WASHINGTON - A US carbon-capping bill aimed at curbing climate change died on Friday in the Senate but its supporters looked to the next president to enact a global warming law as early as 2009.
Far from being discouraged, Sen. Joe Lieberman said international observers would be gratified that the measure got support from a majority in the Senate, including presumptive presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama.
"In America change doesn't happen overnight, it takes time to turn the ship of state," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who shepherded the bill.
She said supporters planned to start work next week on a "roadmap" for the next president.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR A NEW PRESIDENT
President George W. Bush has consistently opposed any economy-wide cap-and-trade plan and had vowed to veto this bill if Congress approved it.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky discounted the vote's importance. "This whole exercise will have had no effect on either climate change or gas prices," he said.
Too little too late... The Climate Security Act would have cut US greenhouse gas emissions by about 2 percent per year between 2012 and 2050...
