Cathy McMorris Rodgers has decided to not run for reelection after 20 years in the House, but she supports H.R. 1023 to repeal section 134 of the Clean Air Act, relating to the greenhouse gas reduction funding. Some Republicans, but not all, are climate change deniers, but clearly, the party has different priorities than those of the Biden administration.
According to a March 1, 2024 post by Pew Research, How Republicans View Climate Change and Energy Issues, "few Republicans see climate change as a top priority for the country. Just 12% of Republicans and Republican leaners say dealing with climate change should be a top priority for the president and Congress, according to a January 2024 survey.
"For Republicans, dealing with climate change ranks last among the 20 issues included in the survey." But, "despite expressing little concern about the issue generally, Republicans support some proposals to address climate change."
"Republicans support expanding fossil fuel and renewable energy sources... Republicans are concerned about a transition to renewable energy in the U.S."
"There are considerable age differences within the GOP in views of fossil fuels. Younger Republicans stand out from their older GOP counterparts on some climate and energy issues."
Perhaps the general lack of concern about the climate crisis by Republicans is because "relatively small shares of Republicans say climate change and extreme weather are having a significant impact on their own communities."
Another indication of Republican priorities regarding climate change can be found in the recently released 887 page book by the Heritage Foundation, “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.” The following sections are most relevant:
In contrast, the Biden administration is addressing climate change as a top priority:
"President Biden will take swift action to tackle the climate crisis. To meet the demands of science, the President is mobilizing a whole-of-government effort to reduce climate pollution in every sector of the economy and increase resilience to climate impacts. The Biden Administration will create good-paying, union jobs to build a modern and sustainable infrastructure, deliver an equitable clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050."
CleanEnergy.gov focuses on how "the Inflation Reduction Act lowers energy costs for consumers and small businesses while creating good-paying jobs as America’s clean energy economy and manufacturing sectors grow."
Wikipedia has a good summary of the Environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration.
Here are a few useful links about the science of climate change:
General Science and Climate Change, from SOCAN
The Science of Climate Change Explained: Facts, Evidence and Proof (New York Times, April 19, 2021)
What We Know About Climate Change from MIT
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