Procedural vote on the procedure for proposing a procedural framework passes 284-212
Democracy at Its Most Thorough
PARIS — The French National Assembly spent six hours Tuesday debating a motion to establish a committee to discuss the parameters of a proposed framework for initiating formal debate on revised climate legislation, a session that produced no climate policy but generated considerable heat, which several environmentalists noted was part of the problem.
The procedural vote passed 284-212, authorising the committee to meet three times before submitting a report recommending whether formal debate should proceed, a process that the climate legislation’s original sponsors estimate will conclude sometime during the next ice age, which they note climate policy is supposed to prevent.
The Parliamentary Logic
Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet said the process reflected “the seriousness with which the Assembly approaches consequential legislation.” Critics said it reflected the Assembly’s ability to treat the form of a thing as a substitute for the thing itself, a practice with a long French parliamentary tradition and an impressive recent record.
MP Clementine Autriche, who proposed the original climate bill in 2023, said she had “evolved in her understanding of what is achievable within the current procedural framework,” which colleagues interpreted as a euphemism and which she confirmed, privately, was a euphemism.
Scientific Perspective
Dr. Henri Atmosphere of the CNRS climate research institute noted that carbon dioxide concentrations do not pause for procedural votes. “The atmosphere is not aware of the committee structure,” he said. “It is operating on its own timeline.” The IPCC sixth assessment report is available for the committee’s reference. Committee members confirmed they are aware of it and plan to acknowledge it formally at the second meeting.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com
