64 Members Of Shiny New GOP Climate Caucus; Exactly 6 Voted To Restore Obama-Era Methane Rule
Dozens of House Republicans signed up last week for a new Conservative Climate Caucus intended to engage members on the issue and trumpet the GOP's newfound respect for climate science. Two days later, nearly all of them opposed a measure to curb methane emissions. The juxtaposition illustrates the position of the modern GOP: While the party has changed its stance on the facts of climate change, most Republicans still oppose regulation or taxation of the greenhouse gases that cause it.
Only six of 64 members of the House climate caucus voted to restore methane standards to Obama administration levels. The rest opposed the Congressional Review Act resolution that allows Congress and the White House to quickly repeal a rule finalized at the end of the Trump administration. The vote, some environmentalists said, would have been as an easy way for Republicans who say they care about climate change to do something about it, particularly because the resolution was backed by major fossil fuel companies.
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Other observers said Republicans might not grasp the significance of methane, which makes up a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. "I don't think people understand methane the way they understand carbon dioxide," said David Bookbinder, chief counsel at the Niskanen Center. "I think the general population understands carbon dioxide as something when they burn gas and oil and coal — where it comes from. [Methane] hasn't yet entered their consciousness." The Conservative Climate Caucus' chair, Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), who voted against the CRA resolution on the floor, appeared to confirm that assessment yesterday. "I need to better understand methane," Curtis said in an interview. "I understand just enough to know that it's a problem, but I don't really have a strategy for reining it in."
Ed. - Yeah, we noticed.
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For the most part, the Conservative Climate Caucus and the GOP are open to reducing methane emissions, said Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), a member of the group and the ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. The caucus has members with a wide range of views, like Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who denies climate science. "CRAs are generally pretty political," Graves said in an interview. "I don't think there's anybody in the caucus that would come out and say, 'Oh, I think we ought to increase methane emissions,'" he added. Graves, who often acts as a spokesperson on climate issues for the GOP, was in his district and did not vote on the CRA resolution last week. But he said he would have opposed it, arguing that the Obama-era rule was unwieldy and created overlapping authorities.
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https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063736127
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