As 2012 Ends, Boxer (D-CA) Announces Plan To Form First Senate Climate Change Caucus

[hatrack]

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, announced earlier this week that she would be taking the initiative to form the first Climate Change Caucus in the U.S. Senate. Boxer, long considered a champion of environmental causes, said that she decided to form the committee to address growing public concerns over the inaction of the federal government to address the threat of climate change.

The Hill quotes Senator Boxer talking about the new committee, “It is going to work with all the committees and all the committee chairmen to make sure we can move forward legislation that reduces carbon pollution and also works on mitigation and all of the other elements.”

To date, the U.S. has not passed a single law or resolution addressing the threat of climate change, although several have been introduced. The majority of these bills died in committee, while one, The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, passed the House of Representatives but failed to get enough votes to pass in the Senate.

Boxer says that some Democrats have expressed interest in the committee, and that she hopes she can get broad bipartisan support and membership for the new committee.

EDIT

http://ecowatch.org/2012/climate-change-caucus/

I mean, glad she's doing this, but Jesus, December 2012? What TOOK so long? Sheesh.

[Nihil]

1. She probably wanted to wait and see if the world ended or not ...

... before investing her political capital with such a trivial & unnecessary project
but then realised that it would poll better if her action had a "2012" date on it
rather than just joining in with the rush in 2015 or so ...

[AverageJoe90]

2. "trivial & unnecessary"?

OMFG, do we have a Tony Watts drone on the premises? LOL.

Okay, I kid, I kid. But seriously, what's up with that(no Tony Watts puns intended, btw)?

[Nihil]

3. I'm simply sick of politicians (big & small) who don't care about "issues", ...

... merely about triangulating the polls, keeping their sponsors happy and
keeping their cushy little number with the absolute minimum amount of
genuinely productive effort.

I agreed with the "December 2012? What TOOK so long?" OP comment.

I also never use the sarcasm icon and had rather hoped that people would
twig that *I* don't regard environmental issues as "trivial & unnecessary".

C'est la vie.