As food safety concerns gain additional attention, climate change legislative issues appear to be fading during the August recess.

Derek Wallbank reported yesterday at the MinnPost.com Online that, “Carbon cap and trade legislation is effectively ‘dead’ in Congress, House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson told feed industry executives Monday, with the chief struggle over carbon regulation now solely being played out in and around the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The Senate isn’t just short of the votes for a cap-and-trade measure like what passed the House last June, it’s short of the votes for any significant climate measure at all. And today Peterson confirmed the whispers on Capitol Hill – that environmental lobbyists are scaling back their efforts on a large-scale climate bill because they too have come to privately accept that it won’t happen this year.

“‘The environmental community has basically stood down and they’re pulling all of their money out of the effort and all their lobbying,’ Peterson said. ‘So it’s dead.’

“‘So the issue now is is the EPA going to try to regulate this under the Clean Air Act?’ Peterson said. That was almost certainly a rhetorical question, because the answer is obviously yes. In fact, they’ve already started.”

Yesterday’s update noted that, “Ironically, while the carbon bill is dead, so too is a measure that would forbid the EPA from regulating it under the Clean Air Act.”

“And with Congress refusing to pass anything on carbon either way, the EPA continues to have free rein to deal with the problem as it sees fit,” yesterday’s article said.

Similarly, Jordan Fabian reported yesterday at The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room that, “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday that cap-and-trade energy legislation is ‘dead’ in the upper chamber.

“The Senate’s top Republican spoke before a local chamber of commerce in eastern Kentucky.

“‘I think cap-and-trade, which is also known as the national energy tax, is dead in the United States Senate,’ McConnell said, according to WKYT.”

The Hill update stated that, “McConnell warned the audience that the Obama administration could attempt to mandate some cap-and-trade policies through the executive branch, but said that was unlikely in an election year.”

And Ben Geman reported yesterday at The Hill’s Energy Blog that, “The World Resources Institute has a created a nifty online tool that allows visitors to track climate aid pledges stemming from last year’s Copenhagen climate conference.

“Developed countries together pledged almost $30 billion in ‘fast start’ financing to help developing countries curb emissions and adapt to climate change.

“Now WRI, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, is tracking whether countries are making good on the plans.”