Washington, DC - Today Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement following a Senate floor vote to reject a proposal by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) that would have overturned the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) scientific finding that greenhouse gas pollution is a danger to public health and welfare.
Senator Boxer, who led the opposition on the Senate floor, said, "Today I am proud that the Senate took a stand on the side of America's families, clean energy jobs, and national security. Senators held firm against Big Oil and refused to overturn the scientific and health finding that is the foundation of a brighter future for America."
On a vote of 53 to 47, the Senate defeated the motion to proceed to the Murkowski Resolution. As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency can continue its efforts under the Clean Air Act to reduce the dangerous carbon pollution that causes climate change. The Murkowski Resolution was opposed by public health experts, clean energy businesses, state clean air agencies and the former EPA Administrators from the Nixon, Ford and Reagan Administrations.
During the debate, Senator Boxer and other Senators pointed out that overturning a science and health based endangerment finding was an extreme step that would stall efforts to build a clean energy economy in the United States, would increase our dependence on oil, and would set a dangerous precedent that would undermine the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to protect children and families from pollution.
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