Republicans Boycott Climate Change Markup

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Republican Senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee Tuesday are boycotting the first session of the committee’s markup of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, or Kerry-Boxer bill, in an effort to urge the committee to submit the legislation to the Environmental Protection Agency for economic analysis.

Democrats on the committee expressed their displeasure with the absence of the Republican members, with Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) dubbing the missing Republican members as being “AWOL.”

“Frankly, I’m shocked these Republicans have evaded this markup,” Lautenberg said.

The only Republican Senator who appeared with the committee was Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio). The Senator spoke as a “mock spokesman,” as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) put it, explaining that he, along with his Republican colleagues, are ready to work with the committee and the EPA in a bipartisan fashion under proper circumstances.

“As the leader of this committee, I hope you will make the right decision, for the sake of my constituents, for the sake of bipartisanship and for the future of this country,” Voinovich told Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Voinovich stressed the importance of putting the bill through a full economic evaluation with the EPA before the markup process continues.

“While I believe that S.1733 will likely move forward with policies that I oppose, I can’t imagine why we would move ahead without the best information possible from the agency that will be charged with implementing the legislation,” said Voinovich.

At the close of Voinovich’s remarks, in a sign of bipartisanship, Voinovich shook hands with Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and offered to work with the majority party through the markup process.

Boxer reiterated throughout the markup that Republicans will be more than welcome to join the committee later today and through the rest of the process.

“The door will be open, and I encourage the Republican members to join us at work to get the job done,” said Boxer

The committee will stop the markup at 2:30 to allow testimony to be heard from EPA officials.