Companies from the Midwest and Southeast stormed Capitol Hill yesterday in an effort to swing the climate votes of senators from Ohio to Arkansas.
Environmental groups corralled nearly 150 business leaders from 43 states and the District of Columbia. Many of the closed-door meetings targeted Rust Belt Democrats considered critical for passage of legislation that would cap greenhouse gases.
Climate advocates argued their case as concern mounts about the U.S. bargaining position in Copenhagen this December, where nations will negotiate a post-2012 global warming pact. In their effort to sell the need for congressional action this year to senators from states hard hit by the beleaguered manufacturing sector, they hit a single message: jobs, jobs, jobs.
