Most U.S. senators now agree on two things about climate change: That it is driven by humans, and that it is not a hoax.
Getting to that point during a series of votes on amendments for Keystone XL pipeline legislation was tortuous for Democrats and Republicans alike.
“I’m not sure that there were any clear expectations, but I think the way the day transpired was productive but it was also fascinating,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told reporters. “We made good progress today and we were pretty pleased there is an emerging bipartisan group of people who believe climate change is real, is caused by humans and is solvable.”
Fifty senators, including five Republicans, agreed that climate change was real, human-induced and solvable on Schatz’s amendment, though it failed because it needed 60 votes to pass. The Republicans who backed the amendment were Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Susan Collins of Maine.
Democrats hoped the Schatz amendment and another from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., would put Republicans on record regarding climate change. Scientists say climate change is driven by humans, largely by burning greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels, and many GOP lawmakers are skeptical of that science.
A separate amendment from Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., that also said climate change was occurring and humans contributed to it — though without the word “significantly,” as Schatz’s amendment said — narrowly failed by one vote, a result that Hoeven aided by switching his vote against the measure. Fifteen Republicans voted for the amendment, which lifted language from the State Department’s environmental review that said Keystone XL wouldn’t have a significant impact on emissions. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also voted against the amendment because he said he doesn’t agree with the State findings.
The vote on the Hoeven amendment illustrated the uncomfortable position Democrats had sought to put their GOP colleagues in by adding climate change amendments to the Keystone XL bill. They had hoped to force Republicans to debate and take a stand on the climate issue.
Ryan Bernstein, Hoeven’s chief of staff, told reporters that the senator changed his vote because he thought it would endanger passage of the overall bill that would approve construction of the 1,700-mile oil pipeline, which has been under federal review more than six years. Hoeven is the lead sponsor of the bill.
Sen. Barbara Boxer told reporters that Hoeven had told her much of the same.
“When you vote against your own amendment, you’re ‘Hoevenized,'” the California Democrat said. “And I asked him, ‘Why did you vote against your own amendment?’ [He said] ‘Because I was threatened that this bill would fail if this was on it.'”
Some of the Republicans who voted for the Hoeven amendment, such as Ayotte, Kirk, Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, are up for re-election in 2016. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has potential presidential ambitions, also voted for the amendment. The other Republicans backing it were John McCain of Arizona, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Dean Heller of Nevada, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Mike Rounds of South Dakota.
Sanders, who like environmental groups put more stock in the more strongly worded Schatz amendment, said, “I’ll tell ya, it’s a funny thing. I’m glad that finally we have some Republicans coming on board and acknowledging what the overwhelming majority of scientists are telling us. Five Republicans is better than nothing, but I think it’s still a sad state of affairs if the vast majority of Republican senators are rejecting science.”
In a surprise move, the Senate voted 98-1 to approve Whitehouse’s amendment that said climate change was “real and not a hoax,” largely because it lacked the caveat that humans caused it. Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker voted against the amendment, but he wasn’t the only Republican who cast doubt on man-made climate change.
“The hoax is that there are some people that are so arrogant to think that they are so powerful that they can change climate. Man can’t change climate,” Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., said on the Senate floor.
But with Republican votes cast on the side of believing in human-caused climate change, Boxer said the conversation was shifting.
“I call it progress. When you’re asking what it means, it means a softening of the attitude of the deniers. They’re losing ground in the face of public opinion,” Boxer said.
