“Senate Republicans today shot down a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders to help install up to 10 million solar power systems for homes and businesses in the coming decade,” according to Sanders’ office statement on Wednesday. “Rebates for solar systems would have been authorized by a Sanders amendment to a Keystone XL oil pipeline bill now before the Senate.”
The new solar power, generated from these systems, could replace “one-fifth of the nation’s dirty, coal-fired power plants,” Sanders’ office said.
“The scientific community tells us very clearly if we're going to reverse climate change and the great dangers it poses for the planet we must move aggressively to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy,” Sanders said.
The solar bill died on the Senate floor on Wednesday, garnering only 40 of the 60 votes required to pass it.
The Keystone XL Pipeline project would allow major Canadian oil company TransCanada to build and operate an oil pipeline from western country's province Alberta to the US Gulf Coast. A final State Department Environmental Impact Statement released in January said that there would be no significant environmental impact from the project, although activists warned that the Keystone pipeline will have a detrimental effect.
