Environment New Mexico
expressed profound disappointment today after Senator Domenici voted against
proceeding with the Climate Security Act (S. 3036), the most comprehensive
global warming legislation ever considered by the full Senate. Senator Bingaman voted to advance the
legislation. By a vote of 48-36, the Senate fell short of the 60-vote threshold
needed to move forward with the bill, causing consideration of the bill to end
without any substantive votes on the measure. An additional six senators, who
missed the vote, submitted statements indicating that they would have voted to
move forward had they been present.
“The inconvenient truth is
that the U.S. Senate is too captive to polluters to confront global warming. Today’s action by the U.S. Senate makes the
cowardly lion seem courageous. Faced
with an urgent problem that demands action, the Senate passed the buck. We
applaud Senator Bingaman for voting to advance global warming legislation,”
said Environment New Mexico Advocate Lauren Ketcham.
Scientists warn that if we
don’t act quickly and boldly to reduce our emissions of global warming
pollution, the United States and the world risk devastating damage to our
environment, economy, and way of life.
According to Environment New
Mexico, the United
States
must commit to the emission reductions science tells us are necessary, make polluters
pay for their pollution, and aggressively promote the energy efficiency and
renewable energy infrastructure that will enable us to transition to a clean
energy economy.
“The solutions exist today
that can get us much of the way there.
And states across the country are already making these solutions a
reality,” said Ketcham.
“Unfortunately, the Senate
Republican leadership, backed by Big Oil and coal and a presidential veto
threat, made clear this week that they are intent on blocking action on global
warming. At every turn, they used
procedural maneuvers to obstruct consideration of the bill,” said Ketcham.
“Next time around, the polluters and their allies in
Congress won’t get off so easy. In the
weeks and months ahead, we’ll educate and mobilize the American public on the
urgent need for action to stop the worst effects of global warming and the many
opportunities inherent in a massive transition to a clean energy economy,
helping to pave the way for stronger legislation next year that will get the
job done,” concluded Ketcham.
