Republican Sen. Bob Corker for the Environment?

A lot of people, including us, have been talking about the Lieberman-Warner bill that passed through the Senate last week. The bill aimed to cap greenhouse emissions starting in 2012, requiring electric utilities, refineries, industrial and transportation sectors to make some big changes in how they operate. As expected, the bill didn’t make it through – but what really has people scratching their heads is that it featured some surprising amendments tacked on by Republican Senator Bob Corker (Tenn.).

Grist sums up the amendments:

One would boost the percentage of permits auctioned and return all revenue to citizens; the other would eliminate international offsets as a means of compliance.

Some people think that this was a sign that the issue of global warming is finally starting to transcend partisan boundaries; others are highly skeptical that Corker’s motivations are sincere. Some called the amendments ‘poison pills’, intentional attempts to derail the bill to prevent it from passing, and Sen. Corker all but confirmed that last week when he stated,

“This bill is not going to become law,” Mr. Corker said. “It has no chance, none.”

Sen. Corker’s and other Republican lawmakers’ issues with the bill are explained by The New York Times:

One of the major points of contention arises from the bill’s treatment of goods from developing countries that are among the world’s biggest carbon emitters, including China, India, Brazil and Mexico.

The measure directs the president to negotiate agreements with those countries to ensure they are imposing binding limits on carbon emissions on their own industries. If they fail to do so, the United States will impose unspecified tariffs on carbon-intensive products like steel, paper, concrete and glass from those countries. The provision was included at the behest of labor unions and American companies in those industries who would not support the bill without such a cost equalizer.

Senator Corker’s amendments, though intentionally added to prevent the bill from passing, seem to come from a sincere place. Corker strongly supports biofuel and other alternatives to reduce our dependence on oil. But, he also voted ‘no’ on factoring global warming into federal project planning. What sets Corker apart from other Republicans, however, is the fact that he’s willing to learn about the issue of climate change and figure out how Republicans can ‘balance’ related legislation to make it more palatable for their side of the political spectrum.

The Chattanooga Times reports,

Energy issues have been one of Sen. Corker’s top priorities since the beginning of his tenure, landing him a seat on the Senate Energy Committee. From that pulpit, he has emerged as a leading Republican ally in the fight against global warming.

In meetings with his Republican colleagues, he has urged even those most resistant to the idea that global warming is influenced by human activity that legislative action ought to be pursued to combat its acceleration.

“There’s becoming a consensus that there’s no reason to debate the science,” Sen. Corker said. “The place to be in this debate is in discussing the policies and how it affects the world.”

Sen. Corker said his stances reflect a delicate dance between wanting to combat global warming and maintaining ample energy supplies to keep the economy robust in the long-term.

“We’re trying to create a balance between protecting the environment and our country being energy secure,” he said.

We’d love to see more Republican lawmakers unite with Democrats on the environment, and hope that in the future, if Sen. Corker is truly an ally on the issue of global warming, that he’ll stop partaking in such tactics to derail climate change legislation. The times are definitely a-changin’, and we’re optimistic enough to hope that Republicans and Democrats will be able to work together to help save the planet. But that will only happen if Republicans stop pushing their free trade agenda that resists environmental standards and thus prevents real change from taking place.

Link [Grist] + [New York Times] + [Chattanooga Times]
Photo credit: corker.senate.gov

Related Posts:

Sen. Joe Lieberman Attacking Free Speech on the Internet
Democrats Might Have a 60-Vote Bloc on Energy, After All
Congressman Calls Energy Crisis More Threatening Than Terrorism
Sarah Palin’s Record on the Environment? Not so great.
Climate Change Could Spark Wars Worldwide