See, if the Cult of Climastrology can’t convince people to approve of their radical Big Government plans, they’ll just force it through
Ambitious Climate Plans Might Need a Radical Legislative One: Ending the Filibuster
Democrats running for president are promoting historically ambitious plans to fight climate change.
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. wants to put a price on greenhouse emissions with the aim of eliminating the United States’ net planet-warming pollution by 2050. Former Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas has proposed spending $5 trillion to promote clean energy and to help communities adapt to global warming. Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington has centered his entire campaign on addressing climate change, with policies designed to eventually freeze the nation’s fossil fuel production entirely. Tom Steyer, the California billionaire who entered the race on Tuesday, plans to focus his campaign in part on climate change.
But even if a green-minded Democrat wins the White House, dramatic action to reverse climate change could very well require another radical change in Washington: the elimination of the Senate filibuster.
Climate legislation is hardly the only issue that might lead either party to do away with the filibuster, which allows a minority of senators to block most legislation from receiving a vote unless 60 senators agree to cut off debate.
In most cases, if you cannot convince 60 Senators to agree to legislation than it is not good legislation, and the filibuster is there to protect the minority from tyranny
But climate change, with its high stakes, is increasingly being viewed as one of the issues that could finally push Democrats, who remain deeply divided over the filibuster, to kill it off for good, if given the chance.
“Climate change is an existential threat, and there is just no way to deal with climate change without getting rid of the filibuster,†Mr. Inslee said. “You cannot allow an arcane, antebellum, antiquated procedure to block progress.â€
Funny, Democrats have been screeching about the threat to democracy since Trump was elected, yet, they want to kill off one of the main methods in protecting the minority in our Constitutional Federalist Democracy to pass legislation that is opposed by half the country. Perhaps more. Doing Something may be popular in theory, but, not in practice.
John Kerry, the former secretary of state and Massachusetts senator, was the lead author of the last major climate change bill that Democrats tried to push through the Senate, in 2010. Despite having majorities in both chambers of Congress and a champion of the bill in the White House, Democrats were forced to abandon the legislation when it became clear it could not muster 60 votes.
Mr. Kerry, who as secretary of state served as a lead broker of the Paris climate change accord in 2015, said he has been reflecting on whether the filibuster needs to be retired — specifically, to clear the way for a climate change bill.
“The Senate’s pretty broken, and this is not a moment to be stuck in the old ways,†he said. Still, he allowed that should the filibuster be dissolved, “It could quickly become a moment of, ‘Be careful what you wish for.’â€
The filibuster is not a bug, it is a feature. It is mean to make sure that parties cannot jam through legislation. It is supposed to be very hard to pass legislation. And, yes, Kerry is correct, be careful what you wish for. If the filibuster wasn’t present Obamacare would already be gone, for one.
But, hey, if you can’t convince people, just change the rules, right?
