"'We have seen the faith community come out in very strong support of this bill,' said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., sponsor of the bill, along with Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va. 'It's God's creation that's at stake. … They feel very moved to respond.'" - writes Rosalie Westenskow. Click here to read the rest of her UPI article.
While the UPI story doesn't mention Interfaith Power and Light by name, OhIPL's support of the bill was covered by local media. Click here to read coverage by WOSU Radio.
Click here to read a well-researched white paper from The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on how a well-designed bill can fully shield low-income consumers from economic hardship.
Click here to visit the Interfaith Power and Light Action Center, or better yet, take a moment to call Ohio's U.S. Senators Voinovich and Brown to express your support for the Climate Security Act (S.3036):
Senator Sherrod C. Brown
216-522-7272 Cleveland
202-224-2315 Washington, D.C.
Senator George V. Voinovich
800-205-OHIO (toll free from Ohio)
202-224-3353 Washington, D.C.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Faith community's strong support of Climate Security Act grabs spotlight
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Click here to read Grist Magazine's Q&A with Van Jones about the Climate Security Act and green jobs.
"With 60 votes needed to end a filibuster, Reid did not get cloture." Ohio Senators Brown and Voinovich voted against the cloture motion. An update from Susan Stephenson, Executive Director of The Regeneration Project, follows below. (A hat-tip to Greg!)
Hi everyone,
In case you haven't heard the news, Republican opposition effectively killed the Boxer-Lieberman-Warner bill today.
Here's an update from Katherine Silverthorne of the U.S. Climate Action Network (of which IPL is a member):
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At 9 this morning, Sen. Reid decided to put an end to the delay tactics of the opposition and call for cloture on the Climate Security Act. The final vote was 48 - 36 in favor of invoking cloture -- which would mean ending the filibuster and considering the merits and possible amendments to the bill. With 60 votes needed to end a filibuster, Reid did not get cloture.
What he did get was the strongest vote yet in the Senate on the strongest climate bill to come before the Senate thus far. Several absent senators put out statements saying that they would have voted to invoke cloture if they were in DC, including: Obama, Clinton, McCain, Kennedy, Biden and Coleman. So, there are technically 54 Senators in favor of moving forward to consider the bill.
Regardless of how you feel about the need to strengthen the underlying bill, it is significant to note that support for a climate change bill has increased significantly.
The next step is to ensure some accountability for these votes. Some senators will need to be reinforced for this tough vote because they will certainly be hearing from industry opponents. Other senators should hear that voting against cloture, and therefore not even being willing to debate how to tackle climate change, is irresponsible and unacceptable.
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Many thanks to those of you who took time to call your senators and generate grassroots support over the past week. Although it's very disappointing that the debate was cut short before the merits of the bill and all the amendments could really be considered, momentum does seem to be building for action on climate.
Over 1,000 letters were generated from all our states that got the national action alert. The breakdown of the vote is below, along with a link to a Washington Post article:
Senate Leaders Pull Measure on Climate
VOTE COUNT
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 2nd Session
as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Vote Summary
Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Boxer Amdt. No. 4825 )
Vote Number: 145
Vote Date: June 6, 2008, 09:03 AM
Required For Majority: 3/5
Vote Result: Cloture Motion Rejected
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 4825 to S. 3036 (Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008)
Statement of Purpose: In the nature of a substitute.
Vote Counts:
YEAs 48
NAYs 36
Not Voting 16
Vote Summary:
YEAs ---48
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-ME)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dole (R-NC)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Sununu (R-NH)
Tester (D-MT)
Warner (R-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs ---36
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brown (D-OH)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Crapo (R-ID)
Domenici (R-NM)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lugar (R-IN)
McConnell (R-KY)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Wicker (R-MS)
Not Voting - 16
Biden (D-DE)
Byrd (D-WV)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coleman (R-MN)
Conrad (D-ND)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Kennedy (D-MA)
McCain (R-AZ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Obama (D-IL)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Susan Stephenson
Executive Director
The Regeneration Project
Interfaith Power and Light
220 Montgomery St. Suite 450
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 561-4891
Fax: (415) 561-4892
www.theregenerationproject.org
The Union of Concerned Scientists is asking people to voice their disappointment over our senators' failure to support the Climate Security Act of 2008. Click here to visit their action center.
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