Senate rejects “Dirty Air Act”, votes “no”.
Reportedly, the Senate has just made one of the biggest environmental or climate change decisions of the year and voted against Senator Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) infamous “Dirty Air Act” (53-47).
[social_buttons]
The Dirty Air Act would have overturned a landmark finding made in December by the EPA “that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare” and can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
The Senate’s decision to uphold the EPA’s finding is a hopeful sign that it is more concerned with clear science than dirty energy lobbying.
At the least, it has decided to let the EPA retain well-appropriated power to regulate these global warming gases.
The decision by the Senate to vote against the Dirty Air Act brings a bit of optimism and hope again in the middle of the BP oil spill tragedy.
Unfortunately, it was no landslide victory. Every single Republican voted in support of the Dirty Air Act and six Democrats supported it as well. When Senators can go against solid science in a case such as this, you have to wonder what they actually care about. Hopefully more Senators get up the will to vote for climate change action and clean technology when the climate and clean energy jobs bill, the American Power Act, comes to a vote.
On the positive side, several Senators who did not support EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions today indicated that they would support Congressional measures to address it and oil dependency.
Like this article? Connect with me on Facebook or Twitter
Image Credit: kevindooley via flickr/CC license
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Zachary Shahan
If you couldn't guess, I spend most of my time on CleanTechnica and Planetsave. I'm the director/editor of both sites and am a little obsessed with them and the topics they cover. I'm also Publishing Services Manager at Important Media, which means that I do everything I can to support other Important Media writers, editors, and directors (as well as the network as a whole) in the good work they are engaged in. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Change.org, most of the sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. For more, or to connect, go to: zacharyshahan.com
Click on a tab to select how you'd like to leave your comment
- Planetsave
