefront before the end of October. This is VERY exciting.

[4Q-N4Q2]

Hey Granny!
Looks like the inevitable effects of age (and probably early stage Alzheimer's) are creeping up on your ability to reason. Check yourself into a full-service nursing home and please just go away.

[orangepetal]

I don't know too much about politician's in Washingtons electric bills, but I have a feeling Floridians will NOT be happy with significantly higher electric bills. It is too expensive already.

[UbiVeritas]

Fantastic. Pass the new expensive useless legislation and lose control of Congress in 2 years. Thanks Nancy, you're a strategic genius.

[traveler501]

Did I miss something? What is the content of the bill?? Surely that has some relevence along with all the exciting "play by play" action.

[taazie]

"within recent years the president was still denying that human behavior had anything to do with it." That doesn't make it ok to work on a bill which won't deliver any change and has weak targets. The offsets provisions and the weak targets in the draft will allow polluters to keep on polluting unhindered without generating the revenue needed to invest in alternatives.

[stell]

She has a 60% unfavorable rating according to Rasmussen reports

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_favorablility_ratings/congressional_favorability_ratings

That explains this latest the courting of illegal immigrants in church and pacifying her base with regard to climate change.

[FernandoRuiz]

The news for Boehner and McConnell isn't much better. Boehner has a sixty percent unfavorable rating as well, and McConnell has almost 50 % unfavorable. I guess that explains the writing of a budget that has no numbers while criticizing the President's, and the advocacy of disastrous policies like lowering the top marginal tax rate ten percent which would sky rocket the deficit even more.

[YankinCanada]

are those church immigrants heavy polluters?