THIS ALMOST GOT MISSED - AT 7:06 A.M. ET:  From The Wall Street Journal:

Please pass Al Gore a Valium -- and better make it a double -- because his cap-and-trade dreams just took a dive in the U.S. Senate. In a vote late Wednesday, no fewer than 26 Democrats joined all 41 Republicans to insist that any new cap and tax on carbon energy would require at least 60 votes.

Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander called it "the biggest vote of the year" so far, and he's right. This means Majority Leader Harry Reid can't jam cap and tax through as part of this year's budget resolution with a bare majority of 50 Senators. More broadly, it's a signal that California and East Coast Democrats won't be able to sock it to coal and manufacturing-heavy Midwestern states without a fight.

COMMENT:  This is big news, buried by the president's trip to London.  It's also a solid example of representative democracy.  Midwest Dems, who have less interest in being invited to parties in Manhattan and Beverly Hills than some of the others, are representing their constituents' interests, and American manufacturing generally, in opposing a damaging tax.  We do want to develop new energy sources, but we can get there without wrecking our own people.  And, once again, proposed legislation is based on global-warming "science" that is increasingly under thoughtful attack.

April 3, 2009