Salazar Faces Consequences Of Climate Bill Vote

by: Colorado Pols

Mon Jun 29, 2009 at 10:14:51 AM MDT

Colorado environmental groups were quick to criticize Democratic Congressman John Salazar Saturday after he joined the two Republican members of the state delegation in voting against the American Clean Energy and Security Act Friday.

The landmark climate change bill, which seeks to reduce carbon emissions in the United States 80 percent by 2050, passed out of the House by a scant seven-vote margin late Friday (219-212), with Colorado Democrats Diana DeGette, Betsy Markey, Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis voting for the bill.

"We applaud the Colorado representatives who voted for this critical legislation, yet we are disappointed with Reps. Salazar, [Mike] Coffman, and [Doug] Lamborn for opposing this critical legislation," Pam Kiely, legislative director for Denver-based Environment Colorado, said in a release.

Salazar, brother of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, told the Denver Post he couldn't justify raising utility rates in his largely rural 3rd Congressional District at a time when the economy is just now starting to stabilize.

Markey also represents a mostly rural and more conservative district but voted in favor of the bill because of last-minute pro-agriculture changes to it. DeGette, vice chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee that painstakingly negotiated the framework of the bill over the last several weeks, said the costs to the average American will be negligible.

This vote did go a little differently than we expected, with Markey as the more politically vulnerable moderate Democrat--and the climate bill being singled out by Republicans for attack--expected to vote against, perhaps even with approval from House leadership given her delicate position. Instead, she voted for the bill and greatly pleased environmental interests who supported her election, and Rep. John Salazar draws fire from the same lobby for voting against.

Both Salazar and Markey knew there were votes to be both lost and gained with different constituencies depending on their vote--who came out the biggest loser? Our view is that Markey had more to lose by voting yes than Salazar had by voting no going in, which in hindsight will rally liberals to Markey as well as hurt Salazar more than it otherwise might have. There's also the problem Salazar's vote creates for Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet as they take up the bill, having legitimized some talking points against it with his vote. It will be a shame, but people are going to have to be reminded of Salazar's regrettable "rain disproves global warming" gaffe as part of dealing with that--not exactly his finest hour.

That said, don't look for this one vote to seriously alienate Salazar from his core of support going into 2010--it's not going to be his only opportunity to take action on the issue, and his local popularity runs deeper than other Democrats in the process of annoying their base.