Senator Lisa Murkowski is making some rumblings in Alaska. She penned an Op-Ed in Sunday’s Anchorage Daily News arguing that Congress is better suited than the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. She then goes on to explain why Congress is “a long ways from completing legislation that can deliver meaningful greenhouse gas reductions without damaging the economy.” Her conclusion, of course, is that Congress should call a “time-out” on the EPA’s imminent regulations to give recalcitrant members of Congress like herself more time to twiddle their thumbs.

There are plenty of questionable parts to the piece but the last paragraph takes the cake:

You can be assured that I will continue to work in good faith with all who want to address climate change. But I also recognize that settling for our “least worst” option — a flawed climate bill to stave off costly regulations — will do little to resolve a challenge this great. We need an effective policy that will endure, and that’s why Congress, not the EPA, must take the lead.

Senator Murkowski has never worked in good faith to address climate change.  A few weeks ago her communications staffer yelled the following to me on the phone: “It will never pass the Senate. It will never be introduced in the Senate. Don’t you know how this works?” She is pretending she might vote for a bill in order to position herself to weaken legislation she knows is inevitable. Senator Murkowski should not be among the Republicans Senate Democrats negotiate with in their upcoming pursuit of 60 votes for cloture.