Murkowski's Bid to Repeal Science and Block EPA Fails in U.S. Senate: 53 to 47

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) of Alaska failed in her ill-timed and controversial campaign to take away the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gases, affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2007. Her closely watched bid to just say "no" to climate science in the glaring absence of Congressional action on greenhouse gas pollution met with defeat, as expected.

On Thursday evening, after six hours of debate, the Senate rejected her "Resolution of Disapproval" in a vote of 53 to 47. The measure needed a simple majority of 51 to pass.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.), who voted no, called it "a turning point" for the U.S. Senate.

"What was before us was unprecedented. [It was] the first time we'd ever been ask to repeal a health finding that was made by scientists and health officials in the Bush administration and the Obama administration," Boxer said after the vote.

"We did the right thing ... this was important. It means we're going to move to alternative energy. We're going to move to the millions of jobs that will come about when we have technologies made in America for America."

President Obama commended the chamber for rejecting a resolution that would ensure business as usual.

"Today, the Senate chose to move America forward, towards that clean energy economy — not backward to the same failed policies that have left our nation increasingly dependent on foreign oil."

For all the hoopla surrounding Thursday's vote, however, the largely symbolic measure had almost no chance of marching through Congress, and its hugely public failure may now open the door for the Senate to pass climate legislation this year. 

Murkowski's resolution was politically ill-conceived. The U.S. House had said it would not take up the resolution, and this week, President Obama declared he would veto the measure if it somehow reached his desk. Federal regulators will limit global warming pollution if Congress continues to dilly-dally on comprehensive climate-energy legislation.

Democrats would need 60 votes to pass a climate bill in the Senate. According to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, a non-profit research group, the Murkowski showdown reveals that figure is within reach. Among the 47 senators voting "yes", it said, eight made statements in support of limiting greenhouse gases, including five Republicans.

"In other words, at least 61 Senators, through their votes or statements today, expressed support for policy that would limit GHG emissions," the group said in a post-vote analysis.

In the end, the Murkowski Resolution had six Democratic backers — Sens. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Evan Bayh (Ind.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.). All represent coal or agricultural states concerned about the economic effects of carbon regulation. No Republican voted against the resolution.

Rockefeller, in declaring his support for the measure, said on the Senate floor that he supports "all alternative fuels" but "EPA regulation is not the answer."

"EPA has little or no authority to address economic needs ... no obligation to protect the hardworking people that I represent ... in the coalfields of West Virginia. Their jobs matter," he said.

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