Senate Republicans block global warming bill
On June 6, the Senate voted 48-36 to move forward on the Boxer-Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, falling short of the necessary 60-vote threshold and ending consideration of the global warming bill before it was able to come to a vote. Environment Michigan and our allies had been working over the past year to strengthen key provisions in the bill. In the end, what could have been a solid first step toward a comprehensive global warming bill failed to overcome opposition from powerful polluting industries.
The Senate Republican leadership, backed by their special interest allies and a presidential veto threat, used procedural maneuvers to obstruct the bill, including forcing Senate clerks to read aloud every word of the 492-page bill.
After the vote, Environment Michigan’s Global Warming Program Director Emily Figdor told the media, “Faced with an urgent problem that demands action, the Senate passed the buck. Next time around, the polluters and their allies in Congress won’t get off so easy.”
