Following Obama Comments, Global Warming Lobby Scrambles

Desperation and panic over the imminent failure of cap-and-trade legislation is driving a new White House lobbying push by special interest groups, according to policy experts at the National Center for Public Research.

Corporate and environmental special interest groups are meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Climate Change Czar Carol Browner this week, spurred by comments by President Obama that the politically-unpopular cap-and-trade requirements might be split from the “green jobs” section of the cap-and-trade bill.  Such a change would likely doom the chances of a national law mandating reductions in carbon emissions.

President Obama made the remarks at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire last week.

Obama’s comments follow a series of highly publicized controversies surrounding the quality of science behind claims that industrial activity is causing global warming.  Climategate and politicized material in the United Nations’ most recent IPCC report appear to be eroding both political and public support for global warming legislation.

“Elected officials are recognizing that supporting cap-and-trade is a political loser and they are shielding themselves from the shrapnel of the exploding global warming bubble.  A recent poll by The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found global warming last on a list of public policy priorities for the president and Congress,” said Deneen Borelli, a fellow with National Center’s Project 21 black leadership network.

Read More: National Policy Center