http://stream.wsj.com/story/campaign-2012-continuous-coverage/SS-2-9156/SS-2-475245/

Senate Democrats Plan All-Nighter on Climate Change
Senate Democrats plan an all-night session on Monday to talk about climate change.

By Kristina Peterson

...Beginning after the Senate’s Monday evening votes, 28 members of the Democratic caucus plan to speak until around 9 a.m. Tuesday to push for action on climate change. In a nod to the social media frenzy generated by recent GOP floor dramatics, Democrats already have their Twitter hashtag ready: #Up4Climate.

“On Monday we’ll be sending a clear message: it’s time for Congress to wake up and get serious about addressing this issue,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.), who gives a weekly speech on climate change on the Senate floor. His nearly constant prop: a large poster-board with a photo of Earth and the slogan “Time to Wake Up.”

The Democrats’ all-night speech extravaganza follows two high-profile and very, very long speeches from two GOP senators considered potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates. Exactly one year ago Friday, Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) wrapped up a 13-hour filibuster pressing the Obama administration to never use unmanned drones to kill Americans on U.S. soil who aren’t involved in combat. Mr. Paul’s filibuster, which began shortly before noon and continued past midnight, held up confirmation of the new Central Intelligence Agency chief.

Last September, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) mounted a talkathon 21 hours and 19 minutes in duration detailing his concerns with the Affordable Care Act. The speech, which consumed all of one night and much of the previous day, came just a few days before the start of the partial government shutdown, when Mr. Cruz objected to Democrats’ plan to fund the health-care law in a budget bill.

Outside of Washington, at least one Democrat’s national profile spiked as the result of a long, if not late-night, speech: Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis. Her nearly 12-hour filibuster last June protested a state bill banning abortions after 20 weeks and closing the doors of most of Texas’s abortion providers. Ms. Davis is now running to be the governor of Texas.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/06/harry-reid-climate-change_n_4914683.html

Harry Reid: 'Climate Change Is The Worst Problem Facing The World Today'

Posted: 03/06/2014 6:16 pm EST Updated: 03/06/2014 7:59 pm EST
by Kate Sheppard

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that climate change is a really big deal -- the biggest, in fact.

"Climate change is the worst problem facing the world today," said the Nevada Democrat at a roundtable with reporters.

Reid has been growing ever more assertive on climate change. Last June, he said in a speech on the Senate floor that "we have no more important issue in the world than this issue, period."

Four years ago, it was the Democrat-led Senate that effectively killed off major climate legislation. And it was Reid who delivered the bill's eulogy, remarking that he knew he just didn't have the votes to pass it.

Senators who have long advocated for more action on climate change have taken Reid's recent rhetoric as a positive sign. Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse has said Reid's climate remarks are evidence that the profile of the issue has "climbed considerably." Next Monday, a group of senators is planning to take over the Senate floor for a whole night to discuss the importance of addressing climate change.

Reid also bashed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the approval of which is pending before President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. The pipeline would carry oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas. "To think that that pipeline would be built ... That just doesn't sound like a very good idea to me," said Reid, who has previously said he opposes the pipeline.

Reid also insinuated that Charles and David Koch, the prominent conservative funders who have made much of their money off oil, gas and chemicals, are behind the push to approve Keystone XL. While reports have argued that Koch Industries and its subsidiaries stand to benefit from the pipeline's construction, the company has said that it has "no financial stake" in the project. Reid has been on an anti-Koch kick of late, accusing the billionaire brothers of "buying America."

"Anything that's dirtying the environment, look around and they're involved in it most of the time," said Reid. "It's hard to find anything dirtier than coal. But you look around, you got tar sands -- that beats it."

HuffPost's Jennifer Bendery contributed reporting.

[img][/img]UN_CarbonMechs ?Feb 17
RT @ClimaLoop: #CO2 emissions by country. Which are the countries emitting more #GHG ? #climatechange #infographic pic.twitter.com/I7af12UeKK

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/eshope/over_2_million_comments_ask_fo.html

Over 2 Million Comments Ask for Rejection of the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
NRDC Switchboard, March 7, 2014
by Elizabeth Shope

http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Majority.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=2ef9ffe0-06b3-3078-2b07-3e46adc4f543&Region_id=&Issue_id=

MONDAY ALL NIGHT: Senators Speaking All Night to Urge Action on Climate Change
March 7, 2014

Washington, DC - Immediately following votes on the evening of Monday, March 10 until approximately 9 am ET Tuesday, March 11, Senators from the Senate Climate Action Task Force will be holding the Senate floor to urge action on climate change. A significant number of Senators are expected to participate throughout the night.

"Climate change is real, it is caused by humans, and it is solvable," said Senator Schatz. "Congress must act. On Monday night we're going to show the growing number of Senators who are committed to working together to confront climate change."

Senator Boxer said: "So many Senators coming together for an all-night session shows our commitment to wake up Congress to the dangers of climate change. All you have to do is look at China to see what happens to your country when you throw the environment under the bus."

"The cost of Congress' inaction on climate change is too high for our communities, our kids and grandkids, and our economy," Senator Whitehouse said. "On Monday we'll be sending a clear message: it's time for Congress to wake up and get serious about addressing this issue."

Senators expected to participate include:

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash.
Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md.
Senator Bernard Sanders, I-Vt.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
Senator Mark Udall, D-Colo.
Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.
Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Senator Al Franken, D-Minn.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
Senator Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.
Senator Angus King, I-Maine
Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Senator Edward J. Markey, D-Mass.
Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J.

Senators will be actively participating on social media as well throughout the night - using the hashtag #Up4Climate.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/07/1282854/-Keystone-Isn-t-Any-Normal-Pipeline

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO SENATORWHITEHOUSE ON FRI MAR 07, 2014 AT 06:26 AM PST.

Keystone Isn't Any Normal Pipeline

The State Department has invited the public to weigh in on the Keystone XL pipeline. The question is whether or not the pipeline is in our national interest.

The answer is no, it is not.

Keystone isn't any normal pipeline. It would pump tar sands oil, one of the dirtiest fuels on Earth. Adding more tar sands oil to our energy mix would accelerate climate change, put our health at risk for generations, and tarnish our international reputation. And we've got until the end of the day on March 7 to tell Secretary John Kerry that it's wrong for America.

Tar sands are a sticky mixture of oil, sediment, and other compounds that requires lots of energy to extract and refine. According to the State Department's analysis of the Keystone project, Canadian tar sands oil produces 17 percent more carbon pollution on its journey from the ground to a tailpipe or smoke stack than the average crude we use.

This extra pollution really adds up. The State Department's calculations show that burning the Keystone tar sands crude instead of average crude could result in up to 1.4 billion metric tons of additional carbon spewed into our atmosphere over the next fifty years.

What does that mean? We can estimate how much carbon-driven climate change will cost society in years to come by adding up its effects on things like agriculture, human health, and property damage from floods. They call this the social cost of carbon. And when you run the numbers on Keystone, you see that tar sands oil could cause up to $128 billion in extra damage from climate change over the pipeline's lifetime. And it's taxpayers, companies, and investors who will shoulder that cost.

There's also the serious toll refining and burning tar sands oil takes on our health. Senator Barbara Boxer and I just met with doctors, researchers, and people who live near tar sands mining operations and refineries to discuss the health problems they see there. They described troubling rates of health risks like asthma, lung disease, cancer, and heart disease.

Beyond Keystone's costs to our economy and health is the real cost of failing to lead the charge on climate change. Last year, President Obama's Climate Action Plan set the goal of galvanizing international action to significantly reduce emissions. That means doing the hard work of convincing the international community to cut carbon pollution. Allowing Keystone to pollute our air and harm our businesses and communities for generations would only discourage the sort of action the President called for.

So no, this isn't just any old pipeline, and it's definitely not in our national interest. I hope you will send your own message telling Secretary Kerry and the President to recognize this and reject Keystone. If they do, they will send the world a message: that America is serious about climate change.

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety.