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Stevens, CAFE, and whaaa ...?
Holy snot! Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (yes, that Ted Stevens) is sponsoring a bill to increase CAFE standards -- the very standards he voted to eliminate in 2002.
This is Stevens we're talking about, so an ulterior motive is a mathematical certainty. I suspect he's making deals or at least trolling for good will to build support for drilling in the Arctic Refuge.
But still. These are strange, strange days we live in.
(via The Plank)
David Roberts is staff writer for Grist. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/david_h_roberts.
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Brudaimonia Posted 4:29 pm
08 Jan 2007
Possible reasons
I second that sentiment. The chance that this move is clean from front to back seems pretty small.
One possibility is that the Alaska Climate Impact Assessment Commission has started holding public meetings. This commission was created through a concurrent resolution in the 2006 state legislative session (one of a handful of good bills in that session). Although both AK legislative chambers had Republican majorities, it was championed by a Democrat from Kotzebue (read: way, way up in the north and west of the state) Reggie Joule, and managed to pass.
If the commission brings clearly to Alaskans' attention what I suspect they are increasingly beginning to see -- the extent of global warming's impact, already, on northern Alaska (less permafrost, retreating glaciers, forest problems, and of course the plight of polar bears, to name just a few issues) -- Stevens's move might be somewhat of a shield against a political backlash.
Then again, he's Ted Stevens; I'm not sure if he cares a lick about a political backlash at this point in his political career. This could be, as you said, David, a ploy to build support for establishing a "series of tubes" in ANWR.
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