Grist seems to have a bad case of buyer's remorse these days. There was plenty of fiery debate on the Waxman-Markey climate bill in the weeks leading up to its passage out of committee. But if you're a regular reader of Grist you only heard one side of that debate, mainly a vigorous defense/rationalization of the bill led by David Roberts and Joe Romm (whose posts from Climate Progress are often cross-posted at Grist). Roberts' posts became more tortured but he left no doubt that he thought a badly compromised bill was better than no bill at all. All. About. Them. Small. Steps. Romm, on the other hand, has given no quarter. Yeah, he's tried walking back his cheerless cheerleading, but if you raised any objections back then, you know Romm considers you a filthy rotten delayer. Civilization destroyer. Whatever. So what to make of this anti-Waxman-Markey missive from Ken Ward in Grist today? It's the latest of WM critiques that have begun appearing at Grist almost routinely in the past few weeks. But Ward's attack is by far the baldest, in-your-face rejoinder yet. Here's his lede:
Watching the remains of a movement strain our every organizational fiber to advance a climate bill we know is a travesty reminds me of G.K. Chesterton's observation about sex: the pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable.
You get the picture. What I don't get is what took Grist so long to start publishing counter perspectives on the most important environmental legislation proposed in decades.
