Some of you are diving into public opinion at the moment, and one of the simplistic points made in the lectures is that in a democracy, shifts in public opinion tend to drive public policy. But we are a republic, not a democracy, and certain institutions (including the Senate) are designed to allow a minority to halt the majority. That seems to be the case with climate change legislation:
Despite polling showing public support for climate and energy policies, the Senate is unable to pass even a vastly scaled-back bill that only addresses the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. And that's because a perfect storm of a sharply partisan Senate, ailing economy and the polarizing and complex issue of climate change has made it impossible to pass any type of energy and climate bill, no matter how much the public supports it.
"There has just not been the debate and consideration of energy legislation that would lead to a successful result," Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said. "Essentially, one group of senators believes that any energy bill had to have a cap-and-trade or a carbon pricing mechanism. That was the red line. Without that, it was not a valid bill."
The more than two dozen Democrats Lugar is referring to aren't alone in supporting a limit on carbon emissions. Almost two-thirds of Americans also support limiting greenhouse gas emissions, according to the latest Society for Human Resource Management/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, conducted with the Pew Research Center.
