Washington, DC – Today, after years of ducking questions about climate change, Republican Senators were put on record about whether they believe climate change is real. The U.S. Senate voted on a resolution offered by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) as an amendment to the Keystone XL pipeline bill, which stated simply: Climate change is real and not a hoax. The resolution was approved by a vote of 98-1.
Today’s vote marked the first time that Senate Republicans have gone on record about the reality of climate change since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision unleashed a torrent of polluter money into politics. That decision came out five years ago today.
“This resolution marks a historic shift for many of my Republican colleagues,” said Whitehouse. “While a number of Republicans have long acknowledged that climate change is real, including Senator Graham who spoke once again today, many others either denied the science or refused to discuss it. I was glad to see almost every Republican, including Senator Inhofe, acknowledge the reality of climate change today, and I hope this means we can move on to discussing not just whether climate change is real, but what we should do about it.”
Today’s vote comes after 85 weekly speeches delivered by Whitehouse over the course of nearly three years urging his colleagues to wake up to the reality of climate change.
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