Green groups bash Senate climate opponents, call for protecting EPA rules

Environmental groups large and small issued a blunt statement Tuesday attacking senators who scuttled climate change legislation and called on lawmakers to preserve the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to mandate carbon curbs under its existing powers.

The environmental movement is reeling after Senate Democrats — citing a lack of votes —  abandoned action last week on a sweeping climate and energy bill before the August break and, probably, for the year.

Greenhouse gas limits face resistance from most Republicans and several centrist Democrats, leaving backers without the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.

“At every opportunity, a minority of Senators who are in the pocket of America’s largest polluters in the coal and oil industries chose obstruction over working together to solve America’s energy and national security challenges. As a result of their actions, the big polluters will continue to reap record profits at the expense of Americans,” the groups said.

Groups such as the Sierra Club and World Wildlife Fund joined hundreds of others — ranging from state chapters of bigger groups to stand-alone local organizations — in issuing the statement.

“As we look forward, one thing is clear: the Senate’s job is not done. They must use every opportunity available to address clean energy and climate reform by working to limit carbon pollution and invest in new clean energy sources that are made in America, including protecting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to crack down on polluters,” they state.

Several environmentalists also told reporters on a conference call that they’ll continue pushing for Senate action on climate change, alleging it would be a job creator while also highlighting federal data showing the first half of 2010 to be the warmest such stretch on record.

“We are very disappointed but we are also very much still in the game and will be working very hard to make progress, and we think progress can and must be made,” said Peter Lehner, the executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council.