The Republican-controlled Senate voted on Wednesday to reject a symbolic provision that said human activity contributes to climate change.
The vote was 50-49 for a Democratic amendment that did nothing other than declare that “climate change is real” and that “human activity significantly contributes to climate change.”
The amendment by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) fell short of the 60 votes required to pass.
The vote came shortly after Republicans surprised Democrats at the last minute by supporting an earlier amendment by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to express a “sense of the Senate that climate change is real and not a hoax.”
That amendment passed 98-1 after Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), who has repeatedly called climate change a hoax, signed on. The reason was that Whitehouse amendment did not take a position on whether humans play a role.
Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) tweeted:
Just voted to express that climate change is not a hoax. As @varvel pointed out, in Indiana we call it “March” pic.twitter.com/TW9x0Gr6vy
— Senator Dan Coats (@SenDanCoats) January 21, 2015
The amendments, filed to legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline, were a naked attempt by Democrats to troll a political party that struggles to accept to consensus of roughly 97 to 98 percent of climate scientists that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global climate change.
The vote came one day after President Barack Obama needled Republicans on the topic in his State of the Union address.
“I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they’re not scientists; that we don’t have enough information to act. Well, I’m not a scientist, either,” he said. “The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate.”
OK Mr. Congressperson, we know you’re not a scientist. But that doesn’t prevent you from talking to and listening to scientists. That’s why congress holds hearings- to gather information from experts in their fields, so you can make informed decisions. Put that Koch Brothers campaign donation check down and pay attention: lives of future generations are counting on you.
Right wing Republicans need to stop embarrassing themselves by claiming global warming isn’t real.
They also need to recognize that British right wingers and French right wingers are often just as truthful as today’s American conservatives, meaning you need to check your facts before you embarrass yourselves by quoting them about things like no go zones.
"Just voted to express that climate change is not a hoax. As @varvel pointed out, in Indiana we call it “March” "
And the correct response from the Dems should be: “Dan Coats (R-IN) officially voted on record today to express his belief that Christian dogma is wrong and Pope Francis is indeed fallible, and that the Pope’s admonishments about climate change and man’s contributions thereto are just so much fluff and falsehood to be ignored at all costs. The only question remains: who paid him his 30 silver?”
And reaffirmed that we are made from mud. (And women are genetic clones of men, having been made from a rib.)
True “Christians” don’t trust the Catholic Church and view the Pope with suspicion.