Tracking where senators stand on climate legislation
In This Series
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Mark Udall (D-Colo.)
Mark UdallSen. Mark Udall is considered a likely “yes” vote for a climate bill in the Senate, though he wants to see more support for nuclear power and natural gas. In this letter to Grist reader Matthew Ott in Colorado, Udall doesn’t mention climate legislation specifically, but he calls for a strong renewable energy standard. […]
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Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) [UPDATED]
Robert Byrd Sen. Robert Byrd hated the climate bill that passed the House in June (more on that below), but he seems a little more open to the Kerry-Boxer bill being considered in the Senate. As the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported just after the bill was introduced: [Byrd] said he was encouraged by the greater […]
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George LeMieux (R-Fla.)
George LeMieuxNew Sen. George LeMieux — appointed in September by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) to serve through the end of 2010, finishing out the term of retired Mel Martinez — has yet to vote on any key legislation that might give us clues as to whether he would support the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. He […]
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Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) [UPDATED]
Evan Bayh Sen. Evan Bayh is widely considered to be a fence-sitter on climate legislation. He has a generally respectable environmental record, but his home state of Indiana is reliant on manufacturing and coal, so he worries that a climate bill could raise energy costs for his constituents and their employers. In August, Bayh […]
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Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
Lindsey GrahamSen. Lindsey Graham has stepped up to become the leading Republican advocate of a bipartisan climate bill. In a New York Times op-ed on Oct. 11, Graham joined with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to put forward a framework for climate legislation that they say can pass Congress and become “the blueprint for a clean-energy […]
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Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) [UPDATED]
Lisa Murkowski Sen. Lisa Murkowski is open to voting for a cap-and-trade climate bill if it would aggressively boost nuclear power and domestic oil and gas drilling, she said in a C-SPAN interview aired on Oct. 18. “Count me as one of those who will keep my mind open as we move forward,” she said. […]
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Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) [UPDATED]
Chuck Grassley Sen. Chuck Grassley has dodged and weaved when asked whether climate change is a human-caused problem that needs to be taken seriously, as David Roberts points out. Grassley exhibited that same tendency in an email he sent recently to constituent (and Grist reader) Ben Thompson, who had asked the senator about his views […]
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Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)
Kay Bailey HutchisonSen. Kay Bailey Hutchison sent the following letter to Grist reader Blanca Estela in early October, responding to questions about the senator’s stance on climate legislation. Hutchison says she opposes a cap-and-trade system, arguing that it would raise energy prices for average Americans and cause economic hardship. She says she does want to […]
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Roland Burris (D-Ill.)
Roland BurrisSen. Roland Burris sent this letter to Grist reader Kevin Wolz in early October, responding to questions about the senator’s stance on climate legislation. Burris says he supports many aspects of the Kerry-Boxer climate bill introduced in late September, particularly the provisions on nuclear power, agricultural offsets, and clean coal. Dear [Constituent]: Thank you […]
