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Swing Senators Urge Climate Action

The Senate is expected to pass the House’s health care reconciliation fix this week -- and after the upper chamber’s members return from spring recess, they can

Jul 31, 202023.4K Shares1.1M Views
The Senate is expected to pass the House’s health care reconciliation fix this week — and after the upper chamber’s members return from spring recess, they can finally turn their attention to other major legislation. But environmental advocates have feared that with a jobs bills, financial regulation and possibly immigration reform on the table, comprehensive climate legislation could get pushed back until it’s too late.
Today, 22 Democratic senators signed a letter urging action on a climate bill this year. And while the support of less than half the Democratic caucus wouldn’t ordinarily be noteworthy, what’s interesting here is the makeup of the letter’s signatories: They’re almost all moderates or representatives of states with significant industrial or fossil fuel interests. Take a look at the list (via Dave Roberts):
  • Tom Udall (NM)
  • Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
  • Michael Bennet (CO)
  • Kay Hagan (NC)
  • Ron Wyden (OR)
  • Mark Begich (AK)
  • Sherrod Brown (OH)
  • Tom Harkin (IA)
  • Tom Carper (DE)
  • Mark Udall (CO)
  • Al Franken (MN)
  • Debbie Stabenow (MI)
  • Jeff Merkley (OR)
  • Patty Murray (WA)
  • Ted Kaufman (DE)
  • [Roland] Burris (IL)
  • Bob Casey Jr. (PA)
  • Mark Warner (VA)
  • Maria Cantwell (WA)
  • Arlen Specter (PA)
  • Jon Tester (MT)
  • Amy Klobuchar (MN)
Not exactly jam-packed with coastal liberals. As Roberts points out, Casey, Begich, Tester, Stabenow and Cantwell are all arguably fence-sitters on the issue — and a number of others have expressed reservations about carbon-capping legislation.
The full letter is available here(PDF).
Hajra Shannon

Hajra Shannon

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