Senators to Watch on Global Warming
Ten movers and shakers on climate policy
Posted: 23-Jan-2007; Updated: 14-Aug-2007
Global warming has Capitol Hill buzzing this winter. New bills, new committee assignments and a new set of promises from the politicians for meaningful action.
It's good that there's talk of action. But, talking isn't going to cut it. The science warns us that we're running out of time and we need our leaders to deliver this year.
Meet ten of the most influential global warming movers and shakers in the Senate. These senators are making key decisions – for better or for worse – on the global warming crisis.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) – Sits on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee; has stated that global warming is a threat; is a cosponsor of the Carper-Alexander Clean Air Planning Act that, among other things, would cap global warming pollution from America's power plants.

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) – Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; last year worked with fellow New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici to circulate a white paper on global warming solutions and to organize a Climate Conference at which business leaders from leading industries spoke out in favor of national action; has proposed his own legislative compromise that falls short of setting a nation-wide hard cap.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) – Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee; has pledged to hold a series of hearings early this year on global warming solutions; is cosponsor of the Sanders-Boxer Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, which calls for America to cut its global warming pollution by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) – Cosponsor of the Carper-Alexander Clean Air Planning Act that would cap global warming pollution from America's power plants; also supports economy-wide global warming cap and trade legislation; is the Chair of the Clean Air Act Subcommittee of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee.

Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) – Ranking member and former chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; has served in the Senate for 35 years and is a widely respected Senate leader; last year, worked with fellow New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman to organize a white paper and a Climate Conference to examine global warming solutions.

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) – Comes from an oil state; one of the most vocal global warming skeptics on the Hill; has called global warming the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind; as former chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, can be counted on to use his experience and knowledge of Senate rules to block action.

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) – Cosponsor of the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act, the first global warming bill to establish an economy-wide cap on global warming pollution; chair of the Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection Subcommittee under the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) – Cosponsor of the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act; has been a vocal leader on the need for global warming action; has led trips to the Arctic and Norway with his Senate colleagues to highlight the impacts of global warming.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) – Freshman senator; replaced retired Senator Jim Jeffords; sits on both the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; is cosponsor of the Sanders-Boxer Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, which calls for America to cut its global warming pollution by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Senator John Warner (R-VA) – Influential Senate leader who has served since 1979; sits on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee; has voted against legislation that would cap America's global warming pollution, but has also voted for a nonbinding Sense of the Senate resolution in 2005 that called for meaningful action; has said he agrees "with the majority of climate experts that human activity is the root cause of today's global warming."
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