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Carl Milton Levin (born June 28, 1934) is the senior Senator from Michigan and is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He is the longest-serving US Senator ever to represent Michigan, reelected for a 6th term in the Senate in 2008.
His primary focus in the Senate is clearly matters pertaining to National Security. He voted against sending troops to Iraq in 2002/2003 and has frequently been a rational voice of criticism for our foreign policy in the years since. He has also been instrumental in exposing much of the secret policies of the Bush administration regarding torture.
I called his office on Monday, August 24 and asked about his support for America Clean Energy & Security Act (ACES), which passed the House earlier this year and is working its way through the Senate. The staff member I spoke with said that Senator Levin supports it.
Based on the fact that Senator Levin signed a letter to President Obama earlier this year expressing some reservations with climate change litigation, I expected a more nuanced answer, but didn't get it.
Here's a part of the letter:
Climate change is a reality and the world cannot afford inaction," they wrote. "However, we must not engage in a self-defeating effort that displaces greenhouse gas emissions rather than reducing them and displaces U.S. jobs rather than bolstering them.
His web page has some strong language about climate change, but also brings up the fact that India and China need to do more. This is true, of course, but ignores the fact that those countries have a much smaller per capita carbon footprint than the USA and the fact that much of the CO2 already present in the atmosphere is there because of our industrial growth over the last 100 years.
Here's the text I'm referring to:
Global climate change is occurring and swift action is needed to protect our planet for future generations. While the U.S. should take a leading role in addressing climate change, developing countries such as China and India, which are polluting more and more every year, and have surpassed U.S. emissions, must be part of an international solution to address global climate change.
Senator Levin has supported legislation that offers an international approach to curbing the growing threat of global warming, and is committed to tackling national legislation aimed at this global problem in a meaningful and comprehensive manner that does not harm our economy. To address global warming, Senator Levin has also supported efforts to invest in leap-ahead technologies, like hybrid and hydrogen vehicles, advanced biofuels, and renewable electricity generation that will dramatically lower our greenhouse gas emissions and reduce our dependence on non-sustainable sources of energy.
I think that Senator Levin is and will continue to be an ally on climate change legislation and other environmental policies. This is clearly not his #1 issue, but I believe he recognizes its importance and will vote for ACES unless it is dramatically changed in the Senate.
One way to help ensure that Senator Levin is on board is to continue to make the connection between his primary focus, National Security, and climate change, as the Times does in this editorial. And in this story.
A final important point is that he does not seem to be financially beholden to energy or other special interests that would prefer to see this legislation go away.
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
Sure, he does take money from energy companies, but not to a degree that should affect his decisions on these matters.
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On a personal note, I encourage everyone out there to get and/or stay involved here. The Healthcare stuff is critically important, don't get me wrong (and I'm involved in that, too), but don't lose sight of climate change. Everyone around the globe is going to be affected by this, not just those of us in the USA.
Please push your senators to strengthen and pass ACES!