rssEnvironmentalists insist midterms not a ‘referendum’ on climate votes
Wednesday, November 03, 2010 at 4:56 pm
- 15 Comments
Environmentalists scrambled today to get control of the midterm narrative following a crushing defeat for Democrats in the House and Senate.
At a press conference today at the National Press Club, the heads of the major environmental groups stressed to reporters that the midterm election was not a “referendum” on climate change.
As I noted in my story this morning, in total, more than 43 Democrats who voted for the House climate bill either lost their races or retired their seats, which were then won by Republicans. The two most stinging defeats, and the ones cited in most energy-related stories on the issue (including mine), were those of Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who worked furiously behind the scenes to secure benefits for his coal-dependent state in the bill before finally giving his “yes” vote, and Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.), who became something of a celebrity on the left for standing by the more liberal wing of his party on a number of key votes, including cap-and-trade, despite the conservative makeup of his district.
But cap-and-trade proponents counter that 27 of the 43 Democrats who voted against the House climate bill lost their seats and point out that many other issues were at play in the races.
At the press conference today, the environmental groups — including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, Environment America and the League of Conservation Voters — also released a poll surveying 1,000 voters in 83 “battleground” congressional districts that they say “clearly illustrates that members’ support for the 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) did not contribute to this defeat.”
In the poll, Republican voters were asked to name their biggest concern with the Democrat running in the race. While 27 percent chose voting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) agenda, only 7 percent said it was because the Democrat supported the House cap-and-trade bill when offered a list of six options.
In polling results conducted in Perriello’s district, only 5 percent of the people who voted for Hurt said their biggest concern was Perriello’s vote for the House cap-and-trade bill.
The environmentalists also touted California voters’ rejection of Proposition 23, which would have suspended the state’s landmark climate change law. They said California was the only state where climate change was on the ballot and therefore was the only case where the votes could be a referendum on climate change.
There was no mention at the press conference of California’s Proposition 26, which would require that any new fees imposed on industry be approved by a two-thirds vote in the state legislature. The ballot initiative, which passed, could greatly impact the implementation of the states climate law, environmentalists have said.
Follow Andrew Restuccia on Twitter
15 Comments
Pingback posted November 3, 2010 @ 5:01 pm
[...] Environmentalists Insist Midterms Not a 'Referendum' on Climate VotesThe Washington Independentwho became something of a celebrity on the left for standing by the more liberal wing of his party on a number of key votes, including cap-and-trade, … [...]
Pingback posted November 3, 2010 @ 5:05 pm
[...] Marta wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
Pingback posted November 3, 2010 @ 5:17 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andrew Restuccia, WashIndependent. WashIndependent said: Environmentalists Insist Midterms Not a 'Referendum' on Climate Votes http://bit.ly/b79Iq4 [...]
Pingback posted November 3, 2010 @ 5:29 pm
[...] Environmentalists Insist Midterms Not a 'Referendum' on Climate VotesThe Washington IndependentIn polling results conducted in Perriello's district, only 5 percent of the people who voted for Hurt said their biggest concern was Perriello's vote for …and more » [...]
Pingback posted November 3, 2010 @ 5:30 pm
[...] Environmentalists Insist Midterms Not a 'Referendum' on Climate VotesThe Washington Independentwho became something of a celebrity on the left for standing by the more liberal wing of his party on a number of key votes, including cap-and-trade, …and more » [...]
Pingback posted November 3, 2010 @ 5:31 pm
[...] Environmentalists Insist Midterms Not a 'Referendum' on Climate VotesThe Washington Independentwho became something of a celebrity on the left for standing by the more liberal wing of his party on a number of key votes, including cap-and-trade, …and more » [...]
Pingback posted November 3, 2010 @ 6:46 pm
[...] Environmentalists Insist Midterms Not a 'Referendum' upon Climate … [...]
Pingback posted November 3, 2010 @ 8:54 pm
[...] Environmentalists Insist Midterms Not a 'Referendum' on Climate … [...]
Comment posted November 3, 2010 @ 9:43 pm
Real environmentalists are happy and relieved the emergency is over and how utterly foolish this CO2 environMENTALism will make us look for the history books. The effects the scientists agree on are from little if any effe3cts, to life killing “unstoppable” warming. Like passing gas in a tornado it looks like? Judging by the lack of the promised crisis that was assured to us 24 years ago. It’s good news. We look like finger pointing car accident rubber neckers. Why do we jump to the most extreme scenario and can anyone tell us their personal experience with this crisis anywhere? Why do the media and the scientists hide the crisis up on mountains and polar caps and jungles and nowhere near ME, the cause of all of this coming grief? And why are there more scientists than protesters? Why don’t the march with us? Why do we enjoy condemning our kids to a CO2 death. And I don’t see any world emergency being declared for “unstoppable warming” coming our way. This climate change crisis seems so insincere and transparent and nobody showing an real lifestyle sacrifice. Can we at least act like it’s the end of the world? Something stinks here and I can‘t support the CO2 theory any longer. I owe it to my children.
I can’t do this anymore. I’m a liberal. I’m a progressive. I’m green and a now a climate change denier. Let’s get ahead of the curve before this becomes our Iraq War of lies and fear mongering WMD’s.
Let’s remove the CO2 factor from the important issue of environmentalism and carry on with good stewardship of the planet. We are leading a false war and this promise of climate crisis is not sustainable for another 24 years. Don’t think so? Well you are the new denier. System Change, not Climate Change. Population Control, not Climate Control
Trackback posted November 4, 2010 @ 1:05 am
Environmentalists Insist Midterms Not a 'Referendum' on Climate ……
Here at World Spinner we are debating the same thing……
Pingback posted November 4, 2010 @ 2:13 am
[...] Environmentalists Insist Midterms Not a 'Referendum' on Climate … [...]
Pingback posted November 4, 2010 @ 4:31 am
[...] who voted for the climate change bill performed worse in this election than they should …Environmentalists Insist Midterms Not a 'Referendum' on Climate VotesThe Washington IndependentNot so fast: Green groups say election wasn'ta referendum on carbon [...]
Comment posted November 15, 2010 @ 3:27 am
protecting the environment is every‘s duty
Comment posted November 22, 2010 @ 8:37 am
mbt shoes
mbt shoes on sale
mbt shoes cheap
discount mbt shoes
mbt wingu
mbt wingu shoes
mbt fanaka
mbt fanaka gtx
mbt fanaka gtx shoes
mbt fanaka chocolate
mbt fanaka black
mbt bomoa
mbt bomoa boots
Trackback posted December 1, 2010 @ 5:44 am
BOMBSHELL, For those who insist that the “Illuminati” is a myth…
I found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
