Will Energy Prices or Republicans be Blamed for Global Warming Bill's Failure?

In case you hadn't heard yet, the big, bad global warming bill authored by Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Virg.) was pulled for consideration Friday as sponsors were unable to drum up enough support for it to have any chance of passing.

This presents an interesting opportunity for climate alarmists in the media to have to choose what they will blame the speedy demise of this legislation on: currently exploding energy prices and the public's disinterest in a bill that will raise them further, or those dastardly, environmentally-challenged Republicans.

In fact, even the Associated Press seems torn on this issue, and released two different takes on Friday thereby giving press outlets a truly convenient culprit option (picture courtesy AP).

For instance, this was the opening paragraph of an AP piece published at 3:12 AM EDT Friday (emphasis added):

Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a global warming bill that would have required major reductions in greenhouse gases, pushing debate over the world's biggest environmental concern to next year for a new Congress and president.

Yet, this was how the AP saw it about twelve hours later (emphasis added):

Congress retreated Friday from the world's biggest environmental concern — global warming — in a fresh demonstration of what happens when nature and business collide, especially in an election year.

It was no contest.

A bill the Senate was debating would put a price on carbon emissions, targeting "greenhouse gases" that contribute to the warming that many scientists say could dramatically change the Earth.

Opponents wanted to talk about higher gasoline prices. And higher taxes.

That kind of talk spooks Washington.

Pretty neat, wouldn't you agree?

Of course, it will also be interesting to see how many press outlets address just how fractured the Democrats were on this issue, or if they buy into Sen. Barbara Boxer's (D-Cal.) nonsense.

For instance, on Friday, Boxer released the following statement (emphasis hers):

Today's vote is a landmark moment in the fight against global warming. We had 54 Senators come down on the side of tackling this crucial issue now -- because it is one of the greatest challenges of our generation. This strong vote is up from 38 votes in 2005, and proves that our nation is ready to assume the mantle of leadership on global warming.

That's interesting, because ten Senate Democrats on Friday sent the following letter to Boxer and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) (emphasis added):

As Democrats from regions of the country that will be most immediately affected by climate legislation, we want to share our concerns with the bill that is currently before the Senate. We commend your leadership in attempting to address one the most significant threats to this and future generations; however, we cannot support final passage of the Boxer Substitute in its current form.

For the record, the ten senators signing this letter were: Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senator John D. Rockefeller (D-WV), Carl Levin (D-MI), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Jim Webb (D-VA), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Clair McCaskill (D-MO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Ben Nelson (D-NE).

I'm sure media will be diligently reporting the Democrat fracture concerning this bill in the days to come...not!