Debate Among Environmentalists on Strategy for Climate Bill

Environmentalists disputed whether their movement was accepting too many compromises on energy issues in its bid to see a climate change bill signed into law this year, the New York Times' ClimateWire reported. Kieran Suckling, head of the Center for Biological Diversity, criticized other groups for running "a politically naive campaign" that was ceding ground to the aggressive campaigning by opponents of the bill.

Environmentalists argued that the broader mission of gaining support for a cap-and-trade program took priority over the specific design of a bill. Environment America head Margie Alt said: "We can only do what we have the political support to do." Environmentalists were seen as failing to specify their demands for provisions to include in the bill, as well as failing to oppose measures such as offshore energy production they had historically opposed. Sierra Club lobbyist Athan Manuel declared that his group "will have to accept some things that we don't like" in the bill.

Lawrence Rothenberg, an environmental politics expert at the University of Rochester, predicted: "The bill that comes out of there is going to be a mess, and it will ultimately be a disappointment to hard-core environmentalists."