SANITY ERUPTS - AT 5:24 P.M. ET:  Reader Chris Corbett alerts us to this ray of sanity, something rare in Washington:

Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate should abandon efforts to pass legislation curbing greenhouse-gas emissions this year and concentrate on a narrower bill to require use of renewable energy, four Democratic lawmakers say.

“The problem of doing both of them together is that it becomes too big of a lift,” Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas said in an interview last week. “I see the cap-and-trade being a real problem.”

COMMENT:  There may some light at the end of this global-warming tunnel.  Giving legislators time to consider legislation, hear from constituents and experts, and consider alternatives, can, as we've seen in the last 60 days, have a very positive effect.

Much of the climate-change legislation before Congress is based on trendy "science" that often turns out to not be very scientific.  A more incremental approach, with some common sense thrown in, is called for.  We all want renewable energy and energy independence, but there's a right way and a way that's popular with the chattering classes, and they aren't often the same.

August 14, 2009