Global-Warming Panel Has the Power of the Hot Seat
Ed Markey is all about props today, moving from a 30-year-old framed news clipping about global warming to a stark chart about oil dependence to the gigantic world map dominating the wall over his office sofa.
"I think we can visit Greenland -- take the members there to look at it," the Massachusetts Democrat is saying like a man who was just handed $1.7 million to travel the world, which in fact is pretty close to the deal. "You can see in Greenland . . . that if the huge sheet of ice -- huge, massive sheet of ice melts, that the consequences are quite catastrophic."
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Like the atmosphere, he is just warming up. "Our job will be to take these issues and translate them into a language that has political potency and is accessible to the public," he said.
Markey has been unleashed, finally letting himself talk about the great gig he landed, chairman of a new, high-profile standing committee on global warming that will allow him to investigate, subpoena and hold hearings hollering about dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
It's the platform Al Gore longed for 15 years ago, but there are some drawbacks. For one, Markey isn't likely to get an Oscar. And, probably more significantly, the committee won't have legislative authority, which doesn't seem to faze him.
"The goal of the committee is to revive interest in these issues . . . to make up for 12 years of inattention and to telescope the time frame that it takes in order to have real action taken," he said.
Essentially that means he intends to hold headliner hearings with star witnesses, travel the globe, yank in military men to testify, and make legislative recommendations that might put pressure on the eight relevant committees that handle various areas of energy law. The beauty of the job is that he has no jurisdictional limitations.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's goal in creating the committee was to spotlight an issue vital to her agenda and to force some movement among her party's rank and file. Consequently, news of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was not initially embraced by all quarters on the Hill. It was assailed by some who saw it as blatant turf infringement.
This week Markey named his longtime chief of staff, David Moulton, executive director of the new committee.
The committee will ultimately have a staff of 12, many of whom will be investigators.
Ready for the Contact Sport Called Politics
Mike Richter, the former superstar goalie for the New York Rangers, wowed the Democratic caucus Wednesday as a possible candidate to challenge Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) in 2008.
The usual sources report he was humble and direct and told the Dems that he hoped to join them and that he thought they were fighting the good fight.
