Joe Lieberman, a former senator and vice presidential candidate who led efforts to pass major cap-and-trade legislation, died Wednesday.
Lieberman represented Connecticut from 1989 to 2013 in the Senate, leaving the Democratic Party in 2006 to become an independent. He was also Al Gore’s running mate in his unsuccessful 2000 run for president, becoming the first Jewish American to be nominated on a major party ticket.
Lieberman, 82, died in New York City from complications from a fall, his family said.
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Lieberman was among the first lawmakers to assert that the federal government needed to fight climate change, at a time when doubt about the threat was widespread.
