16 Senators don't vote on climate change bill

Maybe I expect too much from public officials, but perhaps the most amazing thing about last Friday's vote in the U.S. Senate on the big climate change bill was that 16 Senators didn't vote -- and, thus, weren't present to haggle, argue and perhaps craft a compromise.

Obviously, Sen. Ted Kennedy had an excuse, as he's dealing with brain cancer. But as the New York Times noted, a certain three senators by the last name of Clinton, McCain and Obama were not present for the vote. All three sent letters saying that they supported the legislation.

Now, I'm not saying that the bill was necessarily good legislation. I am saying that it deserved a vote.

Why? And what's it have to do with transportation?

The transportation sector contributes more carbon dioxide -- the heat-trapping gas -- than any other sector, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.

Matthew Wald, in the New York Times, also explains in a fine story from Sunday's paper:

"Emissions from coal-fired power plants already account for about 27 percent of American greenhouse emissions, but as prices for other fuels rise, along with power demand, utilities will burn more coal. And if cars someday run on batteries, a trend that $4-a-gallon gasoline will accelerate, then the utilities will burn even more fuel to generate the electricity to recharge those batteries."

Keep reading after the jump for a list of senators who didn't vote on the bill....

The full breakdown of votes is on the U.S. Senate website. The 16 Senators who didn't vote were:

Biden (D-DE)
Byrd (D-WV)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coleman (R-MN)
Conrad (D-ND)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Kennedy (D-MA)
McCain (R-AZ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Obama (D-IL)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)

--Steve Hymon