If a Senator changes parties for political expediency, and he still doesn’t vote with the party he is joining, should anyone care? Here is what some green bloggers and environmental organizations are saying about Specter’s switch.

Kate Sheppard at Grist:

Specter has been a hard senator to peg when it comes to environmental policy. While he acknowledges the problem of global warming and believes legislative action should be taken, he’s favored industry-friendly approaches to a cap-and-trade system that fall short of what most scientists and environmentalists argue is needed.

Brad Johnson at The Wonk Room:

Ideologically, Specter is in line with Democrats like Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), who worries that Obama’s clean economy proposal may “suck money” from his state, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who is “against forcing petrochemical companies” to “bear the brunt of new costs,” and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), who worries cap and trade “could have a negative impact on our economy.”

Specter, whose top donors include the electric utilities Exelon Corporation and PPL Corporation, has told Pennsylvania students that “his main platform in running for re-election is global warming.” There’s still time for him — and the Democrats he’s joining — to build that platform, but more change will have to come.

David Roberts at Grist:

So what are his positions on climate change? Roughly those of a conservative Democrat. He voted against the McCain-Lieberman climate bill twice and declined to vote for cloture for the Lieberman-Warner climate bill last year. He said that the latter bill contained “very difficult standards which I, candidly, do not think are attainable.” As an alternative he has pushed a bill co-sponsored with Sen. Jeff Bingaman, the “Low-Carbon Economy Act,” which has weak targets, free permits, automatic off-ramps, and all the rest of the kinds of provisions that neuter a climate bill.

Joseph Romm at Climate Progress:

Needless to say, as a Republican facing a tough primary challenge from the right, he was a lost vote on global warming legislation. One assumes that if he is goin to seriously run as a Democrat, he’ll support an energy and climate bill.

Jesse Jenkins at The Breakthrough Institute:

The more things change, the more things stay the same: Senator Arlen Specter announced today he would be switching party allegiance and running for re-election as a Democrat in 2010. Unfortunately, the new “D” next to his name is unlikely to change the policy positions of this free-thinking Senator from Pennsylvania – especially when it comes to climate legislation.

Emily Gertz at Change.org:

Pocket analysis: Both parties will still need to pitch the woo at Sen. Specter, whose vote remains a crucial swinger no matter what letter comes after his name, “D” or “R.” But the Republican Party has driven away one of its most respected moderates — by embracing its most peripheral fringe supporters over the vast middle; mindlessly catering to the reactionary right-wing punditocracy; and engaging in the politics of obstruction.

Keith Johnson at Environmental Capital:

Getting 60 votes is crucial for all sorts of big-ticket legislation—especially climate change. But Sen. Specter’s support won’t come free.

Hailing from a coal-rich manufacturing state, Sen. Specter is especially sensitive to two issues when it comes to energy and environmental policy: American jobs and the future of coal.

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