Today, a majority of senators supported moving forward on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007. The following statement is from Martin Hayden, Vice President of Policy and Legislation for Earthjustice:

“Today, 48 senators supported moving forward on the Lieberman-Warmer Climate Security Act, and six additional senators who were not present issued statements of support. But despite this majority, there were not the 60 votes necessary to overturn a filibuster. The last time there was a vote on similar legislation, only 38 senators voted in favor. We are pleased to see that a majority of the U.S. Senate understands the threat of global climate change and wants to take action to combat global warming.

“The news flash for those senators who still belong to the ‘flat earth’ society is that global warming is not going away and neither is the American public’s desire for bold action to fight it. Unlike those senators who chose today to stand with King Coal and Big Oil by blocking progress on this bill, the American people have faith in our nation’s ability to confront our biggest challenges head on and win. That is exactly what will happen if Congress is willing to step up to the plate and fight global warming with strong legislation that promises significant cuts in greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, that did not happen today.

“It is vital that Congress leads the way to U.S. reductions of our greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. While the bill before the Senate today needed to be strengthened on the floor, it was nonetheless a serious proposal. We commend Majority Leader Harry Reid, Chairman Barbara Boxer and Senators Joe Lieberman and John Warner for forcing the issue in the Senate.

“As we move forward and continue to push for strong legislation to combat global warming, the obstructionists we witnessed this week need to put the interests of our nation’s children and grandchildren ahead of the oil and coal industries. The combination of the American public’s desire to fight global warming and the overwhelming scientific evidence that global warming is becoming more of a threat will continue to build over the next many months and create the demand for even stronger legislation next year.”