The Patriot Post® · The Implications of Senate's Climate Change Vote

In a 98 to 1 vote, the Senate decided that climate change is indeed real. The vote was one of three amendments the body voted on as they worked to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The Senate failed to pass two other amendments to the Keystone bill that would have said climate change was caused by human activity. While 60 votes were needed to add the amendment to the bill, the two proposals got 50 votes. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D–RI), who proposed the approved amendment, told the upper chamber, “I’m hoping that after many years of darkness and blockade that this vote can be a first little beam of light through the wall that will at least allow us to start having an honest conversation about what carbon pollution is doing to our climate and to our oceans.” While Obama’s agenda to enact cap and trade will still get stymied in Congress, this vote may lead the Senate to approve moving military bases, redefining the priorities of the Pentagon and discouraging people from building near the coast. More…