Today, the Senate voted on 12 more amendments to the S. 1, the Keystone XL bill. This vote-a-thon followed their 15 vote marathon from last Thursday. The Senate will vote on 13 more amendments tomorrow.
How many of the 12 passed? One. It was an amendment from Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Warner (D-VA) to help school officials learn more easily about federal programs and incentives that are available to improve energy efficiency. It passed by voice vote.
I have chronicled the 11 roll call votes below.
Twelve Democrats broke party line on at least one vote: Manchin (7), Heitkamp (6), Bennet (3), Donnelly (3), McCaskill (3), Tester (3), Warner (3), Carper (2), Henrich (1), Kaine (1), Klobuchar (1), and Udall (1).
Six Republicans broke party line on at least one vote: Collins (4), Ayotte (3), Alexander (2), Gardner (2), Grassley (2), and Kirk (2).
Clean Water & Environmental Safety
Ben Cardin (D-MD) offered an amendment to provide communities that rely on drinking water from a source that may be affected by a tar sands spill from the Keystone XL pipeline an analysis of the potential risks to public health and the environment from a leak or rupture of the pipeline.
The amendment failed 37 to 61.
Eight Democrats voted with the GOP
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Tom Carper (D-DE)
Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
Mark Warner (D-VA)
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Gary Peters (D-MI) offered an amendment to require that the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration make a certification and submit to Congress the results of a study before the pipeline may be constructed, connected, operated, or maintained.
It failed 40 to 58.
One Republican—Mark Kirk (R-IL)—voted for the amendment.
Six Democrats voted against it:
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Tom Carper (D-DE)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
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Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) offered an amendment to close the Halliburton loophole and finally require gas storage and gas drilling companies to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted fracking from the underground injection control program of the SDWA. (You can see the roll call for the Energy Policy Act here if you're interested.)
It failed 35 to 63.
Ten Democrats joined with Republicans in voting against it:
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
Tom Udall (D-NM)
Mark Warner (D-VA)
Renewable Energy
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) offered an amendment to increase the quantity of solar photovoltaic electricity by providing rebates for the purchase and installation of an additional 10,000,000 photovoltaic systems by 2025.
It failed 40 to 58.
Five Democrats joined Republicans in voting against it:
Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Mark Warner (D-VA)
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Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) offered an amendment to express the sense of Congress that the tax code should be amended to extend the renewable energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) for five years.
It failed 47 to 51.
Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted NO with the Republicans.
Three Republicans—Susan Collins (R-ME), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Mark Kirk (R-IL)—voted YES with the Democrats.
Fossil Fuels
Ted Cruz offered an amendment to end the ban on crude oil exports.
It failed 53 to 45, seven votes short of the 60 vote threshold.
Susan Collins (R-ME) voted with the Democrats, and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) voted with the Republicans.
Wilderness, Wildlife, and Public Lands
Jerry Moran (R-KS) offered an amendment to delist the lesser prairie-chicken as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
It failed 54 to 44, six votes short of the 60-vote threshold.
Joe Manchin (D-WV) joined the Republicans in voting YES.
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Steve Daines (R-MT) offered an amendment to express the sense of Congress regarding the designation of National Monuments:
It is the sense of Congress that the designation of National Monuments should be subject to—
(1) consultation with each unit of local government within the boundaries of which the proposed National Monument is to be located; and
(2) the approval by the Governor and legislature of each State within the boundaries of which the proposed National Monument is to be located.
It failed
50 to 47, ten votes shy of the 60 vote threshold.
One Democrat—Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)—voted for it.
Three Republicans—Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Cory Garnder (R-CO)—voted against it.
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Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) offered an amendment to release certain wilderness study areas from management for preservation as wilderness. Her amendment would open more than 27 million acres of land to mining, drilling, and logging.
It failed 50 to 48, ten votes shy of the 60-vote threshold.
Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted YES with the Republicans.
Four Republicans voted NO with the Democrats:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Cory Gardner (R-CO)
Climate Change
Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced an amendment to express the sense of Congress regarding climate change and infrastructure:
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) climate change is already impacting the safety and reliability of the critical infrastructure systems of the United States, including buildings, roads, bridges, tunnels, rail, ports, airports, levees, dams, and military installations through sea level rise, rising temperatures, and more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, wildfires, and heat waves;
(2) significant energy, industrial and transportation infrastructure in the United States is located near the coast, in floodplains, or in other areas vulnerable to sea level rise;
(3) the impacts to infrastructure described in paragraph (1) have caused tangible economic costs that are likely to increase over time;
(4) it is fiscally prudent to prepare for and seek to mitigate the impacts described in paragraph (1), as it is estimated that every dollar spent on mitigation saves $4 in disaster relief;
(5) the Federal Government self-insures, offers insurance programs such as crop insurance and the national flood insurance program, and, in the case of extreme weather events, also serves as the insurer of last resort for public and private infrastructure;
(6) the Federal Government has a crucial role to play as a partner in working with State, local, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions to help ensure coordinated efforts to keep communities resilient;
(7) the role of the Federal Government should include prioritizing climate resilient projects when administering Federal grants, providing technical support, and sharing of data and information in user-friendly and accessible formats, among other actions;
(8) Federal agency climate change adaptation plans that assess the risk to physical assets and missions of the Federal agencies can help create savings for taxpayers; and
(9) Federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, should quantify the economic value of the physical risks of the agencies from climate change.
It failed
47 to 51.
Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) joined the Democrats in voting for it.
Campaign Finance
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) offered an amendment to require campaign finance disclosures for certain persons benefitting from tar sands development.
It failed 44 to 52.
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) voted against it with the Republicans.