Chris Mooney is a visiting associate in the 
Yes I'm nonpartisan, but I'm also good and annoyed at plenty of House Republicans right now. I mean really...mucking up the process when it comes to environmental legislation gets me good and angry. The kind of behavior demonstrated this week by members of Congress is simply unacceptable.
Bear with me folks, my gripe is justified. The Coastal Zone Management Act reauthorization is one of the only ocean legislation pieces with action this year. It's meant to authorize new grants to help states address climate change, renewable energy, and working waterfronts. The bill was set for markup in the House on Wednesday. And what happens?
Tuesday night Republicans add over 180 pages of amendments to expand offshore oil and gas leasing. So instead of going to markup, House Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall pulled the bill saying "I would like to avoid having protecting our nation's coastlines becoming a partisan issue." Uh, yeah.
One amendment from Rep. Henry Brown even proposes H.R. 6108 to the act--a bill nearly identical to legislation from former Resources Chairman Richard Pombo approved last Congress by the GOP-controlled House. Yes, that Richard Pombo. Now I'm pretty familiar with Pombo's old bill which aimed to relax bans on offshore oil and gas drilling because I spent a good deal of 2006 fighting the Senate version alongside my old boss Bill Nelson.
And with that, the coastal bill doesn't make it to committee. So goes the nation...and coasts...and ocean.
Environment
Politics
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