tagged w/ Lisa Murkowski
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Lisa Murkowski has been officially declared winner of the US Senate contest in Alaska, following a long legal challenge by rival Joe Miller.
Ms Murkowski lost the Republican nomination in August to Mr Miller, a candidate backed by the Tea Party.
But she ran a write-in campaign, asking her supporters to add her name to the ballot paper to vote for her.
She is the first Senate candidate to be elected in a write-in campaign since 1954.
State authorities said Ms Murkowski's margin of victory in the officially certified result was 10,252 votes.
Mr Miller had appealed after votes were hand-counted following the 2 November election.
He said ballots on which Ms Murkowski's name was not spelt correctly or the oval next to her name was not filled in, should not count.
Voter intent
A federal judge, Ralph Beistline, lifted his hold on the certification of the results after Alaska's Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that allowed misspellings.
Voter intent was "paramount", the state Supreme Court said.
The certification is expected to be hand-delivered to Washington, in order to avoid delays that could prevent Ms Murkowski being sworn in with other senators on Wednesday, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Mr Miller is expected to announce on Friday whether he will mount a further legal challenge over the election.
Analysts have described Ms Murkowski's victory as a rebuke for Ms Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate and Tea Party figurehead.
She has been openly at odds with Ms Murkowski since defeating her father Frank Murkowski to win Alaska's governorship in 2006.
The last US senator to win an election via a write-in was Strom Thurmond in the US Senate contest in South Carolina in 1954.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12097046Lisa Murkowski has been officially declared winner of the US Senate contest in Alaska,... more
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The Alaska Supreme Court delivered another stinging setback to Republican Joe Miller, refusing to overturn election results that favored his GOP rival, Lisa Murkowski, in the states U.S. Senate race...
http://www.indiareport.com/India-usa-uk-news/ap/National/68795The Alaska Supreme Court delivered another stinging setback to Republican Joe Miller,... more
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Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowki told CBS News' Katie Couric today that she would not support Sarah Palin for president because Palin lacks the "leadership qualities" and "intellectual curiosity" to craft great policy.
"You know, she was my governor for two years, for just about two years there, and I don't think that she enjoyed governing," Murkowski said. "I don't think she liked to get down into the policy." The Alaska senator added that she prefers a candidate who "goes to bed at night and wakes up in the morning thinking about how we're going to deal with" important issues.
Palin endorsed Murkowski's opponent Joe Miller in the Republican Senate primary, an endorsement that helped Miller to an upset victory. Murkowski then embarked on a general election write-in bid that may have been successful: More write in votes were cast than votes for Miller, and the vast majority went to Murkowski.
According to the Alaska Division of Elections, Miller won 87,517 votes, and there were 98,565 total write in votes. Of the 88,076 write-in votes counted so far, 78,697 have gone to Murkowski; another 7,059 have been counted for Murkowski but challenged by Miller. Counting is expected to continue through Wednesday.Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowki told CBS News' Katie Couric today that she would not... more
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Politico reports that Joe Miller (R) and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) "are gearing up for a legal battle set to begin this week, when election officials will start officially counting write-in votes in the Senate race. Write-in votes, most of which were presumably cast for Murkowski, garnered 41 percent of the vote tally in Tuesday's election - 13,439 more votes than Miller's total. But Alaska election officials will not know for sure how many votes Murkowski received until they begin totaling the write-in ballots on Nov. 10 - a process that could take days or even weeks, depending on any legal challenges.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44801.htmlPolitico reports that Joe Miller (R) and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) "are... more
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The Los Angeles Times reports Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski "conceded to her 'tea party'-backed opponent in the state's Republican primary Tuesday, even though she had made gains earlier in the day when election officials began tallying thousands of uncounted ballots." Speaking at her Anchorage campaign headquarters, Murkowski said, "I don't see a scenario where the primary will turn in my favor. I'm proud of the campaign. It was honest and upright."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/sc-dc-0901-alaska-vote-20100831,0,3650426.storyThe Los Angeles Times reports Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski "conceded to her... more
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Know the enemies of the earth among us. If you've ever wondered why clean energy legislation is always stalled or voted down, consult this list of corrupt oil/coal company reps that also happen to be public officials. You may be shocked (or not) to find a representative from your home state on this unwanted list.Know the enemies of the earth among us. If you've ever wondered why clean energy... more
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Environmental activists aren't about to let Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, off the hook, not after she tried to trash the Clean Air Act, and certainly not after she suggested last week that she wanted to open up the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
Three Greenpeace activists were taken into custody today after floating a banner hanging from released balloons in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building -- in plain view of a favorite destination for polluter lobbyists -- Senator Lisa Murkowski's Washington DC office. The banner reads "Lisa Murkowski, Happily matched since 2004" and features the logos of three companies: ExxonMobil, Southern Co., and Chevron. The banner exposed Murkowski's close relationship with dirty energy interests and promoted PolluterHarmony.com, a spoof online dating site launched just before Valentine's Day to help connect polluters, industry lobbyists, and politicians.
Murkowski's continued counterinsurgency against Obama's EPA is part of a multilateral attack by corporations, corporate lobbyists and their friends in right wing think tanks and front groups. Multiple lawsuits and petitions have been filed in recent weeks throwing roadblocks in front of EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
Last week, Senator Murkowski suggested that she would only vote for a climate and energy bill if it included opening the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
It is extraordinary that while Alaska is especially threatened by global warming, and entire villages are lost, Senator Murkowski continues to promote the interests of the very industries that are driving climate change. While Alaska is transformed by warmer temperatures, drilling for oil in the National Wildlife Refuge would further threaten important habitat for caribou, polar bears, and other wildlife.
Promoting reckless oil drilling and trashing the Clean Air Act might entice dirty energy interests to write campaign checks but they have no place in sane national energy policy.
Read the full article on the Huffington Post here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kert-davies/lisa-murkowskis-big-oil-l_b_490062.html
See more photos of the Greenpeace action here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenpeaceusa09/Environmental activists aren't about to let Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, off... more
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By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger
On Thursday afternoon, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) pulled out a rarely-used Congressional tool in an attempt to keep the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating carbon and other greenhouse gasses. Sen. Murkowski offered a “resolution of disapproval” of the EPA’s impending action, which would limit companies’ carbon emissions.
The resolution would overturn the EPA’s finding that carbon dioxide is harmful to the public health. Three Democrats—Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)—joined Sen. Murkowski and 35 Republicans in sponsoring the resolution.
“Ms. Murkowski’s Mischief‘”
“This command and control approach is our worst option for reducing the gasses associated with climate change,” said Sen. Murkowski on the floor of the Senate yesterday. She called the EPA’s actions “backdoor climate regulations with no input from Congress” and said they would damage the country’s flailing economy.
The EPA first announced in April 2009 that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses posed a threat to the public health. The agency formalized that finding last month, giving itself the power to regulate emissions of greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act. In March 2010, for instance, the agency is expected to announce carbon emissions rules for the auto industry that would match California’s higher standards. Sen. Murkowski’s resolution would derail that process.
Sen. Murkowski argued that she wants to give Congress room to come up with a legislative solution to climate change, but her critics see a more dangerous tilt to her resolution. “It’s a radical attempt by the legislative branch to interfere with executive branch scientists,” writes David Roberts at Grist.
Responding to “Ms. Murskowski’s mischief” on the Senate floor yesterday, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) called the resolution an “unprecedented effort to overturn scientific decision” and “a direct assault on the health of the American people.”
Resolution of disapproval
What is a “resolution of disapproval?” Grist’s Roberts called it “the nuclear option.”
“It would rescind the EPA’s endangerment finding entirely and thereby eliminate its authority over both mobile and stationary sources,” Roberts explains. “Furthermore, the administration would be prohibited from passing a regulation “substantially the same” as the one overruled, so the constraint on the EPA would effectively be permanent.”
This type of resolution was created by the Clinton-era Congressional Reform Act. The resolution has one big advantage: It cannot be filibustered. Passage requires only a majority in both houses of Congress. Members have tried using it in the past to delay the Dubai Ports World deal, derail FCC regulations on new media, and stop the flow of bailout funds.
Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones has been following Sen. Murkowski’s actions closely. She reports that “Senate supporters of climate action say Murkowski could obtain the votes of moderate Democrats from coal, oil, and manufacturing states. However, a resolution would still need to be approved by the House and signed by the president—both long shots, to put it mildly. ‘I think we’re a little worried about [Murkowski’s resolution] winning. I’m not sure we’re worried about it becoming law,’ a Senate Democratic staffer says.”
But Grist’s Roberts argues that passage in the Senate alone would be a problem. “Even if blocked by the House or vetoed by the president, such a public, bipartisan slap at the administration would be highly embarrassing and demoralizing,” Roberts writes. “It would mean at least ten conservative Democrats washing their hands of the administration’s initiative.”
Climate change and Congress
Sen. Murkowski insists that she’s still ready to work with her colleagues on climate change and that it’s better to approach the problem of climate change via legislation, not regulation.
But no one in Washington believes that climateBy Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger
On Thursday afternoon, Sen. Lisa... more
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Lisa Murkowski, is the senior Republican senator for the 49th state and a more powerful politician than Sarah Palin will ever be. Murkowski is an ardent advocate of looser restrictions on routing oil pipelines through US national parks and drilling for oil on the US continental shelf. She is against the climate change legislation that is stalled in the US Senate. It is thanks to people like her that the US will not have a carbon cap-and-trade Bill by the time the Copenhagen conference opens next month, and it is the lack of such a Bill, more than any other single factor, that has forced world leaders to abandon their long-held goal of using Copenhagen to adopt a binding international successor to the Kyoto Protocol. As a Plan B the US has now said it will bring a non-binding national carbon target to Copenhagen, but son of Kyoto will have to wait.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6930402.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=2270657Lisa Murkowski, is the senior Republican senator for the 49th state and a more... more
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dabne
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added this
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2 years ago
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Colorado U.S. Sen. Mark Udall Wednesday took his boldest step yet on the road to a national nuclear renaissance as part of a program designed to combat global warming. He introduced the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative Improvement Act of 2009 in a lengthy speech on the Senate floor in which he acknowledged he was likely stepping on an environmental landmine.
"For some, news that a Udall is speaking favorably about nuclear power will come as a stark - and perhaps unpleasant - surprise. But I also believe public and expert opinion on the risks and benefits of nuclear power has changed," Udall said, referencing the 1979 Three Mile Island power plant meltdown and the industry's struggle to improve its public image in the ensuing three decades.
http://coloradoindependent.com/41145/udall-risks-enviro-wrath-by-floating-bill-to-boost-nuclear-industryColorado U.S. Sen. Mark Udall Wednesday took his boldest step yet on the road to a... more
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