co-sponsored it. The bill died in the Senate Finance Committee without debate or votes. Cantwell chaired the Senate Democrats 20/20 Energy Independence campaign and co-chaired the Apollo Alliance in 2006. One of her main accomplishments was the passage of an amendment "To prevent energy market manipulation", which passed 57–40 in the Senate in November 2006; a previous effort was defeated by a vote of 50–48. In 2011, The Humane Society of the United States praised Cantwell's no-tolerance policy and effective removal of the practice of shark finning, which kills an estimated 73 million sharks per year. In February 2019, in response to reports that the EPA intended to decide against setting limits for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in drinking water as part of an upcoming national strategy to manage the chemicals, Cantwell was one of 20 senators to sign a letter to Acting EPA Administrator Andrew R. Wheeler calling on the EPA "to develop enforceable federal drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS, as well as institute immediate actions to protect the public from contamination from additional per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)." In September 2019, Cantwell was one of eight senators to sign a bipartisan letter to congressional leadership, requesting full and lasting funding of the Land and Water Conservation Act, in order to aid national parks and public lands, benefit the $887 billion American outdoor recreation economy, and "ensure much-needed investment in our public lands and continuity for the state, tribal, and non-federal partners who depend on them". Minimum wage In March 2021, Cantwell was among the 42 Democrats to vote unsuccessfully to include a $15 hourly minimum wage in the American Rescue Plan. Abortion and contraceptives Cantwell has expressed support for making Plan B contraceptives available to girls 16 and under. In 2007, she co-sponsored the Prevention First Act, a bill that sought to increase national access to family planning and preventative methods as a means to reduce unwanted pregnancies. It included providing women with access to Plan B, as well as expanding family planning to be covered under Medicaid. As an advocate of increasing access to family planning and sexual health education, Cantwell argues that these venues for increased education are necessary to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. She received criticism from her Republican challenger, State Senator Michael Baumgartner, who suggested that she was too extreme and too far to the left