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  • Senate should consider deforestation as part of climate bill

    This post was co-authored by Lincoln Chafee, former Republican senator from Rhode Island. It was cross-posted from Roll Call. It is imperative that the United States find effective and economically viable solutions to the climate crisis. Our elected officials and business leaders ask how we can afford the global transition to a low-carbon economy. Around […]

  • 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.  […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • Robert Casey (D-Penn.)

    Robert CaseySen. Robert Casey sent this letter to a Grist reader in early October in response to questions about his stance on climate legislation.  He affirms that climate change is a serious problem and that he intends to work toward legislation to curb greenhouse-gas emissions.  He also talks up “clean coal” and touts his efforts […]

  • Kerry-Graham op-ed dramatically enhances prospects for Senate climate bill this year

    Sunday’s New York Times op-ed by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) begins: CONVENTIONAL wisdom suggests that the prospect of Congress passing a comprehensive climate change bill soon is rapidly approaching zero. … However, we refuse to accept the argument that the United States cannot lead the world in addressing global climate change. […]

  • Seven reasons for optimism about the Senate climate bill

    Conventional wisdom says that the Kerry-Boxer clean energy bill faces a long uphill slog against unlikely odds. Many Senators, especially those in the “center,” think it’s unpopular. They think it will raise prices during a recession. They think it will unfairly hurt their states. They see little political upside and lots of possible downside. Here’s […]

  • Sen. Lindsey Graham crosses the climate rubicon

    Last week, I struck a hopeful note after GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed interest in a climate bill compromise that included a carbon cap in exchange for support for some nuclear power and coastal drilling. But my expectations it would really happen remained low. Today, Graham made a deal all but inevitable. Final compromise language […]