Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley for a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts on Tuesday in what is being called an epic upset for the Democratic Party....Democrat Edward Kennedy held the seat for almost 47 years before dying of brain cancer in August. Before that, his brother John held it for a decade before becoming president.This drops the Democratic majority in the Senate to 59 out of 100 seats: they no longer hold a filibuster proof majority. (Not that American Congresspersons or Senators are whipped by their party as Canadian MPs are .) If President Obama's healthcare reforms are endangered by Mr Brown's elecction, how will any greenhouse gas emission bill make it through the Senate?
UPDATE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/20/scott-brown-climate-change-bill
Now it seems more likely than ever that Democrats in the US Senate will not touch global warming in 2010 unless they can be assured of sizeable Republican support. However, Senator John Kerry, who is leading the push on climate change in the Senate, said he remained confident of getting broad support for a bill.The chances of a bill limiting greenhouse gas emissions still looks small to me ......Damn!
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