Boxer, Kerry will introduce Senate climate bill next week 3

Cross-posted from Change.org.

Sens. Boxer and Kerry at a climate rally in June.Photo: David Pierpont, NWF via FlickrLast night at Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum, Teresa Heinz read a message from her husband, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), that set the gala crowd to cheering:  He and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) will introduce a climate bill in the Senate next Wednesday.

The bill will be backed by a strong and broad coalition, according to Kerry’s message, which Heinz delivered at a pre-G20 party sponsored by the U.S. Climate Action Network, and “will take a more comprehensive approach to dwindling oil reserves than any prior legislation.”

The legislation will be a “thoughtful, innovative, far-reaching solution” in four areas: the nation’s energy foundation; U.S. economic competitiveness; the health of the environment; and national security.

In between sets by the cream of New Orleans jazz musicians, an upbeat Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Penn.) encouraged the crowd to stay optimistic about the prospects for a good international climate treaty to come out of December’s negotiations in Copenhagen.  “We need to get the Senate to act,” said Doyle, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which produced the energy and climate bill tha the House passed in June.

“Let’s give President Obama some arrows in his quiver to take to Copenhagen,” Doyle said, suggesting that the Pittsburgh crowd remember to call Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) in the coming weeks and ask him to support the upcoming climate bill.

• Comments