Kerry, Graham, Lieberman, revisited
Kerry, Graham, Lieberman, revisited
Today in climate history, the "Three Amigos" met at the White House with Obama.
I’m Darren Samuelsohn, and here’s a peek into my reporter photo library from 13 years ago today.
First time here? Please sign up to love, journalism, my free newsletter full of insights, interviews, ideas and inspiration from a journalist who has been reporting and editing writers for 30+ years. Podcasts usually come out on Saturdays. I write bonus posts too.
I snapped this picture on the driveway outside the White House 13 years ago today, March 9, 2010, amid flailing Senate talks aimed at dramatically changing the US economy to make it more climate friendly.
Environment and energy beat reporters like me had made the trek from Capitol Hill up to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue eager to see if there’d be any new momentum on the effort once President Barack Obama weighed in.
The short answer: Nope.
Negotiations were already taking their sweet time, and significant opposition from both Republicans and moderate Democrats meant the math simply wasn’t there for a bill that could get 60 votes — even with Obama pushing.
Speaking to the press outside the West Wing, Sens. John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham — ‘The Three Amigos,’ as they were known in the Capitol — kept making their case for action. But behind the scenes, the president’s staff wasn’t on the same page and the senators themselves were agitating to go in different directions.
A little more than a month later, a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico sent the US climate debate in a dramatically different direction. Graham would soon quit the talks. And a last-ditch attempt without him spun to a halt.
By late July 2010, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had called the whole thing off. Democrats would lose the House that November, and the stars wouldn’t align again for significant climate legislation until a dozen years later in 2022 when President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act.