SWAN Village-to-Village Messaging System: What is up with our two Senators from Alaska

What is up with our two Senators from Alaska

Posted by Margaret on 6/19/2008, 1:52 pm
12.46.50.194

GLOBAL WARMING NEWS FROM ALASKA
UPDATE
What Happened with the Last Two
Energy/Global Warming Senate Votes
Dear Friends,

As you know, in the last two weeks you have received Alerts from us on two critically important Senate votes.

Usually, we do not clutter your inbox with the results of the votes, because the media covers these outcomes. But we understand that the media coverage of the vote today will be minimal or non-existent, so we wanted to let you know what happened, in case you wanted to follow-up with your Senators.

The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act

Today, the cloture vote on the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act failed by a vote of 52-44. To succeed, 60 votes were necessary. To see the vote results, click here.

Both Senator Stevens and Senator Murkowski voted no. They and other Senators in the minority allowed a threatened veto by President Bush to impede necessary action on renewable energy.

As a result, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act will not proceed. This is detrimental to Alaska and the nation. The country’s renewable energy tax credits are due to expire at the end of the year, and their non-extension is adversely affecting renewable energy installations this building season, jobs, our economy, our energy independence, and our carbon footprint.

As Thomas Friedman recently wrote in an “Are you sitting down?” column, it is frankly incredible that our nation cannot pass legislation extending renewable energy tax credits. But 60 votes are needed to take action in the filibuster world that now governs potential renewable energy and climate change legislation. To get to 60 votes, we must have Senator Stevens and Senator Murkowski voting “yes,” as well as other key senators who share the same party affiliation with President Bush.

It is very disappointing that this crucial issue for Alaska and the nation is not going forward. The substitute bill for the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act also provided critical tax relief for Exxon Valdez plaintiffs, Energy Conservation Bonds, student college tuition deductions, funding for the Secure Rural Schools Act, teacher expense deductions, and more.

Inaction and “nay” votes are hurting our country.

Climate Security Act

As I am sure most of you know, since it was covered extensively by the media, the cloture vote on the Climate Security Act also failed, by a vote of 48-36. To see the vote results, click here. I will discuss this in some detail in the next monthly report.

There is still time to pass legislation to extend the renewable energy tax credits. But we need to let our Senators know how important this is to our states and the nation.

Thanks again for everything you are doing.

With hope and determination