Incredible.

The other day in a group discussion on climate/sustainability I offered up Joe’s idea that the Republican party’s opposition to any meaningful action on energy and climate change will eventually lead to their final downfall. That argument was quickly dismissed with the example of Republican support for Nixon, which was politically disastrous but eventually forgotten. And who knows, they may be right – it’s certainly not easy to predict the political climate a few decades in advance.

But previous political debacles held the advantage of being “fixable” in the long term. In contrast, the ramifications of the lack of action on climate change change today will continue to play out for the rest of the century and beyond. It’s almost like bowling – we may be able to put some spin on the ball in the future, but the sad fact is that our initial throw is aimed forcefully into the gutter. I could be wrong, but hopefully the public won’t forget who delayed and diluted the aggressive climate legislation that is so desperately needed.