A majority of Senate Democrats, with the notable exception of several senators who are facing tough re-election fights in November, pulled an all-nighter on Monday to highlight the dangers of global climate change. Senators and environmental groups said the climate talk-a-thon, which was only the 35th time the Senate has ever held an all-night session, was aimed at raising awareness of the issue, voicing support for the White House’s strategy of using the U.S. EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, and rallying the base of the party to get behind efforts to combat global warming.
The night was filled with speeches, rather than votes, because no major climate bill is currently on the agenda — and even the Democrats are not completely unified on which solutions to pursue. After all, it was Democratic disunity that helped doom the 2008 climate bill, more than Republican opposition.
See also: Obama's Budget Puts Climate Change Front and Center
The speeches included buzzwords like the polar vortex, and senators trotted out their favorite climate change analogies, such as how global warming ups the odds of extreme weather events in a similar way to how steroids increase the odds of home runs in baseball.
For their part, Republicans took the opportunity Monday to continue voicing skepticism about the findings of the vast majority of climate scientists, who have shown that manmade emissions of greenhouse gases are warming the climate.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein cited studies showing that sea level rise could cause Californians to lose 450,000 homes, 30 coastal power plants and dozens of hospitals by 2100. “This could all be inundated by the end of the century,” she said. “Bottom line: Rising seas puts Californian homes, public facilities and environmental resources in great peril and adapting to these changes will impose great costs.”
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine spoke of friends who live in historic homes in Hampton Roads, which along with Norfolk, Va., plays host to the largest concentration of U.S. Navy assets anywhere in the world. There, historic homes considered safe from coastal flooding are experiencing frequent episodes of inundation, Kaine said. The Hampton Roads area is considered one of the most vulnerable regions to sea level rise because of the combination of sinking land, known as land subsidence, and rising seas. This results in a regional hotspot of sea level rise.
Clip from C-Span showing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-N.V.) beginning the all-night climate talk-a-thon on March 10, 2014.

Kaine spoke out against the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from the Canadian oil sands of Alberta to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico, where most of it would be shipped abroad. Proponents argue the pipeline would create jobs and tap oil that will be exploited with or without the pipeline, while opponents say it would add to greenhouse gas emissions and poses serious public and environmental health risks. Because the pipeline would cross an international boundary at the Canadian border, the White House has final approval of the project. An announcement on the Obama administration’s decision is expected sometime this year.

“It would be very good thing if the president right now rejected the use of tar sands oil in the Keystone pipeline,” Kaine said. “Why would we embrace tar sands oil and backslide to a dirtier tomorrow?”

Mark Warner, the other Virginia Democrat in the Senate, sat out the event. Warner is up for reelection this year.

The lack of any legislation for senators to rally around was the elephant in the Senate chamber — or rather, the elephant not in the chamber. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who on Monday night made his 60th climate change floor speech since his election in 2006, said the event was aimed at creating momentum within the Democratic party, which has had internal fissures on the issue, and pressuring the Republicans to act as well.

Behind the scenes at #Up4Climate: Senators preparing for tonight’s speeches. pic.twitter.com/3cT8kEp7GA

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) March 10, 2014

“We have got a little bit more work to do to open up the political space on this. I think if we want immediately to a vote we wouldn’t be successful,” Whitehouse said, according to The Guardian. “If we make this an issue in 2014, if we make this a debate that Republican presidential candidates have to address, I think we can do that.”

The White House took part in the event via its social media accounts.

Sea level rise exacerbated by climate change increases the frequency & severity of coastal flooding → http://t.co/yllOGisuqd #Up4Climate

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 11, 2014

RT if you agree: For the sake of our kids & the future of our planet, it's time to #ActOnClimate change. #Up4Climate pic.twitter.com/wCJHkCMtXV

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2014

Republicans dismissed the talk-a-thon as a gimmick designed to support an unpopular issue. Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the most prominent climate skeptic in the Senate (he's even writing a book on the subject) took to the floor at the start of the night to mock the Democrats’ efforts. "It's probably necessary to have something that's all night, because you keep saying and I hear it over and over, 'Climate change is real, it's real, it's real,'" he said. "Maybe if you keep saying it's real, people will believe it.

"Dems effort is cause for some confusion BC these senators are calling 4 action in a chamber they control"#Up4Climate http://t.co/wjOPZrgTvk

— Inhofe Press Office (@InhofePress) March 10, 2014

Robert Cowin, the director of government affairs for climate and energy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a research and advocacy group, told Mashable that the event was successful at raising awareness and drawing attention to climate change at a time when there is no legislation to rally around.

“People can relate to the fact that they were actually there all night, that actually means more than just going down to the floor to speak,” Cowin told Mashable. “It’s important to build that coalition so that when the opportunity does present itself … there will already be that kind of organization and momentum to get to the finish line.”

According to Cowin, the floor speeches clarified that senators are aware of how climate change is already affecting their states, such as by lengthening the wildfire season and leading to larger fires in states like New Mexico and California. In its Fiscal Year 2015 budget proposal, the White House is seeking $1 billion for a new climate resilience fund to help communities cope with extreme events and better prepare for future events, and Cowin said the talk-a-thon demonstrated that such a plan could garner Senate support.

“The Senate is really looking for something to rally around,” he said. “We need to make climate resilience a national priority.”

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Kaine spoke out against the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from the Canadian oil sands of Alberta to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico, where most of it would be shipped abroad. Proponents argue the pipeline would create jobs and tap oil that will be exploited with or without the pipeline, while opponents say it would add to greenhouse gas emissions and poses serious public and environmental health risks. Because the pipeline would cross an international boundary at the Canadian border, the White House has final approval of the project. An announcement on the Obama administration’s decision is expected sometime this year.
“It would be very good thing if the president right now rejected the use of tar sands oil in the Keystone pipeline,” Kaine said. “Why would we embrace tar sands oil and backslide to a dirtier tomorrow?”
Mark Warner, the other Virginia Democrat in the Senate, sat out the event. Warner is up for reelection this year.
The lack of any legislation for senators to rally around was the elephant in the Senate chamber — or rather, the elephant not in the chamber. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who on Monday night made his 60th climate change floor speech since his election in 2006, said the event was aimed at creating momentum within the Democratic party, which has had internal fissures on the issue, and pressuring the Republicans to act as well.
Behind the scenes at #Up4Climate: Senators preparing for tonight’s speeches. pic.twitter.com/3cT8kEp7GA
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) March 10, 2014
“We have got a little bit more work to do to open up the political space on this. I think if we want immediately to a vote we wouldn’t be successful,” Whitehouse said, according to The Guardian. “If we make this an issue in 2014, if we make this a debate that Republican presidential candidates have to address, I think we can do that.”
The White House took part in the event via its social media accounts.
Sea level rise exacerbated by climate change increases the frequency & severity of coastal flooding → http://t.co/yllOGisuqd #Up4Climate
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 11, 2014
RT if you agree: For the sake of our kids & the future of our planet, it's time to #ActOnClimate change. #Up4Climate pic.twitter.com/wCJHkCMtXV
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2014
Republicans dismissed the talk-a-thon as a gimmick designed to support an unpopular issue. Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the most prominent climate skeptic in the Senate (he's even writing a book on the subject) took to the floor at the start of the night to mock the Democrats’ efforts. "It's probably necessary to have something that's all night, because you keep saying and I hear it over and over, 'Climate change is real, it's real, it's real,'" he said. "Maybe if you keep saying it's real, people will believe it.
"Dems effort is cause for some confusion BC these senators are calling 4 action in a chamber they control"#Up4Climate http://t.co/wjOPZrgTvk
— Inhofe Press Office (@InhofePress) March 10, 2014
Robert Cowin, the director of government affairs for climate and energy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a research and advocacy group, told Mashable that the event was successful at raising awareness and drawing attention to climate change at a time when there is no legislation to rally around.
“People can relate to the fact that they were actually there all night, that actually means more than just going down to the floor to speak,” Cowin told Mashable. “It’s important to build that coalition so that when the opportunity does present itself … there will already be that kind of organization and momentum to get to the finish line.”
According to Cowin, the floor speeches clarified that senators are aware of how climate change is already affecting their states, such as by lengthening the wildfire season and leading to larger fires in states like New Mexico and California. In its Fiscal Year 2015 budget proposal, the White House is seeking $1 billion for a new climate resilience fund to help communities cope with extreme events and better prepare for future events, and Cowin said the talk-a-thon demonstrated that such a plan could garner Senate support.
“The Senate is really looking for something to rally around,” he said. “We need to make climate resilience a national priority.”
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