SENATORS SPEAKING ALL NIGHT TO URGE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
MONDAY, MARCH 10 – TUESDAY, MARCH 11
Washington, DC – Immediately following votes on the evening of Monday, March 10 until approximately 9 am ET Tuesday, March 11, Senators from the Senate Climate Action Task Force will be holding the Senate floor to urge action on climate change. A significant number of Senators are expected to participate throughout the night.
“Climate change is real, it is caused by humans, and it is solvable,” said Senator Schatz. “Congress must act. On Monday night we’re going to show the growing number of Senators who are committed to working together to confront climate change.”
Senator Boxer said: “So many Senators coming together for an all-night session shows our commitment to wake up Congress to the dangers of climate change. All you have to do is look at China to see what happens to your country when you throw the environment under the bus.”
“The cost of Congress’ inaction on climate change is too high for our communities, our kids and grandkids, and our economy,” Senator Whitehouse said. “On Monday we’ll be sending a clear message: it’s time for Congress to wake up and get serious about addressing this issue.”
Senators expected to participate include:
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash.
Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md.
Senator Bernard Sanders, I-Vt.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
Senator Mark Udall, D-Colo.
Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.
Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Senator Al Franken, D-Minn.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
Senator Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.
Senator Angus King, I-Maine
Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Senator Edward J. Markey, D-Mass.
Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J.
Senators will be actively participating on social media as well throughout the night – using the hashtag #Up4Climate.
Open Mind 
Only 28 Senators? Ouch.
Or roughly 1 senator for every year since Jim Hansen gave his original climate testimony in 1988.
Quite impressive, especially since that’s only half the Democrats in the Senate.
A more telling portrayal would probably be in terms of Senatorial support lost since that time, given that both Democrats and Republicans used to support scientific/environmental issues back in the day when reality still held sway (and when the scaRecrow still had a brain and the cowarDly lion still had courage)
The whereabouts of the Wizard are anyone’s guess. He was last sighted in a hot air balloon over the Athabasca tar sands.
26 – “D”s
2 – “I”s
0 – “R”s
Honestly, I would like to believe in “free market” capitalism as the best possible system for the long term survival of the planet. I really would.
The thing is I do believe that capitalism is our best hope. It needs a few restrictions though. Dr. James Hansen’s “Climate Stewardship Act” still sounds like the best option to me. Despite what anyone says, it’s still capitalism.
I haven’t heard much about it lately.
“I would like to believe in “free market” capitalism as the best possible system for the long term survival of the planet”
Why?
Why is the Church of the Free Market so firmly entrenched? We’ve seen in the US dramatic shifts in wealth away from ordinary people, like me, to a few plutocrats, all thanks to the efforts of the Church: Two hard-working parents are now needed to maintain a family. Millions have been persuaded to vote against self-interest. “Union” is a dirty word.
And the government has repudiated fundamental responsibility to establish a level playing field and protect the interests of citizens from the obvious ravaging we are seeing.
Climate change is going to screw all of us but any efforts to contend with the issue are thwarted by– by what? Why, the Elders in the Church, of course, all caring ‘Free Market!’ placards.
What you are describing isn’t a free market, it’s plutocracy. Of course, the plutocrats find the term a convenient fig leaf–which doesn’t mean a free market wouldn’t work if it were implemented appropriately.
In other words, a bad fetish might still prove a useful tool. Pragmatism, not ideology…
“Why is the Church of the Free Market so firmly entrenched?”
Why wouldn’t it be, when whoever holds the purse strings can keep giving themselves and their friends trillions of dollars in “free” money, some of which is used to keep them in power?
I think it is arguable that the ones who do not believe in the free market are the Republicans. Certainly they seem to lack confidence that the free market can supply solutions to climate change, so much so that they prefer to deny physical reality.
Yes, that’s one of the salient ironies in the American political landscape–which anything but irony-challenged these days.
That’s a lot of D’s. I give them a D for their efforts thus far.
And exactly zero “R-” Republicans involved. Sigh.
God bless them.
Amen.
As much as I’m an atheist, I find consolation that faith-based groups are starting to work a difference on this, too:
http://www.ucc.org/environmental-ministries/climate-change-and-global.html
http://uuministryforearth.org/fossil-fuel-divestment
(Fair disclosure notice: I am a member of the Unitarian Universalist Area Church in Sherborn, MA, with my wife, Claire, where we endeavor to shake up the place on environmental matters. See http://uuac.org/social/zeroWaste.php. We also are also strongly committed to another, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. See http://www.whoi.edu/support/events?tid=1621&cid=143904&article=59306.)
Maybe somebody on the other side will listen. There is, after all, all the great work being done by Katharine Hayhoe: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/partner-news/katharine-hayhoe-a-climate-change-evangelist
Is your congregation involved in the Green Sanctuary program? We’re currently undertaking that; it seems to be usefully so far. Certainly it is raising the profile of the issue quite a bit, and our collective carbon footprint should shrink some as a result.
See:
http://www.uua.org/environment/sanctuary/
Sigh. “Useful,” of course.
Who said adverbs want to please? (Stephen King, I think?)
UUAC is investigating that … After installing composting for all church functions, current hot issue is getting congregation to direct delegates to General Assembly next summer to vote for the Business Resolution divesting UUA’s national fund from fossil fuels, per the Carbon Tracker list. And after that, divesting our own congregational portfolio and encouraging the relatively well-heeled communities in Sherborn and Dover to do the same.
Great. I’ll try to make sure the divesture issue is on our agenda as well.
No Republicans. Once again confirming two research studies that found right wingers, on average, have lower IQ than left wingers (and that right wingers are more racist, anti-gay and religious – with religious people having lower IQ, on average, than atheists).
Q: How many right wing scientists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Find me a right winger with a PhD in science and then I can answer your question…….
[Response: There are intelligent republicans, educated ones, compassionate ones, and scientific ones. The problem is, they rarely vote in the *primary* elections so intelligent, compassionate, scientifically-minded *candidates* don’t get on the ballot — instead we get some tea-party asshole.
I’d like nothing better than a real choice, but for that to happen, sane people have to take back the republican party. If you want to help, vote in the primary elections. And if you’re a sane republican, run for fucking office.]
Well-said, Tamino.
It’s called the Democratic Party.
Tamino, I’ve thought for a while that there needs to be a new party, the Sane Republican party that rejects the insanity of the insane Republicans in office.
Is this the point to wonder if we’ll get lucky?
Richard Alley… Myles Allen…
What would be awesome would be for The Greens to establish themselves as the ‘mirror’ of The Teabaggers. America needs a party for the people who are sick to death of corporate wealth and greed and the lie of ‘individualism’ and more about the environment and community.
This is all political theatre.
President Obama bragged about increased oil production, in the State of the Union address.
You can’t be serious about mitigating climate change while proposing increasing fossil fuel production.
[Response: I assure you, for Senator Whitehouse it’s not just political theater. Perhaps too much cynicism is just as crippling as too much political posturing.]
Eli has been running the occasional Whitehouse on Monday for a couple of months. He is not joking.