Harry Reid endorses the fossil-fueled air conditioning at the new Capitol Visitors Center

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: Thank god I won’t have to smell D.C. tourists’ reeking ‘pits anymore

“My staff tells me not to say this, but I’m going to say it anyway,” said Reid in his remarks. “In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it’s true.”

But it’s no longer going to be true, noted Reid, thanks to the air conditioned, indoor space.

The “space” referred to is the new [$621M] Capitol Visitors Center, paid for by those same sweaty, reeking tourists. I know we have Hill staffers among our readers; tell the truth, is it really this bad? I don’t want to beat up on a guy forced to plot amnesty and precipitous withdrawal from Iraq amid a haze of what smells like dead wombats.

Exit question: What did the Senate chamber smell like before A/C?

Breitbart.tv » June 2008: Sen. Harry Reid Says ‘Coal Makes Us Sick, Oil Makes Us Sick’

June 2008: "Coal makes us sick. Oil makes us sick. It's global warming. It's ruining our country. It's ruining our world."

May '07: A Carbon-Neutral House? - washingtonpost.com

Despite its name, the Capitol Power Plant has not produced a watt of electricity since 1952; the Capitol complex buys its power from Pepco. Instead, the plant generates steam and chilled water to heat and cool the Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and 19 other structures. Coal accounts for 49 percent of its output; the rest is generated by natural gas and oil.