In other words, President Obama would be giving New Yorkers hungry for climate action a big old extremely soggy blanket. It’s like when Gerald Ford refused to help New York City during its hour of greatest need, the 1970′s fiscal crisis – and New York produced one of the great headlines of all time, “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” (Ford subsequently blamed the headline for his 1976 election defeat).  Now, New York is in an hour of perhaps even greater need, and President Obama is threatening to abandon New Yorkers and all Americans to their fates when it comes to the rising seas swamping our neighborhoods.
As a native New Yorker, it’s hard to wrap my head around the idea that the President would consider being so callous. My in-laws on Long Island have been picking dead fish out of their closets for the last two weeks, lost their cars to the storm surge, and have months of recovery ahead of them – all due to a storm that at a minimum was made worse by rising sea levels. For President Obama to come in and tell them and other Sandy victims that he cares more about the airline lobby than their well-being and the global climate would be an epic disappointment, and a sweeping failure for his administration and legacy.
Note: On Tuesday, November 13, 2012, the House is scheduled to consider S. 1956, a bill to prohibit operators of civil aircraft of the United States from participating in the European Union’s emissions trading scheme (ETS), under a suspension of the rules requiring a two-thirds majority vote for passage.  The bill was introduced by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) on December 7, 2011 and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. S. 1956 passed the Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent on September 22, 2012. The bill was sent to the House and referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on September 25, 2012.