GOP Senators Block Bill on Climate Change

Republican senators blocked a landmark climate change bill today in a filibuster, making it likely that the carbon-capping legislation will be shelved until next year. After a debate over the economic costs of the bill—which would cut CO2 emissions by 71% by 2050—the Senate came up a dozen votes short of the number needed to end the filibuster, the AP reports.

“It’s a huge tax increase,” said the GOP's Mitch McConnel, who called it “the largest restructuring of the American economy since the New Deal.” An angered Barbara Boxer, one of the co-sponsors, insisted, “There is no tax increase.” Neither presidential candidate was in the chamber. (More climate change stories.)