by Brad Johnson
Cross-posted from the Wonk Room.
As Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) work to craft comprehensive climate legislation that can overcome a fossil-fueled filibuster, swing vote Sen. Lisa
Murkowski (R-Alaska) is trying to dig the carbon hole deeper. Before
climate policy had a chance of becoming reality, Murkowski claimed to recognize that global warming from fossil fuels is destroying Alaska. Now, she has continued down that path by
demanding that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is “one of the must-haves”:
I’m still saying ANWR is one of the must-haves.
You want to have me sit down at the table and talk about what a strong
domestic production piece is, you have to be willing to talk to me
about ANWR. Pretty simple.
Murkowski is increasingly sounding like an oil industry lobbyist, leading the effort to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing the Clean
Air Act with respect to greenhouse pollution. Murkowski’s Dirty Air Act resolution is a blatant rejection of science and safety on behalf of
her fossil industry contributors. This week, she praised Sen. Jay
Rockefeller’s (D-W.Va.) two-year Clean Air Act moratorium, saying she is “hopeful that this bill will draw additional support and advance quickly.”
Only in the United States Senate could you find someone demand that
a climate bill involve drilling in one of the last pristine places on
earth. Murkowski is working to unleash the only two imminent threats to
the remote and unique Arctic Refuge—global warming and oil drilling. Murkowski, it seems, is willing to destroy her state in order to save it.
Related Links:
Murkowski to Senate: Drill the Arctic or my state gets it!
Stupid things senators are saying about the Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman proposal
Stop the Attacks on the Clean Air Act
