Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, held a press conference this morning to release her principles for global warming legislation (PDF). At the press conference, Boxer laid out a timetable that wouldn't see a climate change bill passed until early 2010.

Joe Romm on Climate Progress reports that Boxer stated:

“Copenhagen is December,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told reporters. “That’s why I said we’ll have a bill out of this committee by then.”

… Boxer added that she could move to mark up legislation quickly given her committee’s large Democratic majority, but she would wait for now to build up support.

According to Romm this should come as no surprise and that as he's said for a while, "Obama should realize a 2009 bill is not possible, make lemon out of lemonade, and use this year to build domestic support for the bill, take strong actions on energy and climate that don’t require congressional approval, and engage in high-level climate negotiations with China."

Just when you thought it was safe to acknowledge the unequivocal reality of global warming…..

Just when you thought the U.S. government was ready to admit that it has a serious emissions problem, and do something about it….

Just when you thought the skeptic party was over…

No way: There has been a strong run of nonsense from global warming "skeptics" and deniers lately. They are not ashamed, and they are not changing their tune. In fact, it sounds like they are gearing up for the next battle.

Its refreshing to see the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee moving on from a debate over whether global warming is a hoax, to one of what to do about ever-increasing US greenhouse gas emissions.

Today the hearing was on the subject of “Emerging Technologies and Practices for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions.”

Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe got so beligerent with former Vice-President Al Gore at the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works last week that new Chair Barbara Boxer had to cut him off (check out the video at the end of this post).

That, presumably, is because Senator Inhofe is accustomed to a different quality of input in testimony before this committee. When he was chair, he preferred likeminded lobbyists (Joseph Bast, Heartland Institute, testimony here) and fiction writers (Michael Chrichton, testimony here) as witnesses to committee hearings.

As coal-state officials struggle over growing demand for lower carbon emissions, California lawmakers told a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C. their legislation to cut carbon-dioxide output to 1990 levels by 2020 is predicted to bring $60 billion and 80,000 new jobs to the state economy.