The Three Climate Deniers in Congress Whose Districts Will Soon Be Underwater
On July 17, the Democrats on the Committee on Energy and Commerce held a forum entitled “Climate Change at the Water’s Edge” to discuss the localized impacts of climate change. Headed by Ranking Member Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the forum included the mayor of Annapolis and a climate scientist from the Union of Concerned Scientists, who discussed the realities of climate change in their communities. But while the attendees seemed to understand the very real threats facing our country, so many others choose to ignore them.
A staggering 97 percent of scientists agree that not only is climate change is real, but that most of it is due to human activity. Despite this massive consensus in the scientific community, climate change denial continues among plenty of Republicans—even those representing some of the most climate-vulnerable places in the United States.
Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana came under fire earlier this year when news broke that he had given a speech in front a white supremacist group. But neo-Nazi sympathy isn’t the only thing that should have voters worried about Scalise.
In 2013, while speaking to the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Scalise put his ignorance on full display. “He talked about global warming at his inauguration, I found it ironic that the president was wearing a trench coat. It was so cold but he’s talking about global warming,” he quipped, clearly unaware of the difference between weather and climate, or of the fact that climate change does not mean that winter will suddenly cease to exist.
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http://prospect.org/article/three-climate-deniers-congress-whose-districts-will-soon-be-underwater
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