Up in the Air

By Bill Polits

Since the middle of last week, bad news continues to pour in for the backers of climate legislation.

The election of Republican Scott Brown to replace the Senate seat for the late Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts not only put an end to the Democratic super-majority in the US Senate, but also sent a strong signal that controversial proposals from Democratic  lawmakers such as health care overhaul and climate legislation will face withering opposition during this election year’s legislative calendar.

You may recall that in April, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency declared that carbon dioxide and other heat trapping gasses to be pollutants that endanger public health and welfare.  The agency issued a formal declaration of that policy on the eve of the first day of the Copenhagen convention.

Now, in a direct challenge to the authority of the E.P.A., Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska has introduced a disapproval resolution against the E.P.A. rule. Though the resolution is not likely to become law, it signals that the Republicans (with some Democratic support) are willing to go tooth-and-nail against the efforts to regulate greenhouse gasses and is read as a bad omen for the outcome of cap-and-trade legislation up for consideration in the Senate.

And in his State of the Union address, President Obama called for new legislation to boost a new generation of nuclear power plants, more offshore drilling, development of renewable energy and energy conservation while making no mention of the cap-and-trade legislation that has already passed in the House of Representatives. In backing away from cap-and-trade, Obama is signaling that he is willing to work with Republicans on passing a scaled-back climate and energy bill which leaves cap-and-trade to the side.

The Impact on Fire Safety

The legislation before the US Congress would require in some cases that HFC gases used in clean agent fire suppression be subject to a surcharge based on their high global warming potential. The continued unraveling of climate legislation initiatives indicates that the status quo will hold sway for the foreseeable future.