A New Republic editorial criticized President Obama for failing to provide leadership on climate change legislation despite the conflict in the Senate sparked by the plan of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to advance an immigration bill ahead of climate. The magazine wrote that President Obama "stood passively by while Reid pushed immigration forward" and was "yet to come out fully in favor of tackling energy as his next big priority."
The editorial cited the oil spill off the Louisiana coast as an instance of Obama missing an "opportunity to explain the urgent necessity of moving toward cleaner forms of energy" given the environmental harm caused by fossil fuels. The New Republic wrote that "a climate bill is less likely than a noisy immigration push to improve the Democrats' prospects for the midterms," but added that the progress already achieved on climate argued for focusing on it instead of immigration, which was "unlikely to go anywhere this year."
The magazine wrote: "Obama and the Democrats should take this opportunity to remind voters that doing nothing and waiting for disaster to strike is by far the most costly option."
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