Climate change has been one of the hottest policy debates over the last few years. A UN climate report made public two months ago revealed that 2018 was the fourth warmest year ever. Scientists think that temperatures will keep rising too. It is generally agreed that the biggest cause of climate change right now is human activity. Over 97% of scientists specializing in these areas agree with that too. They believe that if nothing is done, the Earth will soon face disastrous conditions that will affect millions of people.
However, developing and enforcing climate regulations is not that easy. Politicians, who are crucial stakeholders in this, seem to be divided on whether climate change is real or not. Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence, there seems to be a significant number of lawmakers in Washington who believe otherwise. Right now, over 100 members of Congress have expressed their doubts about climate change and the possible effects it could have on human life. They don’t see the need for regulations to curb emissions and worry that such actions could, in fact, have more negative ripple effects on the economy. All but one of these lawmakers are Republicans.
Even as Congress begins working on a proposed climate action plan called the “Green New Deal”, chances of such a proposal passing the GOP dominated Senate are very slim. After all, many GOP lawmakers have expressed their objection towards the scientific reasoning behind climate change without even providing alternative facts to support their assertions. Some GOP members are even on record opposing Obama era emissions laws and have called for their removal a number of times.
In addition to this, although some GOP members agree that there is climate change, they don’t see the connection between this event and human activity. Bringing such lawmakers into the table for a serious debate on climate action is close to impossible. So, who are some of the lawmakers who don’t believe in climate change?
Here is a small list by state.
Alabama
- Sen. Richard Shelby
- Rep. Robert Aderholt
- Rep. Gary Palmer
- Rep. Mo Brooks
Alaska
- Sen. Dan Sullivan
- Rep. Don Young
Arizona
- Rep. Andy Biggs
- Rep. Paul Gosar
- Rep. Debbie Lesko
- Rep. David Schweikert
Arkansas
- Sen. Tom Cotton
- Rep. Rick Crawford
- Sen. John Boozman
- Rep. Bruce Westerman
- Rep. Steve Womack
California
- Rep. Duncan Hunter
- Rep. Doug LaMalfa
- Rep. Devin Nunes
- Rep. Tom McClintock
Colorado
- Sen. Cory Gardner
- Rep. Ken Buck
- Rep. Scott Tipton
- Rep. Doug Lamborn
Florida
- Sen. Marco Rubio
- Rep. Neal Dunn
- Rep. Bill Posey
- Rep. Ted Yoho
- Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart
- Rep. John Rutherford
This is just a list featuring some of the few GOP lawmakers who don’t believe in climate change. We could go on and on but we don’t have enough space to list all of them. With this kind of reality, many lobbyists calling for tougher regulations to curb carbon emissions will have a hard time getting Congress on board. President Trump himself too has said many times that he doesn’t believe in climate change and led the US out of the Paris Climate Accord a few weeks into his first term.
