Dems plan to talk about climate action during August, Republican deniers plan to talk nonsense
Democrats are betting that Americans are smart enough to understand climate change.
Democrats are planning to talk, talk, and talk some more about climate change while Congress is recessed for the month of August.
The planned chorus of warnings about the dangers of global warming is intended to generate support for President Obama’s climate plan, including proposed regulations on coal-burning power plants. The Democrats also plan to mock their Republican counterparts for saying really stupid stuff about the climate. From Politico:
The full-court press shows that liberals have learned from past August congressional recesses, when Republicans, aided by the tea party, out organized Democrats and managed to demonize cap and trade and blame them for high gas prices. …
The strategy is two-fold. First, liberals hope to better articulate the threats posed by climate change to the average citizen, including sea level rise, drought and wildfires. Second, they plan to call out Republicans in Congress who are skeptical about climate change science. …
Organizing for Action, the successor to Obama’s campaign arm, is planning a “national action” day Aug. 13, which will focus on climate change.
Ivan Frishberg, climate change campaign manager at OFA, said the group is organizing events in the states and districts of the 135 lawmakers it has labeled “climate deniers” as part of the action day. The events are aimed at “holding them accountable” for questioning climate science, he said.
The official Republican plan is to avoid the topic of climate change, but some GOP members of Congress just can’t seem to stop saying dumb things on the topic. From a followup article in Politico:
Republican strategists have laid out an aggressive game plan for seizing the high ground on energy during the August recess: talk about gas prices and jobs, jobs, jobs.
But some Republicans are straying from the script, spouting off instead about the Book of Genesis, claims about scientific conspiracies and arguments that the Earth is cooling. And they show no signs of stifling their skepticism — even at the risk of providing a stream of YouTube-worthy sound bites that play into Democrats’ own strategy, which includes painting the GOP as the anti-science party. …
On the other hand, scoffing at climate science is popular enough with the party base that many congressional Republicans hesitate to openly challenge the skeptics. One longtime Republican operative explained that even GOP lawmakers’ most extreme statements about climate change “play well” among conservatives.
Still, some Republicans are sounding the alarm.
“It’s dawning on us that we’re going to lose people who are focused on the future — that would be young people — if we continue in this disputing of the science,” said former Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), who wants his party to support a carbon tax as a more free-market alternative to Obama’s proposed regulations. “We’re going to lose credibility. We’re going to lose the sense that we have anything to offer.”
Sing it, Democrats.
John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.
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Dems plan to talk about climate action during August, Republican deniers plan to talk nonsense
