Climate Solutions applauds Senator Cantwell and Senator Murray for defending the Clean Air Act
Both Senator Maria Cantwell and Senator Patty Murray delivered strong floor speeches in defense of the Clean Air Act last week. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) proposed to revoke the science-based determination by the Environmental Protection Agency that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations of Americans. Senators Cantwell and Murray voted with the majority to reject the measure, which failed on a vote of 47 to 53 on June 10.
Both Senator Maria Cantwell and Senator Patty Murray delivered strong floor speeches in defense of the Clean Air Act last week. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) proposed to revoke the science-based determination by the Environmental Protection Agency that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations of Americans. Senators Cantwell and Murray voted with the majority to reject the measure, which failed on a vote of 47 to 53 on June 10.
Senator Cantwell left no uncertainty in her support for the Clean Air Act:
"Today, 40 years later, we have come to the point where thousands of scientists, working throughout the federal government and around the world over the course of decades, have identified a serious risk associated with the emissions of greenhouse gases. Given the these scientific findings, the legal mandate from the United States Supreme Court, and the statutory requirements spelled out in the Clean Air Act, the EPA has a responsibility to act.
For Congress now to undermine that process would be to undermine the Clean Air Act itself and the sanctity of science-based policymaking. It would be a very bad precedent, and it would be a threat to our children and to the environment in which we want them to grow up."
Click here for the full text and video of Senator Cantwell's floor speech.
And Senator Murray invoked the gross juxtaposition of the Gulf spill catastrophe with Senator Murkowski's proposal to entrench our economy even deeper in dirty energy politics:
“It is especially disappointing to see this on the floor while images of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and devastating the local environment and economy continue to be shown on the nightly news,” said Senator Murray. “The resolution we are debating today will take us back to the failed old policies that have made our country more and more dependent on oil.”
Click here for the full text and video of Senator Murray's floor speech.
Climate Solutions applauds Washington State's Senators for such strong defense of the Clean Air Act and for working to build our clean economy.
