Senator Carper Votes in Favor of Climate Science

WASHINGTON, DC – Today Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) joined a majority of his colleagues in voting against Senator Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) legislation that would have prevented the U.S. EPA from regulating harmful air pollution under the Clean Air Act.  The legislation, S. J. RES. 26, was defeated by a vote of 47 to 53.  Earlier today Senator Carper spoke on the Senate floor against the legislation.

"This is an important victory for science, for our health, for our planet, and for our clean energy future.  I’m pleased that a majority of my colleagues joined me in rejecting this attempt to turn science on its head and deny EPA the ability to protect American’s health by regulating air pollution emissions.  

"The Murkowski Disapproval Resolution was a step in the wrong direction for this country.  This resolution not only went against the thousands of scientists that agree carbon pollution is harming our planet and threatens our public health, but also would have increased our dependency on oil.  This resolution would also have delayed our efforts to spur innovation and investments in clean energy technology.  

"Today’s debate was about whether we are we going to be guided by decades of science from thousands of respected scientists or not.  This debate was about whether we are going to get serious about ending our addiction to oil.  This debate was about whether we are we going to stop sending tens, maybe hundreds of billions of our dollars every year to places around the world that are unstable and hostile to this country.  And this debate was about whether or not we are going to jump-start our economy at a time in our nation’s history when thousands of young people are graduating from colleges, universities, and high schools and want to find a good job so they can provide their families with a good life, better than the one that they inherited from their parents.  That was what this debate was about.

"It is time the Senate moves forward with common sense legislation that protects the air we breathe, reduces our dependence on oil, and provides businesses with the certainty that they need to be successful. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass climate-energy legislation.  Legislation that reduces our carbon pollution and unleashes market forces to put Americans back to work building clean energy equipment to sell here and export around the world, equipment that’s stamped ‘Made in the U.S.A.’" 

Please click here (TIME: 03:03:17) to watch Senator Carper’s floor speech.