Republican climate-bill boycott: last stand or dereliction of duty?

Absent seats on the right.

The Republican boycott of the Senate climate bill could go down in history as a noble last stand or as a symbol suggesting that on the leading issues of the day, Republicans have nothing to contribute anyway.

Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee didn’t show up for a work meeting on the climate bill today, and as Democrats went on without them they compared their absent colleagues to deserters and recalcitrant schoolchildren.

“What I see in this, I see the process that we called, when I was in the military, AWOL,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). “That you had a responsibility when you were called to duty to show up, even if you disagreed with the strategy and had to put your life on the line.”

Lautenberg charged that on health care as well, Republicans have nothing to offer but resistance. “It’s a refusal to participate in the system,” he said. “To stay away is almost like a child staying out of school because he doesn’t like what the teacher is providing.”

Republicans are demanding a more thorough economic analysis of the bill by the EPA, a process that appears designed to delay the bill beyond December’s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

“This may be the single most significant piece of legislation that’s come before the committee, touching every sector of the economy and having immense energy, economic, environmental, and national security consequences,” said Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio). “At this point, we do not fully understand how this legislation will impact the price supply and reliability of electricity, gasoline, and other commodities which millions of Americans depend on every day. Once more, we don’t know if the bill will have an appreciable impact on climate change.”

The EPA analysis (pdf here) concluded the impact on fossil-fuel prices would be much lower than Republicans had predicted, raising gasoline prices, for example, by perhaps 5 percent.

Traditionally, the Senate would not advance bills from committee unless at least two members of the minority party were present, but Committee chairman Barbara Boxer received confirmation that the bill can proceed as long as ten members are present. There are 12 Democrats and seven Republicans on the committee.

Boxer (D-CA) went easier on her absent colleagues today than many of her fellow Democrats. She challenged their boycott by inviting them back this afternoon for a question and answer session with EPA officials.

“If our Republican friends are sincere in this, they need to be here,” she said. “We’re just going to be here every day until they join us…. This door will be wide open and the moment they walk into it, we will welcome them and get to work on amendments.”