Mother Jones
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In March, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) held his first hearing as chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Environment, which is responsible for, among other things, studying the impact of climate change on America’s natural resources. The catch: Stewart is something of a climate skeptic who is “not as convinced as a lot of people are that man-made climate change is the threat they think it is.”
At a town hall forum in his district last week, Stewart elaborated on those views when pressed by local environmental activists. Although his beliefs put him at odds with 97 percent of climate scientists, Stewart argued that his views on climate change put him squarely within the scientific mainstream. His evidence: If there really were a consensus, Congress would have have taken action to combat climate change years ago. Check it out:
Let me say that when I’m talking to you here right now, my position on climate change was very moderate and actually very mainstream. And that is this: If you think that the science on climate change is settled, you’re simply overstating the facts. And let me give you an example of that. Two years ago, President Obama controlled the House and the Senate—the Senate by a 60-vote margin. They did not put forth a vote on human climate change. And do you know why? Why do you suppose they didn’t? Because they recognized that science behind this…
There’s one final thought that’s really important in this, which is that even if you concede that climate change is real, even if you concede, there are no reasonable remedies that don’t absolutely bankrupt the West.
Stewart’s narrative is a bit off, actually. The House did pass major climate legislation in 2009, and the Senate came pretty close, but negotiations within the bipartisan coalition that was working on the bill broke down. The issue wasn’t that the Senate rejected climate science—the legislation failed due to a variety of political pressures, including concerns from coal-state Democrats, and South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham’s insistence that the body put immigration reform first. (Ryan Lizza has the best explanation of that episode here.)
Why does Chris Stewart hate baby polar bears?
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