The Senate is expected to pass the House’s health care reconciliation fix this week — and after the upper chamber’s members return from spring recess, they can finally turn their attention to other major legislation. But environmental advocates have feared that with a jobs bills, financial regulation and possibly immigration reform on the table, comprehensive climate legislation could get pushed back until it’s too late.
Today, 22 Democratic senators signed a letter urging action on a climate bill this year. And while the support of less than half the Democratic caucus wouldn’t ordinarily be noteworthy, what’s interesting here is the makeup of the letter’s signatories: They’re almost all moderates or representatives of states with significant industrial or fossil fuel interests. Take a look at the list (via Dave Roberts):
- Tom Udall (NM)
- Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
- Michael Bennet (CO)
- Kay Hagan (NC)
- Ron Wyden (OR)
- Mark Begich (AK)
- Sherrod Brown (OH)
- Tom Harkin (IA)
- Tom Carper (DE)
- Mark Udall (CO)
- Al Franken (MN)
- Debbie Stabenow (MI)
- Jeff Merkley (OR)
- Patty Murray (WA)
- Ted Kaufman (DE)
- [Roland] Burris (IL)
- Bob Casey Jr. (PA)
- Mark Warner (VA)
- Maria Cantwell (WA)
- Arlen Specter (PA)
- Jon Tester (MT)
- Amy Klobuchar (MN)
Not exactly jam-packed with coastal liberals. As Roberts points out, Casey, Begich, Tester, Stabenow and Cantwell are all arguably fence-sitters on the issue — and a number of others have expressed reservations about carbon-capping legislation.
The full letter is available here (PDF).