Senate | Grist

Inhofe to Boxer: “We Won, You Lost, Now Get a Life!” 0
Posted 4 days, 20 hours ago
Jobs we can believe in

Merkley wants Senate jobs bill to help finance building efficiency retrofits 5
Posted 1 week ago Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met with the chairs of six committees that might have some hand in developing the clean energy bill. The question at hand was whether the bill should be pushed back in favor of a short-term focus on finance reform, jobs, and the deficit. Though John Kerry argued vigorously that the clean energy is a jobs bill that won't grow the deficit, it looks like he lost out and there will be some kind of standalone jobs bill in the interim. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is now advocating that any jobs bill include support for building retrofits to create jobs and reduce energy bills.
Nobody knows nothin'

Reflecting on the lameness of my profession 10
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago For the past few weeks there has been a flood of news about the Copenhagen climate talks and the clean energy bill in the U.S. Senate. Standing in that flood it's easy to get caught up in the atmospherics of frantic action and constant crisis. But step out for a while and it becomes clear just how much of the "news" consists of people who don't really know anything guessing: what things mean, who's thinking what, what the future holds.
Copenhagen climate crash

Hot planet to Obama: What’s your Plan B? 6
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago The planet just can't endure another year of inaction. Obama should travel to the Copenhagen climate conference in December and guarantee dramatic action from the U.S. in 2010 even if it means blowing everything up in Congress and starting over.
“I think if we do it right, the energy bill, the climate bill can be very, very job productive”

Reid plans debate on bipartisan bill “sometime in the spring” 0
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago
Two senators push to ramp up nuclear energy 2
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago Two senators unveiled legislation Monday to double U.S. nuclear energy output in 20 years and foster clean energy options with "mini-Manhattan Projects" named for the original U.S. atomic bomb push.
U.S. Senate puts off action on climate bill until 2010 0
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago The U.S. Senate will act in early 2010 on legislation to battle climate change, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday, ending hopes of a breakthrough by next month's global talks.
how will key senators vote on a climate bill?

George Voinovich (R-Ohio) [UPDATED] 2
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago Sen. George Voinovich, the sole Republican senator to show for a Senate EPW hearing in early November, demands further EPA analysis before voting on a climate bill.
Know thine enemy

Is Bill McKibben right to be angry with Obama? 36
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago In his latest column, Bill McKibben lays into Obama for insufficient leadership on climate change. But the many sins ascribed to Obama almost all trace back to a different source. Properly identifying the barriers to change is the first step in effective political action.
how will senators vote on a climate bill?

Al Franken (D-Minn.) 3
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago Sen. Al Franken told a Grist reader he supports “comprehensive energy legislation,” but he's worried about losing manufacturing jobs.
how will senators vote on a climate bill?

Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) 1
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago In a letter to a Grist reader, Sen. Dick Durbin signals strong support for the Kerry-Boxer climate bill.
Extending the runway

Delaying an international climate treaty: not as bad as it looks 27
Posted 1 week, 5 days ago The big news this weekend was that a coalition of world leaders made it official: there will be no full-fledged, legally binding agreement out of the Copenhagen climate talks. Instead there will be what's being called a politically binding agreement, pledging to work out a full agreement in 2010 -- "one agreement, two steps." This was Denmark PM (and Copenhagen host) Lars Lokke Rasmussen's way of salvaging a half-win from what was threatening to be a total loss. Of course opponents of climate action are portraying it as a disaster that augers the death of UNFCCC process; they do that with every setback or delay. Climate activists don't seem to have decided quite yet what to think about it. My take: it's not as bad as it looks.
But Senate Finance Committee calls on polluter lobbyists to attack clean energy yet again

Baucus supports a climate bill and knows it will pass Congress, 0
Posted 2 weeks ago
how will key senators vote on a climate bill?

Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) [UPDATED] 5
Posted 2 weeks, 1 day ago “I don’t see any climate bill on the table right now that I can support," Sen. Richard Lugar said on Nov. 10, dashing any hopes that he might get behind some version of the Kerry-Boxer legislation that's moving through the Senate. "We really have to start from scratch again."
How will senators vote on a climate bill?

Mark Warner (D-Va.) 0
Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago Sen. Mark Warner recognizes the need to take action on climate change, but wants to ensure that legislation will not negatively impact the economy. He seems a safe bet to support the Kerry-Boxer climate bill.
How will senators vote on a climate bill?

Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) 1
Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago Sen. Roger Wicker plans to oppose the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. In a letter to a constituent, he writes, "I am opposed to any sort of system to cap carbon emissions permits because it would have no effect on climate change and is an unwarranted tax increase on the American people."
how will key senators vote on a climate bill?

Carl Levin (D-Mich.) [UPDATED] 0
Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago
Sen. Carl Levin is a Midwest, industrial-state Democrat who has concerns about the economic impacts of climate legislation, but thinks something needs to be done about global warming.
Baucus: ‘No doubt’ that climate change legislation will pass 0
Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago Contrary to reports from many in the media, the prospects for a climate bill are as good as ever now that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has finished its work.
How will key senators vote on a climate bill?

Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) [UPDATED] 1
Posted 3 weeks ago Sen. Arlen Specter had been considered a fence sitter on climate legislation, but on Nov. 5 he sided with all but one of the Democrats on the Environment and Public Works Committee in voting to move forward with the Kerry-Boxer climate bill.
How will senators vote on a climate bill?

Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) 1
Posted 3 weeks ago Sen. Dianne Feinstein is expected to vote in favor of the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. In a letter to a Grist reader, she doesn't explicitly endorse the bill, but she does say it "represents an important step."