Last month, a bipartisan global warming bill from Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Arlen Specter, R-Penn., was uniformly rejected by environmental organizations, because it kept down the cost for creating carbon pollution, making it impossible to reduce enough pollution to resolve the climate crisis.
This month, a new bipartisan bill from Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va. is being praised as a "huge breakthrough" by dedicated environmentalist Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California.
While the response from environmental activists is more mixed (Hill Heat is tracking the discussion) it's not being widely rejected out of hand like Bingaman-Specter was.
Why the relatively more positive overall reaction?
