Climate Bill Vote Counting

For a quick look at where senators stand on the climate and energy bill, take a look at Politico’s “whip count.”

If leadership can get the support of all 33 “yes” votes, the 16 “probably yes” votes and the 10 lawmakers listed as “on the fence” (which is a big “if”), that only brings the vote count to 59, according to Politico. That means leadership needs to convince one “probably no” lawmaker to support a final bill.

Politico lists five Democrats in the “probably no” category: Sens. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Carte Goodwin (D-W.Va.) (who underscored his opposition to cap-and-trade last week), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-.W.Va.).

Worth noting: If Lincoln’s Senate race remains as tough as it now appears and Goodwin steps aside, as expected, to let another Democrat run for his seat in the fall, four of those five “probably no” Democrats won’t be around next year. Freed from electoral pressure, might one of them “vote his/her conscience” and support an energy bill? Only time will tell.

COPYRIGHT_WI: Published on https://washingtonindependent.com/91893/climate-bill-vote-counting/ by - on 2020-07-31T00:00:00.000Z