The Senate climate bill has been defeated. But does this open a window for us to rally behind better solutions to global warming?The death in the Senate of the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill last week "clears the way for genuine solutions to global warming—solutions that ordinary Americans can understand and support," argues Charles Komanoff, author of the recent Nation article "Senate Climate Bill Dies—Does the Environment Win?" But many others, including David Roberts of Grist.org, say that no climate bill will pass while certain structural roadblocks remain: chief among them, the need for a sixty-vote supermajority in the Senate.
Could better policies rally enough public support to defeat the massive special interests allied against climate legislation? Or do we need to face facts and defeat the filibuster before we can get any legislation through at all? Komanoff and Roberts join The Nation on GRITtv to debate the best way forward for the environmental movement—and for all progressives who want to see good bills become law.
The Nation on GRITtv is a weekly video collaboration between The Nation and GRITtv with Laura Flanders. Watch for Monday briefings, Wednesday commentaries, weekend conversations and more at TheNation.com. For full half-hour episodes of The Nation on GRITtv, or local television air times visit www.grittv.org.
