John McCain's Climate Change Legacy

In an Inside Climate News story about John McCain's legacy, Tim Profeta, who directors Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, discusses the McCain-Lieberman bipartisan fight for cap-and trade. Profeta noted that McCain and Lieberman held up the energy bill for hours until they won an agreement for a floor vote on their Climate Stewardship Act. McCain "had the backbone and authority among his peers to just do it, and he really didn't wilt," recalled Profeta, who, as Lieberman's lead staffer on the legislation, witnessed the tension over the showdown in the Senate cloakroom. "[McCain and Lieberman] both stood up against the leaders of their own parties to demand action on this issue."