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Groups Target No’ Votes on Climate Change Bill

Liberal-leaning groups have launched a TV ad campaign attacking three lawmakers who voted against cap-and-trade legislation in the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week.

Reps. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), John Barrow (D-Ga.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) are targeted in the ads paid for by the League of Conservation Voters, VoteVets.org and building trades unions.

The groups did not say how much they planned to spend on the ads, which urge viewers to call the Members and tell them, “America deserves better.—

However, the ads will be appearing on cable stations in the Members’ districts. In the case of Blunt, who is running for Senate, the ads will be appearing statewide.

The various groups had targeted all three Members before the vote as well.

Ross, an influential member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, has backed the idea of addressing global warming but complained that the House bill did not do enough to protect rural areas such as Arkansas, which lack the wind and solar resources of other states.

In a statement Tuesday, Ross dismissed the groups’ ads, saying, “Special interests lobbyists on both sides of this issue ran ads in my district during the bill’s consideration to try and pressure me to vote a certain way, and they are continuing to do so.

“I did not listen to them then and will not now. Just as I do on every bill, I made my decision on this legislation by listening to the people who sent me to Congress to be their voice in our nation’s capital.—

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