June 9, 2008 - A Senate bill that would have cut total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 66% by 2050 has fallen just short, netting support from 54 senators but failing to earn the 60 votes needed to pass, Reuters reports.

Forty-eight senators cast "yes" votes for the bill, and an additional six said they would have done so had they been in Washington at the time. Thirty-eight senators opposed, arguing that the bill would have raised fuel prices and cost American jobs.

"I think people around the world are going to be greatly encouraged by the fact that 54 members of the U.S. Senate are saying they want to support a real response to global warming," said Senator Joseph Lieberman, the bill's sponsor.

Despite the setback, some version of the bill looks likely to pass within the next few years, according to Senator Barbara Boxer, who noted that "it takes time to turn the ship of state." The climate change legislation first hit the Senate floor in 2003 and earned only 38 votes when it was re-introduced in 2005.