Good move by the Republicans. I’m not sure how long they can hold off the socialists, though.
SALEM, Ore. — The president of the Oregon Senate said Tuesday there weren’t enough votes in his majority Democratic caucus to approve a landmark climate bill that has sparked a walkout by Republicans and exacerbated tensions between urban and rural areas.
All 11 Republican senators extended their walkout involving the issue for a sixth day, denying Democrats enough lawmakers to muster a vote on the plan that calls for capping and trading pollution credits among companies.
Hundreds of protesters flooded the capitol steps to protest the GOP walkout, then unexpectedly found themselves pushing back against Democratic Senate President Peter Courtney, who disclosed that the climate plan has lost support among members of his own party.
The legislation “does not have the votes on the Senate floor,” he said. “I’ve done as much as I can, and I’ll continue to try.”
Courtney pleaded with Republicans to return to the Capitol to consider much of the state budget and other issues caught up in the impasse.
The disclosure prompted young climate activists in the Senate chamber to turn their backs in protest against the Senate president. They flooded out of the Senate chamber and onto the Capitol steps, chanting “Peter Courtney’s got to go” and “protect our future, not the polluters.”