THERE IS NO GOP CLIMATE ‘PIVOT’

While Donald Trump continues to parade around and attempt to greenhouse gaslight the country into believing he isn’t the worst president ever for the climate and environment, today, the Washington Post is reporting that of the more than 16,000 false and misleading claims  Trump has made since taking office, nearly 500 of them have been related to the climate crisis, the environment, and energy. Color us shocked.

In the face of overwhelming public demand for climate action -- including younger Republican voters -- Trump and Washington Republicans are pleading that they’re totally not climate deniers anymore. And yet, the evidence to the contrary continues to mount. 

Mere weeks ago, Congressional Republicans blocked investments in clean, renewable energy while Trump single-handedly rejected any tax incentives for electric vehicles, despite support from American auto manufacturers. And yet the plans Congressional Republican’s are reportedly discussing will lean heavily on “research and innovation.”

Meanwhile, Trump constantly talks up America having the cleanest air and water while launching endless attacks on bedrock clean air and water standards. Just two weeks ago, the Administration unveiled their plan to write Trump’s climate denial into official government policy, endangering every community across the country. Today, this Administration put the drinking water sources for millions of Americans at risk.

While today’s reporting details the lies and absurd claims Trump has made since taking office, he’s far from being the lone D.C. Republican engaging in absurd climate denial and undermining our clean air and water. Some recent examples include:

GOP PIVOT FAIL:

On the Senate floor at the end of March, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said the solution to climate change is ‘to fall in love, get married, and have some kids’ in the midst of an attack on the Green New Deal. 

In an April House Oversight Committee hearing with John Kerry, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) insisted that our current levels of carbon dioxide are fine because carbon levels were higher millions of years ago, to which Kerry responded “but there weren’t human beings. That was a different world, folks.” 

At a press conference on the Hill at the end of February, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) insisted that high levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere aren't a problem because of photosynthesis, adding: “As the son of a geologist, our climate has always changed, and if you don’t doubt me, dig up some fossils. It will tell you an awful lot about how our climate has changed.”

Some Republicans have gone so far as to shut down any discussions of climate change during committee hearings. At a House Natural Resources hearing at the end of last February, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) successfully motioned to adjourn the hearing before the witnesses could even deliver their opening statements, saying "these matters are all clearly outside of the jurisdiction of the Committee on Natural Resources, and its subcommittee per the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives." 

At a town hall in April, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said that climate change will be good because “it's surely got to shrink the deserts and expand the green growth, there's surely got to be some good in that. So I just look at the other, good side.”

At a hearing for the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis on May 23, 2019 called ‘Creating a Climate Resilient America’, Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) said [19:35] “I think you then went on to ask, what if all countries cut emissions, will we see a stopping of this sea rise increase and temperature change? And I think the answer was no. What that means is that there is effectively nothing we can do right now based on our current understanding of science and technology, there's nothing we can do to stop this momentum of temperatures changing and seas rising, in the immediate term.” 

At a hearing for the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis on May 23, 2019 called ‘Creating a Climate Resilient America’, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) said [1:07:27] “There are also other factors that impact the weather. I mean, I know you all are expert scientists, but what about the shifts in the magnetic poles and the potential for impacting weather. Anyone want to comment on that? Probably not.” He added, [1:08:23] “I think it's becoming more and more apparent that natural variation is having a greater impact on climate change than carbon emissions.” 

At a hearing for the House Energy & Commerce Committee on February 6, 2019 called ‘Time for Action: Addressing the Environmental and Economic Effects of Climate Change,’ Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) said [2:27:51] “There may be some who want to say that it's just cyclical in nature. That you look back over time and this happens. Well, that may be true too.” 

In a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on June 5, 2019 regarding the national security implications of climate change, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) said [36:54] “I believe that modeling for climate change is relatively complicated, and it's still science, which means that--you know, some of our colleagues from time will tell you this science is settled, which to me makes a bit of an odd statement because I don't think any science is ever settled, in that regard.”

At the same hearing, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) said [57:05] “For some, farming becomes more difficult in this situation. For others, it may become more viable. I think you mentioned something about new markets of fishing lanes, and things like that may open up as a result, and these are things to keep an eye on too. The point I'm trying to make is for some, there may be some good things, and others, not good things, right?”

In a senate hearing on February 27, 2019 entitled “Hearing to Examine S. 383, the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies Act, and the State of Current Technologies that Reduce, Capture, and Use Carbon Dioxide,” Rep. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) said [1:07:32] "The world is not coming to an end, and the climate has always changed and always will change. I don't think anyone would disagree with that."

In a press release on a February hearing held by the House Science, Space, and Technology hearing on climate change, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) said, “The one thing every climate scientist should admit is that humanity does not know nearly as much about climate change as some like to claim they know. The only certainty is that the Earth’s climate is always changing, either cooling or warming. Rarely is the Earth’s climate constant. Earth climate data suggests Earth was once ‘planet snowball,’ where all or almost all of Earth was covered by ice, and, in other periods, has been far warmer than it is today.” In the hearing itself, he said [1:06:42] “would it also be fair to say that, certainly, at least in that instance, global warming was a desirable thing if you’re a Canadian?”

In a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on Feb 26, 2019 entitled “Examining How Federal Infrastructure Policy Could Help Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change,” Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) challenged the findings of the latest IPCC report, saying [1:14:08] "While the claims are very clear, stated in these reports, the underlying data to me is a bit murkier… Validating this theory requires both a valid global average surface temperature record and the use of the proper mathematical methods typically called structural analysis. ...my concern is whether either of these necessary conditions has been met.”

In a House Budget Committee hearing on June 11 2019 entitled, “The Costs of Climate Change: Risks to the US Economy and the Federal Budget,” Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) said [1:05:26] “It’s changed a little bit, but the climate’s certainly always changing--it’s something that we need to accept, and we need to try to understand… I can tell you that I’ve spoken with--including the former director of the EPA and other very, I would hope, knowledgeable individuals on this and asked them how much of this can we attribute to man and to human behavior, and the answer she gave was ‘We don’t know,’ and I think that’s an honest answer… Some people think they know, but there is much disagreement on how much of this is directly attributable to man.

In an interview with Piers Morgan on “Good Morning Britain” (6/5/2019) this summer Donald Trump doubled down on his ignorance, stating “I believe that there’s a change in weather, and I think it changes both ways.”