I've always wanted to complete a marathon:
The Senate on Tuesday began what is expected to be a weeks-long debate over the Keystone XL pipeline by holding a trio of amendment votes.
Out of the three amendments proposed, only one — Republican Sen. Rob Portman's (Ohio) trimmed down version of an energy efficiency bill — passed, in a 95-4 vote. ...
Senators on Tuesday agreed to take up another six amendments, with votes set to begin Wednesday.
Democrats offered two climate change-related amendments. One of them, from Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), says climate change is real and significantly caused by humans. The second, from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), simply states that,“"climate change is real and not a hoax."
Schatz said the amendments are about "laying down a predicate that asks people what side of basic science and facts they are on."
Republicans are broadly skeptical of the scientific consensus on climate change, arguing the extent to which it is caused by human activity is overstated.
Democrats in response have taken to labeling the GOP a party of “climate deniers” and say Republicans will pay the price at the ballot box in 2016 for their stance.
via thehill.com
It is going to be fascinating. Let me be the first one to suggest a paper analyzing the votes on the climate denial amendment. The key independent variables would be political party, the amount of oil and coal (per capita) produced in the state, etc.
I'll buy a beer for anyone who submits this as an abstract to the AERE sessions at the 2015 SEA meetings [call for papers dot pdf].
