Globaloney in the Senate

The Senate is planning to waste the week debating a global warming bill that's doomed to defeat:

WASHINGTON - The Senate began what is expected to be a weeklong, contentious debate Monday over legislation to combat global warming by mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Senators voted 74-14 to proceed to the bill, but immediately it became clear Republican opponents were not going to make it easy. A request by Democrats to begin considering substantive changes in the bill was blocked by GOP opponents until Wednesday at the earliest.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada promised a thorough debate that will probably last through the week, if not longer. He said it's clear that "global warming is real" and Congress must act.

But supporters of the bill acknowledged it will be difficult — perhaps impossible — to overcome a certain GOP filibuster threat against the legislation, meaning congressional action on global warming will probably be decided in the next Congress and by the next president.

Many of the GOP senators who voted to debate the issue have said they are opposed to the bill.

The Senate measure, which has wide Democratic and some Republican support, would cap U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, cutting them by 18 percent by 2020 and by two-thirds by mid-century. It would specifically target refineries, power plants, factories and transportation for 70 percent reductions and make emissions allowances available to be traded in an open market.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a chief architect of the 500-page bill, said at a news conference the urgency of taking action against climate change cannot be overstated, declaring, "It's about our children, about their children, and about the planet we've inherited."

Rather than waste their time doing this nonsense, how about confirming some of the 300+ open positions in various government agencies, including federal courts, that are awaiting Senate action?

UPDATES: Even some Democrats are upset about this:

Another senior Senate Democratic staffer echoed those sentiments: “Everyone knows this bill is going nowhere. The president is opposed to it. The House is not inclined toward action on this, and now we’re going to spend valuable floor time on a bill that’s going nowhere ... while Republicans are champing at the bit to accuse Democrats of raising gas prices.”… “Boxer is walking us off a cliff,” another senior Senate Democratic aide said.

Sen. Ted Kennedy probably won't be back for the final vote, and Sen. Robert Byrd is also ailing, both reliable votes for the global warming bill and thus making it much more likely that a GOP filibuster will prevent this from going anywhere.