Protestors carry a large black piece of plastic symbolizing an oil spill as they take part in the 'Hands Across The Sand Miami' event sponsored by several groups protesting offshore oil drilling, which they say presents danger to oceans, marine wildlife fishing industries and coastal economies in Miami Beach, Florida June 26, 2010.

President Obama met with Senators today to talk about climate change and energy.  According to The Hill,

Leading Senate advocates of climate change legislation emerged from a White House meeting proclaiming President Barack Obama offered firm support for including greenhouse gas curbs in the broad energy package slated for Senate debate this summer.

“The president was very clear about putting a price on carbon and limiting greenhouse gas emissions,”  Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said outside the White House after the 90-minute meeting between Obama and a bipartisan group of about 20 senators.

The Senators felt sure the Obama was very clear about a price on carbon.  But Obama himself wasn’t as sure.

Obama told the senators that “he still believes the best way for us to transition to a clean energy economy is with a bill that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses by putting a price on pollution.”

But the White House statement then adds: “Not all of the Senators agreed with this approach, and the President welcomed other approaches and ideas that would take real steps to reduce our dependence on oil, create jobs, strengthen our national security and reduce the pollution in our atmosphere.”

Read more here. Why would he welcome “other approaches”?   This is Obama’s biggest fault on this issue — he welcomes ideas that are not supported by science.  Does anyone else remember when Candidate Obama and was saying we need to transition off oil and fossil fuels and put a price on carbon and base our energy policy on science, not politics?  Maybe I dreamed the whole thing.  I continue to be disappointed in Obama’s lack of strong, urgent leadership on climate change and getting us off coal and oil.  It’s not that it can’t be done, so something else is holding him back, and it’s  green, and flat, and occasionally crisp.  See hint on the right.

Senator Voinavich did his part and represented the official Republican line on climate change legislation today:  They will obstruct it, dismiss it, and do whatever it takes to block it.  Dear Republicans, isn’t it about time you did something good for your country, instead of trying to block everything that would be helpful to current and future generations? We are getting really weary of this obstruction.  According to The Hill:

Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said Tuesday that the White House meeting President Barack Obama hosted with a bipartisan group of senators demonstrated that broad climate change legislation is probably dead.  “I believe today’s meeting at the White House sent a clear [...]