Washington, DC –
U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, today praised his Senate colleagues for defeating an attempt to weaken the national fuel efficiency standards that help keep our air safe to breathe and would have contributed to increasing America’s dependence on oil.
 

“Today, the Senate rejected a thinly veiled effort to roll back the Clean Air Act that would have increased America’s dependence on oil.
  Today, the Senate said that we will not allow the endless delays in addressing our energy future to continue.
  Today, we fought and we won a defensive battle.
  We blocked Senator Murkowski’s resolution, which had the unanimous backing of the oil industry.
 

“Winning today’s vote was a victory for the American consumer, and it is being applauded by health officials across the country.
  But we need to do more than win defensive victories.
  The Senate could have spent today working on how to change the rules related to offshore oil drilling to ensure that safety comes before oil company profits.
  We could have made appropriate changes in the law so that companies like BP are held fully accountable for their irresponsible actions. We could have taken steps to ensure that we protect environmentally sensitive areas where there currently is no drilling, like the Mid-Atlantic.

“Today, we won a key victory.
  But now we need to turn our attention to the great challenge ahead.
  With this victory behind us, the Senate is finally ready to give America a comprehensive energy plan that will generate millions of new jobs here at home, improve our national security, and stem the flow of dangerous pollution into our environment.
  We need to chart a new energy future for our nation based on dramatic improvements in energy efficiency, a major investment in renewable and nuclear power, and making polluters pay for continued damage to our air, water and environment.”