Global Warming Bill Blocked in the Senate
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — Republicans have blocked efforts to bring a global warming bill up for a final Senate vote after a bitter debate over its economic costs and whether it would push gasoline prices higher.
Democratic leaders today fell 12 votes short of getting the 60 votes needed to end a Republican filibuster on the measure. The vote was 48-36.
The, Majority Leader. Senator Reid, a Democrat of Nevada, now must decide whether to pull the bill and push the climate change issue to next year with a new Congress and a new president.
The bill would cap carbon dioxide coming from power plants and factories with a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 71% by mid-century. Opponents say it amounts to a huge tax increase and would lead to higher energy prices.
