November 4, 2010

Election 2010: The Senate Gets Lots of New Climate Deniers

Republicans failed to take the Senate, but added a number of new climate deniers to its ranks. Some climate hawks did fend off defeat—most notably, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Environment Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). And key races in Alaska, Colorado, and Washington have yet to be decided. But overall, the Senate next year will be more hostile to climate action than ever before.

Here are all the Senate results, with winners marked by a red check:

Alabama

William Barnes (D)

 

Richard Shelby (R)—opposes climate action

Alaska

 

Scott McAdams (D)

 

Joe Miller (R)—a climate denier

 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R, write-in)

Arizona

 

Rodney Glassman (D)

 

Sen. John McCain (R)—a climate conspiracy theorist

Arkansas

 

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D)

 

John Boozman (R)—a climate denier

California

 

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D)—a climate hawk

 

Carly Fiorina (R)—a climate denier

Colorado

 

Sen. Michael Bennet (D)—a climate hawk

 

Ken Buck (R)—a climate denier

Connecticut

 

Richard Blumenthal (D)

 

Linda McMahon (R)—a climate denier

Delaware

 

Chris Coons (D)

 

Christine O’Donnell (R)—a climate denier

Florida

 

Kendrick Meek (D)

 

Marco Rubio (R)—a climate denier

 

Charlie Crist (I)

Georgia

 

Michael Thurmond

 

Sen. Johnny Isakson—a cautious climate denier

Hawaii

 

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D)

 

Cam Cavasso (R)—a climate denier

Idaho

 

Tom Sullivan (D)

 

Sen. Mike Crapo (R)—a climate denier

Illinois

 

Alexi Giannoulias (D)

 

Mark Kirk (R)—a climate-action flip-flopper

Indiana

 

Brad Ellsworth (D)

 

Dan Coats (R)—a climate denier

Iowa

 

Roxanne Conlin (D)

 

Chuck Grassley (R)—a climate denier

Kansas

 

Lisa Johnston (D)

 

Jerry Moran (R)—opposes climate action

Kentucky

 

Jack Conway (D)

 

Rand Paul (R)—a climate denier and conspiracy theorist

Louisiana

 

Charlie Melancon (D)

 

Sen. David Vitter (R)—a climate denier and conspiracy theorist

Maryland

 

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D)

 

Eric Wargotz (R)—opposes cap-and-trade

Missouri

 

Robin Carnahan (D)

 

Roy Blunt (R)—a climate denier

Nevada

 

Sen. Harry Reid (D)—a climate hawk

 

Sharron Angle (R)—a climate denier

New Hampshire

 

Paul Hodes (D)—a climate hawk

 

Kelly Ayotte (R)—a climate denier

New York

 

Sen. Charles Schumer (D)

 

Jay Townsend (R)—a climate denier and conspiracy theorist

New York (special election)

 

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D)

 

Joseph DioGuardi (R)—opposes cap-and-trade

North Carolina

 

Elaine Marshall (D)

 

Sen. Richard Burr (R)—a cautious climate denier

North Dakota

 

Tracy Potter (D)

 

John Hoeven (R)—a climate denier

Ohio

 

Lee Fisher (D)

 

Rob Portman (R)—a climate denier

Oklahoma

 

Jim Rogers (D)

 

Sen. Tom Coburn (R)—a climate denier

Oregon

 

Sen. Ron Wyden (D)

 

Jim Huffman (R)—a climate denier

Pennsylvania

 

Joe Sestak (D)—a climate hawk

 

Pat Toomey (R)—a climate denier

South Carolina

 

Alvin Greene (D)

 

Sen. Jim DeMint (R)—a climate denier

South Dakota

 

Sen. John Thune (R) (uncontested)—a climate denier

Utah

 

Sam Granato (D)

 

Mike Lee (R)

Vermont

 

Sen. Pat Leahy (D)

 

Len Britton (R)

Washington

 

Sen. Patty Murray (D)—a climate hawk

 

Dino Rossi (R)—a climate denier

West Virginia

 

Joe Manchin (D)

 

John Raese (R)—a climate denier

Wisconsin

 

Sen. Russ Feingold (D)—a climate hawk

 

Ron Johnson (R)—a climate denier

This post was produced by Grist as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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