Don't get your hopes up about a Lieberman-Dole climate change bill.

In Raleigh today for a meeting with the Disabled American Veterans group, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole told Dome she was dismayed that the Climate Security Act failed in the Senate today.

"It's unfortunate, but that's it for now," said Dole, who had voted to move the bill forward.

Since Republican co-sponsor John Warner will be retiring at the end of the session, Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman is reportedly looking for a new member of the GOP to push a revamped bill in next year's session. Dole was asked if she would be interested.

"I think we have to wait and see how things evolve, what happens," she said. "You've got to really have an opportunity to look at the language." 

Dole was a cosponsor of the bill introduced in October, but she was not the lead Republican. 

She said she hopes a future bill will include provisions to promote nuclear power and exploration of potential oil fields "in areas where people want it" — specifically the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"People don't want it in North Carolina, but in Alaska they're begging for it," she said. 

As expected, the U.S. Senate failed to get the votes needed to proceed with a massive climate change bill airmed at reducing greenhouse gases 60 percent by 2050.

The procedural vote on cloture — which needed 60 ayes to pass — failed by a vote of 48-36 this morning. The bill is essentially dead for the year, Barb Barrett reports.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole, an original co-sponsor of the Climate Security Act and one of its few Republican supporters, voted yes.

"I am proud to have been a part of crafting this bill, which marked a breakthrough in America's commitment to addressing the serious problem of climate change," Dole, of Salisbury, said in a statement.

Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, voted no. He opposed the bill because he didn’t like the cap-and-trade system, and because he wanted the chance to offer amendments, which was prevented by Democratic leadership.