Climate bill politics are heating up

Supporters of Obama’s clean-energy plan say the issue is not just jobs. National security is at stake as well.

Reporting from Washington – After months of promoting President Obama’s climate plan as a vehicle to create millions of clean-energy jobs, supporters of the legislation are increasingly pushing another strategy — its benefits for national security.

It’s a deliberate, anxiety-themed effort to press a handful of fence-sitting moderates to support a bill that will probably be the administration’s next great legislative push after healthcare.

A coalition backing the energy and climate bill pending before the Senate has enlisted war veterans to pressure senators in person.

In television advertisements, the coalition calls dependence on foreign oil a threat to national security and fuel for terrorists.

Other new ads feature pictures of angry Middle Eastern crowds and impoverished “climate refugees,” many apparently African.

One recent poll from climate bill supporters tested voter opinions on the statement that global warming would “destabilize developing countries, creating the conditions for war and a breeding ground for terrorism — and lead to mass movements of people from places like Mexico and Central America that will overwhelm our borders.”

LA Times