On Monday, Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL1) said he believes the science behind climate change and that those who deny the facts will be seen as being on the wrong side of history.
“I believe the Earth is warming. I believe that humans contribute to that warming,” said Rep. Gaetz. “And I think that history will judge very harshly those who are climate deniers. And I don’t want to be one of them. I want to work together with Republicans and Democrats on bipartisan solutions to climate change.”
Gaetz was speaking at town hall meeting hosted by News Talk 1370 WCOA and Inweekly in the Studer Community Institute building in Pensacola.
Recently the freshman congressman from Fort Walton Beach joined the Climate Solutions Caucus, a group formed in early 2016 to bring Republicans and Democrats together to advance meaningful climate change legislation.
Gaetz said at the town hall that he believes in bipartisan solutions that will create innovations to deal with climate change more effectively than adding more regulations.
However, he hasn’t changed his mind about the Environmental Protection Agency. In February, Gaetz introduced H.R. 861, which would “terminate†the EPA on December 31, 2018. He still believes that the states do a better job of protecting the environment than the federal agency. To illustrate his point, he talked about how the EPA failed to protect Flint, MI residents from lead poisoning in its drinking water.
“There is a ton of evidence that suggests that the EPA is not effective at protecting our environment,” said Gaetz. “Well, the best evidence comes from the EPA’s own inspector general, who did a report after the Flint, Michigan fiasco and found out that the EPA had information that the water supply was being poisoned. Had the authority to act. Knew that they had the authority to act. And did nothing.”
He added, “So I would totally reimagine the EPA and I would try to design a system where we actually use more technology at the local level. “
I have to agree. He may have done personal things wrong ,but if your honest we all have double, triple lives. He needs to answer for illegal. But as for climate warming. .. He is spot on
If Gaetz really means this, it will be the first position of his that I’ve agreed with.
Vote Phil Ehr for FL-01.
https://thinkprogress.org/anti-epa-lawmaker-joins-climate-caucus-aef40c340afb/
I suspect he’s just there to be a ” no” vote, that seems to be his gig.
I was there at the Town Hall and was incredibly surprised to hear Rep. Gaetz make the comments that he did. I saw that he had joined the climate caucus last week and was going to ask about that, but Rick asked and so I didn’t have to. It will be interesting to hear what kinds of climate solutions he advocates for, as many of the solutions typically involve things like the Paris Climate Accord and other types of international cooperation and Federal-level solutions that Rep. Gaetz often does not support. One solution gaining more momentum that offers more of a free market solution is a carbon fee and dividend, in which a price is placed on carbon so that fossil fuels would be more expensive–that’s the fee side. The dividend means that the extra $ that an individual pays for these fuels is returned to them to use however they want. As fossil fuels become more expensive (to help account for the massive damage they cause) the marketplace shifts toward conservation and renewable energy. That shift is already underway but would be accelerated by the fee and dividend system.
i.e., he doesn’t want government agencies subject to open records requirements overseeing the handout-fest.
And then there is this water to be concerned about.
https://grist.org/article/antarctica-doomsday-glaciers-could-flood-coastal-cities/
Huh? The EPA did not fail Flint. A federal employee that neglected his or her responsibility failed Flint, so he wants to eliminate the entire federal agency???
There several problems with the science behind the “Climate Changers”. On two different occasions, several years apart those tracking the data – changed it arbitrarily to fit their outlook. Has anyone outside of myself ever watched the film ‘ Climate Hustle’?
Currently, the opinions I read about don’t match the facts.; That the Earth’s temperature has changed less than .01% in the last 50 years. Show the data, am not interested in opinions from those holding office or have a PHD….