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Climate Bill Stakeholders Keep Up Pressure

Updated: 11:50 a.m.

Executives from more than 30 national organizations — including the Alliance for Climate Protection, American Rivers, Defenders of Wildlife and the Environmental Defense Fund — sent a missive to Senators on Tuesday morning, calling for passage of a comprehensive climate change bill.

“This must be the year that the United States passes comprehensive climate and energy legislation into law in order to create jobs, strengthen our national security, and reduce carbon pollution,” the groups wrote. “We can’t afford to delay action any longer; we urge the Senate to take up a comprehensive energy climate bill in June.”

Top representatives from the National Tribal Environmental Council, National Wildlife Federation, Native American Rights Fund, Oceana and the Natural Resources Defense Council also signed the letter.

The letter follows Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) decision to back out of negotiations with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) Monday night. Kerry has called on industry stakeholders in private conversations to publicly demand that climate change legislation move forward.

“Without a bipartisan, comprehensive national clean energy and climate policy, America’s businesses are hamstrung and cannot make the investments that will create millions of jobs in the new clean energy sector,” the letter reads. “Special interests have fought energy reform for decades. They’ve kept America dependent on foreign oil and protected corporations that pollute the air our children breathe and the water they drink.”

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