Closing out today's diaries, I'd like to congratulate Senator Brian Schatz (D. HI) on an impressive fundraising quarter:
http://www.therepublic.com/...
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz's election campaign has raised over $1.1 million in the first quarter.
The campaign announced Thursday that the money primarily came from individual donors and that nearly 80 percent of donations were from within the state.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie in December appointed Schatz to fill the vacancy created by the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye even though it went against Inouye's dying wish to have Democratic U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii replace him. Schatz was Abercrombie's lieutenant governor. - The Republic, 4/11/13
Schatz has been picking up a lot of endorsements from major unions and environmental groups like the League of Conservation Voters. Schatz also hit the campaign trail hard during Congress' recess:
http://www.mauiweekly.com/...
Hawai'i's newest U.S. senator, Brian Schatz, visited Maui on Saturday, April 6, to learn more about local agriculture at the recent Maui County Agricultural Festival and talk with constituents about local concerns.
Schatz said that his colleagues in the Senate are particularly interested in knowing more about the various forms of "clean energy" that are being tried on the Valley Isle. The daylong visit on Saturday was part of a more extensive tour of the state with time divided between legislative matters and laying the groundwork for his 2014 bid for re-election. - Maui Weekly, 4/11/13
I've written a bit about Schatz and his record on environmental issues:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
I am impressed with how Schatz has hit the ground running in the Senate on battling climate change which he stated was a top priority for him in the Senate:
http://www.takepart.com/...
“Climate change is urgent, solvable, human-caused, and real,” Schatz tells TakePart, with no equivocation, no hesitation in his voice. “The United States can and should lead on this issue and generate positive momentum.”
Schatz's bill is still in the discussion phase. Briefly, it would place a fee, to be determined—$15, $25, $35?—on all six greenhouse gases, collect the fee from large polluters only, and then figure out something to do with the proceeds.
These options include, but are not limited to: returning the proceeds to consumers, especially low-income consumers, paying down the deficit, protecting jobs, cutting taxes, or investing in clean tech. - Take Part, 3/15/13
So lets keep Schatz momentum going and help him win a full term in the Senate:
https://secure.actblue.com/...