I feel bad. I’ve now bumped Jennifer Buntman’s first post on this blog down two notches. Not bad enough to hold back my post, but bad enough to urge you to read it here. Please, help assuage my guilt.
Mitch McConnell and Trent Lott announced yesterday that they would oppose the Law of the Sea in the Senate. They didn’t get a whole lot of mileage on the announcement, though. Aside from E&E News, a subscription service, and a bunch of conservative online forums, not a single media outlet picked up on the announcement. My colleague Don Kraus sounded off on it this morning.
This does make the fight a little bit tougher, but Lott’s prediction that the 67 votes aren’t there rings hollow; finding 67 votes on the Senate floor will not be much of a problem. What we should be worried about is the will of Harry Reid and Dick Durbin to spend floor time on this issue. This is a good time to pick up the phone and let them know that this matters.
In the end, going up against the White House, environmentalists, the military, oil and gas, and every other ocean industry is going to leave Lott, McConnell, and the rest of their troupe looking way out of touch with U.S. interests.
— Scott Paul
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