Conservatives In Congress Vote To Deny Climate Change

Earlier we mentioned that the House voted to authorize unconstitutional domestic spying on American citizens yesterday. The day didn't get any better. Next up was the crackpot Republican bill to overturn the EPA's climate change regulations for power plants. It passed 242-180 while the President was in Paris for an International Climate Change conference, something that earned him the disdain of two particularly vile Climate Change deniers, Sean Hannity and Mike Huckabee. The latter was on the former's silly show claiming "America needs a commander-in-chief, not a weather-obsessed meteorologist-in-chief." How pathetic is that. Maybe Huckabee should watch the short speech Ted Lieu (D-CA) made on the floor of Congress-- above-- on exactly why it is imperative and urgent for the president and Congress to act on this... and it's not about the weather. Speaking before the vote yesterday, Lieu said, "This is just another example of the Republican majority denying the urgency and severity of carbon pollution. At a time when the entire world is meeting in Paris to address carbon pollution, the Republican majority is doing exactly the opposite. History books will one day say that America led the way in addressing climate change and saving our planet-- or there will be no history books."

Purposefully ignorant climate change denier Mike Huckabee

The Republican bill, which, obviously, the President will veto if it gets through the Senate-- also unlikely-- tries to permanently block the whole premise of fighting Climate Change. Four of the House's most corrupt right-wing "Democrats"-- Blue Dogs, some of whom only exist as congressmen because the DCCC underwrites their reelections-- crossed the aisle and voted with the Republicans, as they almost always do: Collin Peterson (MN), Sanford Bishop (GA), Brad Ashford (NE) and Henry Cuellar (TX).

Just as the House was voting Bernie Sanders was saying that "The pope was right when he said the problems are getting worse and that unless we act ‘we are at the limits of suicide.' The evidence is overwhelming. When the final calculations are made, 2015 will replace 2014 as the warmest year on record. Draughts, floods and severe storms already are impacting the planet and the situation will only become worse in years to come. I find it unacceptable that many of my Republican colleagues are more worried about campaign contributions they’re getting from the Koch brothers and others in the fossil fuel industry than they are about preserving the planet for our children and grandchildren."

Brooklyn Congressman Yvette Clarke explained, very clearly, why she voted against the two horrible resolutions: "Pollution from power plants, particularly plants that burn coal, has terrible consequences for our health, contributing to asthma and other respiratory illnesses, and resulting in global climate change that has already increased the severity of storms and threatens to displace many people around the world as temperatures increase and the level of the ocean rises. Existing regulations under the Clean Air Act have-- despite false claims from fossil fuel producers-- dramatically improved the air quality we enjoy and have expanded our economy. Many older American remember a time when smog alerts were a regular occurrence in our cities-- a problem with which young Americans are entirely (and fortunately) unfamiliar. Now, we have the opportunity, with the  Clean Power Plan developed by the Environmental Protection Agency, to continue that effort to protect the health of Americans, create jobs, and reduce our contributions to global climate change."

It's especially shocking to see Florida's coastal Republicans in districts which are already being impacted by rising oceans, stick their heads in the sand and march lock-step with their party over the cliff. Particularly cowardly are Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Miami and Coral Gables), David Jolly (Pinellas Co.) Carlos Curbelo (the Florida Keys), Gus Bilirakis (Tarpon Springs and Palm Harbor), Vern Buchanan (Sarasota, Bradenton), Tom Rooney (Port Charlotte) and Curt Clawson (Cape Coral, Ft. Meyers, Naples), the communities already being affected in brackets. A very similar companion bill voted on within minutes of the first one was too much denial even for Ros-Lehtinen and Curbelo, who crossed the aisle and voted with the Democrats, but the rest of the Florida Republicans were only too happy to smile and sign their constituents' death warrants. Although Wasserman-Schultz has made sure that Ros-Lehtinen will never have an opponent in her blue district, Curbelo is facing fierce opposition to his reelection bid. Annette Taddeo was mortified-- though not expecting anything more from him-- that Curbelo thought he could please his wealthy donors by voting against one bill and placate his constituents by voting for the other one. "I'm not surprised my chameleon opponent tried to have it both ways, but when the literal future of our district is on the line he chose to side with his party yet again."