You have all seen the devastating pictures of ice and glaciers melting in Alaska and at the poles.Most of you have heard the stories of some villages in our largest state literally disappearing into the sea because of rapidly rising sea levels. Clearly, is clearly the frontlines of climate change – and they are losing the battle.>You would think of all of the Senators in all 50 states, there would be one who would stand up and vociferously urge their peers to address global warming…. And mean it.

Don’t get me wrong.Senator Murkowski (R-AK) can definitely talk a good game and has, in moments of lucidity, called on Congress to address climate change.

Unfortunately, that changes today as Senator Murkowski teeters on introducing anamendment to environmental spending legislation that would allow EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions only from mobile sources, and portends to prohibit the agency from regulating heat-trapping emissions from the greatest source of pollutions — stationary sources like power plants and industrial facilities.

I think David Moulton, director of climate policy and conservation funding at the Wilderness Society said it best to the NYTimes – “This amendment suggests that if global warming pollution comes from a power plant, it is safe, but if it comes from a car, it is harmful…. That is a preposterous distinction that cannot be supported in either law or fact.”

Senator Murkowski, the melting ice, rising sea, displaced people, and drowning polar bears don’t see the difference in the SOURCES of pollution – all they see are the dire impacts of not cleaning up the pollution itself.It is time to address the impacts of global warming pollution. You – of all of our elected-officials – should be leading the charge.

Special note: When I worked as a lobbyist on Capitol Hill, I had the pleasure of working with Senator Murkowski’s office on the Mercury Export Ban bill, which was sponsored by then-Senator Obama.We were successful in our quest to get it signed into law and when the ban goes into effect, it will substantially reduce mercury contamination in fish, prevent the contamination of our water, and shield our children from a dangerous chemical.I know that Murkowski can be a great, non-partisan leader.I hope that she will veer from this new course that will harm the environment and put some of that know-how towards climate change.