United States Senators stood up for what they believed in today—and it wasn’t pretty. During a debate over construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, intended to carry oil from Canada to the United States, the Senate voted on an amendment—just for show, really—on whether climate change “is real and not a hoax.” Easy question—everyone said yes, it’s real. (Well, not everyone. Good job, Senator Roger Wicker, Republican from Mississippi1. You do not believe science.) But then Brian Schatz, Democrat from Hawaii, decided to push the issue. He introduced another amendment adding that human activity was a significant contributor to the aforementioned climate change. And the Senate voted again.
The results? Ahem. Fifty US senators affirmed that they indeed do believe that the activities of human beings contribute to climate change. OK. But 49 senators—fully half the upper house that represents our grand republic—do not. So, hey, you go out there and burn whatever carbon you want to? Not sure what to make of that. But we thought you might want to know just which representatives have absolved you of your responsibility to the planet. So here’s a list—of the senators who think climate change is some other species’ problem, and then the senators who wish we’d maybe do something about it.
Voted against the amendment (nay—human activities don’t contribute to climate change)
Barrasso, John (R - WY)
Blunt, Roy (R - MO)
Boozman, John (R - AR)
Burr, Richard (R - NC)
Capito, Shelley Moore (R - WV)
Cassidy, Bill (R - LA)
Coats, Daniel (R - IN)
Cochran, Thad (R - MS)
Corker, Bob (R - TN)
Cornyn, John (R - TX)
Cotton, Tom (R - AR)
Crapo, Mike (R - ID)
Cruz, Ted (R - TX)
Daines, Steve (R - MT)
Enzi, Michael B. (R - WY)
Ernst, Joni (R - IA)
Fischer, Deb (R - NE)
Flake, Jeff (R - AZ)
Gardner, Cory (R - CO)
Grassley, Chuck (R - IA)
Hatch, Orrin G. (R - UT)
Heller, Dean (R - NV)
Hoeven, John (R - ND)
Inhofe, James M. (R - OK)
Isakson, Johnny (R - GA)
Johnson, Ron (R - WI)
Lankford, James (R - OK)
Lee, Mike (R - UT)
McCain, John (R - AZ)
McConnell, Mitch (R - KY)
Moran, Jerry (R - KS)
Murkowski, Lisa (R - AK)
Paul, Rand (R - KY)
Perdue, David (R - GA)
Portman, Rob (R - OH)
Risch, James E. (R - ID)
Roberts, Pat (R - KS)
Rounds, Mike (R - SD)
Rubio, Marco (R - FL)
Sasse, Ben (R - NE)
Scott, Tim (R - SC)
Sessions, Jeff (R - AL)
Shelby, Richard C. (R - AL)
Sullivan, Daniel (R - AK)
Thune, John (R - SD)
Tillis, Thom (R - NC)
Toomey, Patrick J. (R - PA)
Vitter, David (R - LA)
Wicker, Roger F. (R - MS)
Voted for the amendment (yea—
human activities contribute to climate change)
Alexander, Lamar (R - TN)
Ayotte, Kelly (R - NH)
Baldwin, Tammy (D - WI)
Bennet, Michael F. (D - CO)
Blumenthal, Richard (D - CT)
Booker, Cory A. (D - NJ)
Boxer, Barbara (D - CA)
Brown, Sherrod (D - OH)
Cantwell, Maria (D - WA)
Cardin, Benjamin L. (D - MD)
Carper, Thomas R. (D - DE)
Casey, Robert P., Jr. (D - PA)
Collins, Susan M. (R - ME)
Coons, Christopher A. (D - DE)
Donnelly, Joe (D - IN)
Durbin, Richard J. (D - IL)
Feinstein, Dianne (D - CA)
Franken, Al (D - MN)
Gillibrand, Kirsten E. (D - NY)
Graham, Lindsey (R - SC)
Heinrich, Martin (D - NM)
Heitkamp, Heidi (D - ND)
Hirono, Mazie K. (D - HI)
Kaine, Tim (D - VA)
King, Angus S., Jr. (I - ME)
Kirk, Mark (R - IL)
Klobuchar, Amy (D - MN)
Leahy, Patrick J. (D - VT)
Manchin, Joe, III (D - WV)
Markey, Edward J. (D - MA)
McCaskill, Claire (D - MO)
Menendez, Robert (D - NJ)
Merkley, Jeff (D - OR)
Mikulski, Barbara A. (D - MD)
Murphy, Christopher (D - CT)
Murray, Patty (D - WA)
Nelson, Bill (D - FL)
Peters, Gary (D - MI)
Reed, Jack (D - RI)
Sanders, Bernard (I - VT)
Schatz, Brian (D - HI)
Schumer, Charles E. (D - NY)
Shaheen, Jeanne (D - NH)
Stabenow, Debbie (D - MI)
Tester, Jon (D - MT)
Udall, Tom (D - NM)
Warner, Mark R. (D - VA)
Warren, Elizabeth (D - MA)
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D - RI)
Wyden, Ron (D - OR)
1. Correction 19:15 EST 01/22/15 The state that Senator Roger Wicker represents has been corrected.
