Apostates

Apostates are GOP who are not deniers, tho some be squishy 180 at times; see also sellouts, who are demos who take energy $i'm adding gop orgs, some fronts/greenwash, some initially legit but got bought?also a tag, lower case, so S3/18 widening cat to include ppl who break with Trump (koch?) extremism?=many beaten, flanked, bailledcurbelo fla beaten 2018 carbon tax=wait, what?<a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/gop-criticizes-its-own-on-climate">https://www.eenews.net/articles/gop-criticizes-its-own-on-climate</a><div>ref climatewire 5/19https://www.eenews.net/articles/gop-criticizes-its-own-on-climate/?ref=drilledrep. Matt Gaetz (center), a Florida Republican who accepts that man-made climate change is occurring, is being criticized by conservatives for offering legislation to address global warming. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom<article id="post-17430" class="post-17430 articles type-articles status-publish publication-climatewire entry" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 35px; color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-family: din-2014, sans-serif;"><header class="entry-header" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;" /><div class="entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box;">As some Republicans inch toward climate policy for the first time in years, those in the party who reject climate science are getting nervous that a more permanent shift is coming.And they’re going on the attack against their former allies.A group called Energy & Environment Action Team recently sent a 16-page pamphlet to every member of Congress encouraging lawmakers to reject all climate policy and connecting concern about global warming to political losses.  In bold letters across the top, the pamphlet stated, "The Plan is … No Plan! Why the GOP shouldn’t do anything on climate.""There is absolutely no reason for any Republican to offer a plan to ‘combat climate change,’" the pamphlet continued. "Such a plan, if enacted would accomplish nothing good for America or the climate."A growing number of Republican lawmakers, including some who have disputed climate science for years, are not only now acknowledging global warming but also putting forward climate policies. But some worry that their colleagues are simply shifting to climate action because they have been spooked by the popularity of the Green New Deal."If you are planning on running against the Green New Deal, it seems sort of odd to play footsie with key elements of the Green New Deal," said Republican energy lobbyist Mike McKenna, who was on President Trump’s Energy Department transition team.In March, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) proposed a "Green Real Deal" resolution that acknowledges the reality of climate change and the threat it poses to national security, and seeks to use innovation to combat global warming. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) called for a bipartisan "New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy" that would increase the share of renewables on the energy grid, boost nuclear power and encourage electric car production."Congressman Gaetz and others are going to do what they think is best, but the idea that Republicans are going to outcompete with Democrats with respect to who can have the best government-based solution to anything is ridiculous and profoundly unserious," McKenna said.While modest in comparison with the ideas put forward by Democrats — none of the Republican proposals would restrict fossil fuel use, for example — such plans have angered groups allied with the GOP for years.The Competitive Enterprise Institute and other groups opposed to regulations want to increase political pressure on Republicans who are proposing climate action to "educate them and thereby bring them back into line," said Myron Ebell, director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment and head of the Trump EPA transition team.Ebell said he is particularly concerned that there seems to be a push among House leadership to craft climate policy. He accused House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) of misleading others in the party and said some lawmakers, including Reps. Garret Graves (R-La.) and Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), have been misinformed by advocates on the value of clean energy."It’s when conservatives have decided to offer alternatives, they have gotten beat, because in the public’s mind it becomes very difficult to tell the difference between the left’s plan and the right’s plan and then pretty soon they’re compromising it, they’re coming to some sort of middle ground and pretty soon we’ve lost the whole issue," he said.Ebell added: "It’s pretty clear to anybody who looks at it, there is no middle ground."A spokesman for Gaetz said the congressman has discussed "the reality of climate change" with Republican lawmakers as well as with Trump. Gaetz, who once proposed eliminating EPA, is optimistic that more Republicans will eventually form their own plans to address climate change, spokesman Luke Ball said. Gaetz doesn’t view those in the party who reject science as a lost cause because the scientific evidence is now so overwhelming that it will push others to act, his spokesman said."Gaetz is concerned at the lack of support he has received from members of his own party who continue to deny the science of climate change," Ball said. "He believes history will judge harshly those who refuse to acknowledge this issue or take actionable steps to address it."Other GOP lawmakers criticized from the right for climate policy were more reluctant to call out their colleagues.Graves is one of the most visible congressional Republicans when it comes to the issue of global warming. Not only does he serve as the top GOP lawmaker on a new House climate change committee, but Graves has a history of acknowledging the risks of a warmer planet (<a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/eenews/article/eenews/1060126765" data-cms-href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/eenews/article/eenews/1060126765" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(50, 101, 152); transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Climatewire</a>, March 11).In a brief Capitol Hill interview, he said he hasn’t encountered noticeable pushback from climate deniers or climate contrarians. But he said he’s still cognizant of the way he must broach the issue with other Republicans."What you have to do is to meet people where they are and sort of use verbiage or words that translate to people the right way," Graves said."You may not be able to go into some Republican circles and say that, ‘Hey, I’ve got this plan on how we’re going to reduce greenhouse gases in the United States and we’re going to convert everything to renewable energy,’" he said.But Graves added that the audience could be more receptive "if you come in and start talking about strategies on how we can reduce energy costs by improving efficiency and conservation [or] by bringing new technologies to the table."Nonetheless, conservatives who oppose climate policy plan to escalate their attacks if members of the party don’t back down.The recent 16-page brochure attacked a few lawmakers for being concerned about climate change, labeling Gaetz as "one Republican to fall for the climate-baiting guilt-trip." The pamphlet, which misrepresents and distorts climate science, portrays Republicans as politically victorious when they reject climate policy. It blamed the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain’s loss in the 2008 presidential election on his climate policy.Steve Milloy, editor of JunkScience.com and the author of the pamphlet, said it’s a signal to Republicans not to get out of line on climate policy. Democrats have united on the other side, he said, and the GOP should also do the same. He blamed Republican actions on climate change on young staffers who don’t yet understand the party’s position. Milloy said he plans to make sure other lawmakers don’t "drift" and warned he would extend his advocacy beyond pamphlets."People say all kinds of shit, and if they stop saying it, then OK, but if they persist, well, tougher action will be required," he said. "Then it’s going to be ugly."The differences between Gaetz’s plan and the Green New Deal backed by progressive Democrats are mere "window-dressing," wrote James Taylor, a senior fellow at the Heartland Institute, which aims to muddy climate science.Taylor has said that Republicans risk alienating their base if they craft climate policy. He said that "weak-minded congressional Republicans" who try to respond to the Green New Deal take away the chance to run against it in the 2020 elections.He has written critically of Gaetz in particular and even referred to him as "Matt Gore" in reference to Al Gore, the former U.S. vice president and environmental activist."Gaetz, Alexander, and their small cadre of Republican climate alarmists are seeking to undermine the conservative Republican voter base and Trump on one of his most important policy principles," he wrote. "Their betrayal of Trump and the conservative Republican base will almost certainly and justly come back to haunt them."The fight on the right over climate change isn’t a new one for Alex Flint, who leads the Alliance for Market Solutions, a conservative group that supports carbon taxes.Earlier this year, Flint criticized climate contrarians for their views and argued that denialism is anathema to conservatism because it ignores the risks of global warming. And "being irresponsible disqualifies anyone from being a true conservative," he wrote at the time (<a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/eenews/article/eenews/1060162805" data-cms-href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/eenews/article/eenews/1060162805" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(50, 101, 152); transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Climatewire</a>, April 15).In an interview Thursday, Flint made the case that the rejection of climate science is losing ground with Republicans."But we won’t know until after the 2020 elections how rapidly it’s occurring," he said.</div></article></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div>=go Joe<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jeff-flake-former-gop-congress-biden" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Fox News reports</a> that the list of former GOP lawmakers is headlined by Jeff Flake, the former Arizona senator who frequently clashed with the president before retiring in 2018.The other Republicans endorsing Biden are former Sens. John Warner of Virginia, Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire, and former Reps. Steve Bartlett of Texas, Bill Clinger of Pennsylvania, Tom Coleman of Missouri, Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, Charles Djou of Hawaii, Mickey Edwards of Oklahoma, Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland, Jim Greenwood of Pennsylvania, Bob Inglis of South Carolina, Jim Kolbe of Arizona, Steve Kuykendall of California, Ray LaHood of Illinois, Jim Leach of Iowa, Connie Morella of Maryland, Mike Parker of Mississippi, Jack Quinn of New York, Claudine Schneider of Rhode Island, Chris Shays of Connecticut, Peter Smith of Vermont, Alan Steelman of Texas, Bill Whitehurst of Virginia, Dick Zimmer of New Jersey, and Jim Walsh of New York.<div>=</div><div><a href="https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/some-gop-lawmakers-are-thawing-on-climate-change">https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/some-gop-lawmakers-are-thawing-on-climate-change</a></div><div>
</div><div>2/19?</div><div>Congressional Republicans seem to be thawing on climate.Rep. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?44624&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Mark Meadows</a>, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who has denied the science behind climate change, told reporters Wednesday he was open to confront the peril of the warming planet.“There are some things I’m willing to look at,” the North Carolina Republican said of addressing climate change. While he remains skeptical of climate science, he said, “I think that greenhouse gas emissions is certainly something that we need to look at.”Last week, Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?2484&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">John Barrasso</a> of Wyoming said America can cut its carbon output. It’s a business opportunity for U.S. firms, he said. “You know, as other countries grow their economies, they should be using the best possible technology to capture carbon emissions.”And Illinois Republican Rep. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?175&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">John Shimkus</a>, who in 2008 called a carbon tax “the only intellectually honest way to move forward on global climate change,” said Wednesday, referring to a possible climate bill, that there are “areas of agreement where Republicans can be supportive so that you might have a legislative solution that actually gets signed into law.”As the long-set Republican opposition to addressing climate change recedes on Capitol Hill, even highly conservative members in the House and Senate are indicating they view greenhouse gases as a problem and are open to climate measures that would emphasize an expanded role for the private sector rather than the federal government.While no deal is imminent or likely in this Congress, Republicans have set out areas they might be willing to compromise on or use as bargaining chips in negotiating climate legislation, including carbon-capture technology, energy efficiency, nuclear power, battery storage and funding for basic energy research and development.In a column published Wednesday, a trio of top Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee — ranking member <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?402&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Greg Walden</a> of Oregon, Rep. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?245&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Fred Upton</a> of Michigan, and Shimkus — offered an “innovation” pitch to address the issue with what they called “bipartisan solutions”: renewable energy development, carbon capture and utilization, hydropower and nuclear power.“These are bipartisan solutions we must seize on to deliver real results for the American people,” they wrote.That type of offer may have an audience with Democrats who may view a proposal with more federal involvement, like the Green New Deal resolution from Rep. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?118914&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> of New York and Sen. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?220&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">Edward J. Markey</a> of Massachusetts, as less politically palatable. The resolution aims to overhaul the U.S. energy system and swiftly pull away from carbon-heavy sources.House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?404&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Peter A. DeFazio</a> of Oregon, who opposed cap-and-trade legislation Democrats narrowly passed when they last had control of the House, said he was interested in what Republicans had to offer.“Renewable energy, R&D, energy efficiency, research into new battery technology, massive federal investments in those areas? Sure, I’m interested in that,” DeFazio said.He said that before he’s willing to work with Republicans on these efforts, they must acknowledge the science behind climate change and the related risks presented to the planet.“They have to acknowledge there’s a problem if they want to spend a bunch of money to solve it,” he said. “If they’re going to spend a bunch of money on a problem they say doesn’t exist, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”Shimkus said that he, with Walden and Upton, was trying to move beyond the topic of climate science, which “we all agree with,” to a strategy of “how we can move forward.”Republicans are considering “where are there areas of agreement where Republicans can be supportive so that you might have a legislative solution that actually gets signed into law,” he said.<h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">‘No-regret solutions’</h2>At a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing last week, Sen. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?17262&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Lisa Murkowski</a>, who chairs the committee, laid out similar grounds for compromise.“I have often spoken about clean energy innovation policies as ‘no-regret solutions,’” the Alaska Republican said. “But in reality, these are just those first steps.”Deploying low-carbon energy infrastructure worldwide requires research and cost-cutting, she said, underscoring carbon capture technology, which is still in its infancy.“It is time to push hard to bring down the cost of clean energy technologies like renewables, advanced nuclear, next-generation energy storage and carbon capture,” Murkowski said. “If we want credible technological solutions that are cost-effective and deployable globally and at-scale, we must ensure that the policies we put in place propel those efforts.”Energy and Natural Resources ranking member <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?2120&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Joe Manchin</a> III said at that hearing that a comprehensive measure like the Green New Deal could be a way for lawmakers of both parties to “come together and understand that it’s a really lofty goal.”“We get these divides where our caucuses, whether it be within the Democrat or Republican, or divide within the whole Senate or the whole Congress,” the West Virginia Democrat said. “We don’t want to drink dirty water. We don’t want to breathe dirty air. We want our kids to have a future. We really do. They also realize they have to have a job to sustain themselves.”Shimkus agreed with the sentiment that Democrats’ Green New Deal created an opportunity to craft a more politically-moderate approach to addressing climate that could receive buy-in from his party.“I think that’s helpful in getting us to look at something ... that we might be willing to consider,” he said.In an interview, Rep. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://www.rollcall.com/members?29506&utm_source=memberLink?utm_source=memberLink" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Paul Tonko</a>, who is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce’s Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee, lauded the Republicans’ willingness to address climate change but said their push for innovation falls short of what is needed to tackle such as sprawling threat."Innovation and research are important but again that's only picking two tools out of the kit,” the New York Democrat said. “And if we’re going to get to this very lofty ambitious goal with urgency, we’re going to need to have many more elements to be part of the equation for success.”Tonko, whose subcommittee would be the first stop for legislation in the House to address climate change and energy issues, said there are opportunities to work out a deal between both chambers and parties.He mentioned energy efficiency, weatherization, conservation, research and upgrading the electric grids as areas of collaboration — points Republicans have broadly said they would be open to.“I applaud they're coming around,” Tonko said. “It appears as though the denial syndrome or the delay syndrome has been abandoned and that people are now talking solutions.”<div style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trump: Green New Deal sounds like a ‘high school term paper that got a low mark’]</div></div><div></div>=<div>
</div><div>lcv 180   xl?</div><div>no lnx1119 an
Susan Collins loses endorsement of conservation group as she fights to retain her seat
Written by Joan McCarter / Daily Kos November 15, 2019Just two years ago, the League of Conservation Voters declared that Sen. Susan Collins, Republican from Maine, “is an extremely important ally in the fight to protect the environment and public health. […] Her leadership is more important now than ever, and we are grateful that she continues to stand up to big polluters by supporting climate action and protections for the air we breathe, the water we drink and the lands we cherish.”What a difference two years, two new Supreme Court justices, and countless Senate votes backing Donald Trump make. This time around, the LCV is endorsing Democratic candidate Sara Gideon, one of a handful of challengers to Collins. “From her time as a town councilor to her tenure as Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, Speaker Gideon has been a leader fighting the climate crisis, promoting clean energy, & banning offshore drilling in Maine,” LCV tweeted in its announcement.In its endorsements, the LCV says that it seeks to “elect environmental champions who will address the climate crisis and advance a more equitable clean energy future.” Beyond that, though, “LCV Action Fund understands the critical importance of a representative democracy and is committed to endorsing candidates that are reflective of the diverse communities and identities across the country.”Sorry, Susan Collins. That’s just not you anymore. Gideon has also nabbed the endorsement of women’s rights groups NARAL Pro-Choice America and EMILY’s List. That means Planned Parenthood Action Fund is sitting on the fence by itself in not announcing an endorsement yet in Maine.Planned Parenthood needs to follow the example of LCV’s principled decision to drop Collins. Just two years ago it gave her the 2017 Barry Goldwater Award for “her incredible work this year in fighting to protect women’s access to reproductive health care.” Voting for Neil Gorsuch’s and especially Brett Kavanaugh’s nominations to the Supreme Court nullified all of that.<div>
</div><div></div></div>aha? more than one apostate drunk koolaide trump cult 1119 stefanik= 619 dereg nation<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left: 4px solid rgb(139, 196, 74); padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; margin: 1em 0px; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-republican-lawmakers-break-with-party-on-climate-change-11560337010" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); outline: none;">The Wall Street Journal reports that</a> “a small but growing number of Republican lawmakers are urging action on climate change, driven by shifting sentiment among GOP voters and the effects of global warming, from stronger hurricanes to more-destructive wildfires.”According to the Journal, longtime Republican pollster Frank Luntz (author of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2003/mar/04/usnews.climatechange" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); outline: none;">now-infamous memo on how to confuse and divide voters </a>about climate change) has warned Republicans that their obstruction and anti-science rhetoric are driving away voters, particularly younger conservatives.</blockquote><h2 sf="SF" compact="Compact" display="Display" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" margin="margin" em="em" px="px" rgb="rgb" font-size="font-size" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">great: flood survivors want answers for unnatural disasters</h2><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px;"><li style="margin: 7.5px 0px 7.5px 15px;">After her hometown flooded for the fourth time in three years, killing some of her neighbors, Missourian Susan Liley got mad.</li><li style="margin: 7.5px 0px 7.5px 15px;">Liley and other De Soto residents founded the Citizen’s Committee for Flood Relief in 2015 with two initial goals, <a href="https://ensia.com/features/flood-survivors-victims-organize-for-change/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); outline: none;">as Ensia, the solutions-focused digital magazine, reports: </a>“figure out some kind of early warning system” and “understand the root causes of repeated flooding and address them”...</li></ul><div>=</div>nicolle Wallace, former White House communications director under President George W. Bush and now one of the right-wing voices at the Democratic-leaning MSNBC, has not only been <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/his-spine-has-been-removed-watch-nicolle-wallace-blast-incredible-shrinking-man-paul-ryan/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">vehemently critical of President Donald Trump</a>—she has also voiced her displeasure with the Republican Party establishment for obediently rallying around the president, including House Speaker Paul Ryan (who she described as “the incredible shrinking man” and someone whose “spine has been removed”). And there are other right-wingers as well who have been consistently critical of Trump, from journalist SE Cupp to GOP strategist Rick Wilson to Weekly Standard Publisher Bill Kristol. Although Cupp, Wilson and Kristol have all made it clear how much they dislike Trump’s presidency, none of them have defected to the Libertarian Party or the Constitution Party—seemingly, they would rather fight to save the GOP from Trumpism than abandon it. But other long-time conservatives have expressed their disdain for Trump by leaving the Republican Party. Here are four prominent right-wing voices who have officially left the GOP in response to Trump’s toxic effect on it.1. George F. Will  For many years, George W. Will and the late William F. Buckley reigned supreme as the leading go-to pundits when the mainstream media wanted a right-wing perspective. The 77-year-old Will was a major champion of Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s and continued to debate liberals and progressives tirelessly long after that. But in June 2016, the unthinkable happened: Will announced that he had <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/george-will-leaves-gop-224801" style="text-decoration-line: none;">left the GOP</a> and registered as an independent. At that point, Trump was his party’s presumptive nominee—and Will asserted that after Speaker Ryan endorsed Trump despite his <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/27/politics/judge-curiel-trump-border-wall/index.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">racist attack on Judge Gonzalo Curiel</a>, he felt that the GOP was “not my party anymore.”2. Max Boot Right-wing journalist Max Boot has asserted that being an immigrant himself, he takes Trump’s demonization of immigrants personally: Boot was born in Moscow in 1969, and his parents fled the Soviet Union. Although Boot was a Republican for many years, he left the GOP because, among other things, he believes that Trumpism has made it “a <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/max-boot-democrat-midterm-takeover_us_5b3d7b35e4b09e4a8b29d1cb" style="text-decoration-line: none;">white nationalist party</a> with a conservative fringe.” And Boot is hoping that Democrats will retake both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives in November because as he sees it, “A vote for the GOP in November is also a vote for egregious obstruction of justice, rampant conflicts of interest, the demonization of minorities, the debasement of political discourse, the alienation of America’s allies, the end of free trade and the appeasement of dictators.” 3. Steve SchmidtSteve Schmidt, who served as a senior strategist for Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, was a registered Republican for 29 years. But the 47-year-old Schmidt became so <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-schmidt-renounces-gop_us_5b2a4ce8e4b05d6c16c96a05" style="text-decoration-line: none;">fed up with Trumpism</a> that on June 19, he announced, via Twitter, that he was <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveSchmidtSES/status/1009325235953270784" style="text-decoration-line: none;">officially leaving the GOP</a> and registering as an independent. Disgusted because establishment Republicans who were willing to stand up to Trump were few and far between, Schmidt denounced the Republican leadership as “feckless cowards who disgrace and dishonor the legacies of the party’s greatest leaders.”4. Joe ScarboroughBefore he became part of the right-wing minority at MSNBC, Joe Scarborough was a congressman who represented North Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives. Scarborough has butted heads with liberals many times on MSNBC, but he has been a persistent critic of Trump—often calling him out for his racism, misogyny and xenophobia. And in 2017, the co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” asserted that because Trump had soiled the GOP brand so badly, he felt he had no choice but to <a href="https://thehill.com/media/355234-scarborough-formally-leaves-gop-registers-as-independent" style="text-decoration-line: none;">leave the party</a> and register as an independent.post helsinki:to: Senators Jeff Flake, John McCain, Bob Corker, and Susan CollinsFrom: Robert ReichSenators, I write you not as a Democrat reaching out to Republicans, or as a former cabinet member making a request of sitting senators.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">---</h2><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">apostates?</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">disillusioned conservatives, Jennifer Rubin, Peter Wehner, David Frum, Anna Navarro and Charlie Sykes among them. Michael Gerson, once a speechwriter for George W Bush, says: “The conservative mind, in some very visible cases, has become diseased. The movement has been seized by a kind of discrediting madness, in which conspiracy delusions figure prominently.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> =2 tucson panels
MARCH 11, 2018Panel Discussion on the Republican Party Three authors talked about the Republican Party. Their books they discussed are titled, How the Right Lost Its Mind, The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker, and Citizen Newt: The Making of a Reagan Conservative.
craig s said corps have too much power?!
<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?441346-23/panel-discussion-republican-party" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.c-span.org/video/?441346-23/panel-discussion-republican-party</a><div>
</div>=</div>

<a href="https://www.alternet.org/environment/how-gop-centrists-can-affirm-powerful-conservation-legacy-eisenhower-and-roosevelt">https://www.alternet.org/environment/how-gop-centrists-can-affirm-powerful-conservation-legacy-eisenhower-and-roosevelt</a>no link pixDecember 6th marked 57 years since Republican President Dwight Eisenhower first set aside what is now the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
But if today’s Republican leaders have their way, the Refuge won’t make it to 58—at least not in the condition that President Eisenhower intended it to remain. As his Secretary of Interior Fred Seaton proclaimed:
For the wilderness explorer, whether primarily a fisherman, hunter, photographer or mountain climber, certain portions of the Arctic coast and the north slope river valleys, such as the Canning, Hulahula, Okpilak, Aichilik, Kongakut and Firth, and their great background of lofty mountains, offer a wilderness experience not duplicated elsewhere in our country.

The tax bill now being negotiated by a House-Senate Conference Committee includes a controversial Senate provision that would mandate drilling in at least 800,000 acres of the coast and river valleys Eisenhower thought he had protected in perpetuity.

President Dwight Eisenhower (center), America’s 34th president. (John J. Burns Library - Libraries at Boston College)
The key question is whether any centrist Republican members of Congress have the courage to draw a line in the tundra and insist that the drilling scheme be removed from the bill. Recently, we were encouraged to see a dozen Republicans in the House send a letter to leadership urging exactly that. It was the kind of letter that gives us some hope that the party of Eisenhower and Teddy Roosevelt, who created our National Wildlife Refuge System, still has a conservation ethic.
Also encouraging was a letter from several Republican luminaries including Teddy Roosevelt IV and Republican senior officials from four previous Republican administrations urging protection of the Refuge.

Still, talk can be cheap. President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke claims to be an “unapologetic admirer”of Teddy Roosevelt yet championed the President’s effort to take more land out of protection than any President in history. Senator John McCain once championed the Refuge saying, “As far as ANWR is concerned, I don’t want to drill in the Grand Canyon, and I don’t want to drill in the Everglades. This is one of the most pristine and beautiful parts of the world.” Yet today Senator McCain is cheerleading, supporting and continuing to vote for a tax bill that contains the drilling scheme.
So who are the members of the House who can be as tough and far-sighted as Ike and Teddy and make clear that they will not vote for any tax bill with Arctic Refuge drilling? They are people like Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick from Bucks County, PA. He’s been voting consistently for the environment and can be a true conservation hero if he stands up and speaks out here. Take a look at this ad we are running in his and other districts.

The Porcupine Caribou Herd on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Mladen Mates / Alaska Wilderness League)
They are people like Congressman Erik Paulsen from St. Paul, Minnesota, an avid outdoorsman who camps, canoes and hikes the Boundary Waters along the Minnesota-Canada border. He should be tough and insistent that the final bill exclude Arctic drilling.
They are people like Congressman Carlos Curbelo and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik who have been leaders in the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. If that commitment to climate change is real then they will heed Bill McKibben’s plea and keep Arctic Refuge “oil and gas in the ground.”
And they are people like Dave Reichert from Washington State. For years he has championed the Refuge, and it was his leadership that played a large role in helping protect it in 2005. He is retiring next year, but is he willing to be a profile in courage again?
We will continue to implore these representatives to protect “America’s last great wilderness.” If they courageously stand in the breach and insist Arctic Refuge drilling be removed from the tax bill before they vote for it, they can not only save the day but will have restored some faith in millions of Americans that the GOP—the Party of Roosevelt and Eisenhower— still has conservation champions in its ranks.links:key question is whether any centrist Republican members of Congress have the courage to draw a line in the tundra and insist that the drilling scheme be removed from the bill. Recently, we were encouraged to see a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nhxUcFw9PjLxPggZvfC1BX6r17zgWu2w/view" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">dozen Republicans in the House send a letter to leadership</a> urging exactly that. It was the kind of letter that gives us some hope that the party of Eisenhower and Teddy Roosevelt, who created our National Wildlife Refuge System, still has a conservation ethic.Also encouraging was <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qltcjEzEEH2ze6IxssqwTeZPTrsOoill/view" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a letter from several Republican luminaries including Teddy Roosevelt IV</a> and Republican senior officials from four previous Republican administrations urging protection of the Refuge.William D. RuckelshausFormer Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency under Presidents Nixon and ReaganLynn ScarlettFormer Deputy Secretary, Department of the Interior, under President George W. BushWilliam K. ReillyFormer Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency under President George H.W. BushTed Roosevelt IVBarclays Capital CorporationNathaniel ReedAssistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks under President Richard NixonThe Honorable Tom Evans (R-DE), Member of Congress from 1977 to 1983Thomas H. KeanFormer Governor of New Jersey (1982-1990) and Chairman, 911 Commission<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01122017/tax-bill-gop-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-oil-drilling-anwr-murkowski-curbelo-republican-opposition">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01122017/tax-bill-gop-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-oil-drilling-anwr-murkowski-curbelo-republican-opposition</a>A group of 12 Congressional Republicans sent a letter to the leaders of both houses of Congress Thursday, objecting to a provision in the tax bill that would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."For decades, Congress has voted to prohibit oil and gas development in the refuge, with the overwhelming support of the American public," <a href="https://reichertforms.house.gov/uploadedfiles/arctic_national_wildlife_refuge_letter_to_gop_leadership_final.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">the group wrote</a>. "Support for this protection remains strong today. After years of debate, the Arctic refuge stands as a symbol of our nation's strong and enduring natural legacy."The letter was sent as the Senate was poised to pass a massive—and controversial—tax overhaul, which has seen fierce opposition from Democrats. The House<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/us/politics/house-tax-overhaul-bill.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;"> passed its own version of the tax bill</a> in November, and the two versions will now have to be reconciled. Tucked into both bills is <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15112017/anwr-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-oil-drilling-alaska-murkowski" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">a provision</a> that would allow for the opening of a 1.5 million-acre section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. The justification for its inclusion in the tax bill is that profits from any oil and gas development would help offset a budget deficit.This part of the refuge, known as the coastal plain, occupies murky legal territory and has been fought over for decades. While the majority of the 19 million-acre refuge has been designated as wilderness area—and is permanently off limits to drilling—the coastal plain has occupied a middle ground. It is not currently open to drilling, but an act of Congress could reverse that.This is not the first time the GOP has come close to passing a bill to open this part of the wildlife refuge to drilling, but in the past, conservationists have won. This time—despite the effort of this group of Republicans—that's looking less likely.Earlier this week, the bill hit a procedural bump due to some arcane legislative rules that appeared to make it illegal to wrap the ANWR provision into the tax overhaul. Those who oppose drilling in the refuge saw it as a potential way to kill the provision, but Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)—a supporter of drilling in the coastal plain—said she did not see it as a problem. "We will be able to resolve all this," <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/republicans-hit-snag-with-effort-to-drill-in-arctic-wildlife-refuge/article/2642084" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Murkowski said.</a> "I am not concerned."The letter opposing drilling was signed by Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Penn.), Dave Reichert (Wash.), Ryan Costello (Penn.), Frank LoBiondo (N.J.), Chris Smith (N.J.), Patrick Meehan (Penn.), Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. (N.Y.), Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Mark Sanford (S.C.), Carlos Curbelo (Fla.), John J. Faso (N.Y.) and Leonard Lance (N.J.).  In it, the Republicans laid out a number of reasons why they believe drilling in the refuge is a bad idea:...===Six House Republicans are urging Budget Committee leaders to omit

from the fiscal 2018 budget resolution any language that supports

opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling.

The moderates said in a <a href="https://www.eenews.net/assets/2017/06/23/document_pm_02.pdf">letter</a>

yesterday to Budget Chairwoman Diane Black (R-Tenn.) and ranking member

John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) that they don't believe the "long debated and

highly controversial" issue of ANWR development belongs in a

"responsible budgeting process."

Republican Reps. Dan Donovan of New York, Brian Fitzpatrick of

Pennsylvania, Frank LoBiondo and Chris Smith of New Jersey, Erik Paulsen

of Minnesota, and Dave Reichert of Washington sent the letter.

The group urged Black and Yarmuth to not include any language in the

budget blueprint the committee is crafting that would either explicitly

open ANWR to development "or allow opening of the Refuge through the

reconciliation process."

President Trump's fiscal 2018 budget proposal assumes cost savings

of $1.8 billion over the next decade by allowing oil and gas drilling in

a portion of ANWR starting in 2022 — a longtime priority of Senate

Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

Drilling supporters are eyeing development within a 1.5-million-acre

swath of the 19-million-acre refuge.

The Alaska congressional delegation is looking to the budget

reconciliation process as a vehicle to include revenues related to oil

and gas drilling in ANWR, though neither chamber has produced a fiscal

2018 budget resolution yet with guidelines for the appropriations

process. Budget reconciliation is an expedited maneuver that allows

certain budget and fiscal matters to pass by a simple majority in the

Senate.

"Any development in the Refuge would not only disrupt this fragile,

critically important area, it would also erode this long-standing

commitment to protect our most valued landscapes," the six House

Republicans wrote. "We strongly believe that any debate on the status of

the Coastal Plain should occur outside of the budget reconciliation

process."

When Murkowski introduced her bill earlier this year to allow

limited oil and gas development within a portion of ANWR, she argued

that doing so would create new jobs, reduce the deficit and protect

national security.

"For nearly 40 years, Alaskans have proven that we can responsibly

develop our natural resources while protecting the environment," she

said in a January press release introducing the legislation. "Alaskans

overwhelmingly support responsible development in the non-wilderness

portion of ANWR and there is no valid reason why we should not be

allowed to proceed."
115th a/3 denier<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility">Seventeen Republican members of Congress from diverse districts — including representatives from coastal Southeastern states, Nevada, Utah, upstate New York, and Pennsylvania — submitted a resolution in the House Wednesday acknowledging that “human activities” have had an impact on the global climate and resolving to create and support “economically viable” mitigation efforts.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">The resolution, sponsored by Reps. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, Elise Stefanik of New York, and Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania, is being submitted in the midst of an unprecedented effort by the most anti-science administration in recent American history to remove climate science studies and data from federal agencies.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">On Tuesday, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-14/trump-said-to-drop-climate-change-from-environmental-reviews" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; line-height: inherit; border-bottom: 0.0625rem solid rgb(148, 168, 183); transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out; text-decoration: none !important;">Bloomberg reported</a> that President Donald Trump is about to sign an executive order repealing President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, and to order a reconsideration of the government’s use of the “social cost of carbon” metric, which measures potential economic damage related to climate change.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Last week, meanwhile, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency administator, Scott Pruitt, suggested that carbon emissions have nothing to do with climate change.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility">Curbelo, whose Miami-area district is already experiencing dramatic effects of rising sea levels, has been spearheading the effort to gather pro-science members on his side of the aisle since last year, when he coaxed 10 Republicans to join a bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, which now has 30 members from 13 states, half of whom are Republican.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">The resolution being submitted Wednesday states, “That the House of Representatives commits to working constructively, using our tradition of American ingenuity, innovation, and exceptionalism, to create and support economically viable and broadly supported private and public solutions to study and address the causes and effects of measured changes to our global and regional climates, including mitigation efforts and efforts to balance human activities that have been found to have an impact.”<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">During a call with reporters Tuesday, Curbelo said there are “many, many more” Republicans in the House who are interested in the issue and “want to learn more, and who are considering joining this effort officially by putting their name on it.” He said his goal is to “move on to solutions that we can all rally around and that we can work on with our Republican and Democratic colleagues.” This would include, he said, pressing the administration to add projects to mitigate the effects of climate change, such as seawalls, in its expected infrastructure plan.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">While prospects for a swell of GOP political support seem dim, given the president’s stated position that climate change might be “a Chinese hoax” and his EPA administrator’s open animosity toward the issue, Curbelo said he sees a possible wedge via members of Trump’s inner circle — presumably including his daughter Ivanka, who has reportedly lobbied her father on the issue.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">“We know there are people very close to the president who understand this issue,” Curbelo said, without naming anyone. “These are people who have already been a very good influence on items such as the Paris Agreement, and we are looking forward to engaging those individuals so that we can take this conversation to a good place.”<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Curbelo called Pruitt’s comments on carbon “disconcerting” and added, “What he said was akin to saying the Earth is flat in the year 2017. We must insist on evidence-based and science-based policies.” He also chastised Pruitt last week in a statement, saying,“Rising carbon emissions have been a contributing factor to climate change for decades. That is a scientific fact and the reality facing communities like my district. The EPA is tasked with the very responsibility of helping to lower the impact of carbon emissions, and for Mr. Pruitt to assert otherwise without scientific evidence is reckless and unacceptable.”<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">One of the resolution’s signatories is Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who represents a section of his state known as the Low Country. Sanford, who grew up on a farm in the area, says he has seen firsthand the effects of rising sea levels, in acreage lost to salt water.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">“The Low Country makes Miami Beach look like high ground,” Sanford said. “I just think there is inherent danger in the three-monkey routine — see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil — related to climate change. To deny its existence is to deny what our country was founded on. The Founding Fathers designed a reason-based political system, and without reason the system doesn’t work.”<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Curbelo’s climate caucus co-chairman, Florida Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, released a statement Wednesday morning welcoming the GOP effort. “Americans don’t see climate change as a partisan issue, and neither should Congress,” he said. “As the Democratic co-chair of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, I applaud my Republican colleagues for introducing this important resolution on climate change. We’re going to need lawmakers from both sides of the aisle working together, engaging in robust debate, following the science and finding bipartisan legislative responses to the growing threats of climate change.”<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Polls have shown that a majority of Americans are concerned about climate change, and those fears among constituents, plus the fact that Republicans now control all branches of government and are thus a last line of defense, might be prompting more Republicans to reject the administration’s anti-science position. “The polling is very clear,” Curbelo said. “A clear majority understand this is a challenge we are facing, and among younger voters the numbers are staggering. Over 80 percent of millennials consider this a major issue. The House is the most representative institution in our government. This issue was regrettably politicized 20 years or so ago, and we are trying to take some of the politics out and reducing the noise.”<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, " droid="Droid" serif="serif" cambria="Cambria" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" text-rendering="text-rendering" optimizelegibility="optimizeLegibility" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Others who signed the resolution are Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), John Faso (R-N.Y.), John Katko (R-N.Y.), Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Mia Love (R-Utah), Pat Meehan (R-Pa.), Brian Mast (R-Fla.), and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla).bs?4 gop green senhttps://thinkprogress.org/these-4-republican-senators-are-forming-a-group-to-tackle-climate-change-dc667e9f8eb5#.lb11aa1tc==http://grist.org/grist-50/profile/angel-garcia/Green cred: Politically active since college, this

gregarious lawyer is a newly minted energy activist. In 2013, the former

Romney delegate and past president of the Chicago Young Republicans

became an organizer for<a href="http://yc4er.org/"> Young Conservatives for Energy Reform</a>, which encourages lawmakers to support clean energy in the name of <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/climate-change-is-a-security-threat-make-it-a-foreign-policy-priority/">national security</a>.

“I don’t think [clean energy] is an issue the Democrats should own,”

Garcia says. “We have Republicans who want clean air too, and want to

make America energy-independent. We might not all agree on why we’re

investing in solar or wind, but<a href="https://grist.org/series/conservatives-and-climate-change/"> we’re working toward the same goals</a>.”==
11/15As the world gears up for the climate negotiations kicking off in Paris next week, Republicans in the United States are doing<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/260902-gop-vows-to-deny-obama-climate-funds-in-bid-to-derail-paris-talks" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">everything in their power</a> to make sure that no climate deal takes place without their approval (which will never happen.)But there are a few Republicans in leadership positions in Washington that have had enough of being labeled the “anti-science” party, and they are hoping to turn the GOP onto the idea that climate change is very real.Republican Senators Kelly Ayotte, Lamar Alexander, Lindsey Graham, and Mark Kirk have <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/11/16/gop_science_some_republicans_are_bucking_their_party_about_climate_change.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">created a new committee</a> that will meet periodically to talk about environment and energy issues. The group, called the Senate Energy and Environment Working Group, is the first national effort by Senate Republicans to address the threats of climate change and to address our continued dependence on fossil fuels.Over in the House, a group of 11 Republican Representatives have put forward a resolution, H. Res. 424, “Expressing the commitment of the House of Representatives to conservative environmental stewardship,” <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/11/16/gop_science_some_republicans_are_bucking_their_party_about_climate_change.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">according to Slate.com</a>.These moves by Republicans signal that the party itself might be ready to buck the establishment and the big money that flows to the GOP <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=E01" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">from the fossil fuel industry</a>.But in order for these groups to be successful, they have to overcome stiff opposition from the old guard, fossil fuel-funded members of the GOP that want to make sure that the U.S. takes absolutely no action on climate change.Leading that charge, to absolutely no one’s surprise, is <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/james-inhofe" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">Senator James Inhofe</a>.The upcoming Paris talks are expected to lay the groundwork for a global climate fund, and the United States is projected to<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/260902-gop-vows-to-deny-obama-climate-funds-in-bid-to-derail-paris-talks" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">invest roughly $3 billion into this fund</a>. But Inhofe and 36 of his fellow Senate Republicans have issued a letter to President Obama letting him know that he will not be able to invest any money into a climate fund without the approval of the Senate.<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/260902-gop-vows-to-deny-obama-climate-funds-in-bid-to-derail-paris-talks" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">According to The Hill</a>, Inhofe says: “When it comes to the financing: I know a lot of people over there, the 192 countries, assume that Americans are going to line up and joyfully pay $3 billion into this fund…But that’s not going to happen.”But Inhofe and crew are already behind on this issue, as Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley has inserted a provision into an appropriations bill that will give the government the authority to contribute to a global climate fund without the approval of Congress.The reason this climate fund is so important is because it will help developing nations deal with the inevitable impacts of climate change. And since we now have mounting evidence that shows that climate change helps to <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/11/16/bernie-sanders-right-climate-change-massive-national-security-threat" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">exacerbate global terrorism threats</a>, this fund could help curb violence and instability across the globe.The terrorism threat could be playing a role in the new attitude that some Congressional Republicans are displaying towards climate change, but another factor could be the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/11/20/activist-groups-exxon-knew-360-000-signatures-doj-investigation" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">currently unfolding Exxon saga</a>. Now that we have evidence that the largest oil company in the world knew that climate change was real back in 1977 — and that Exxon covered up this information for nearly 40 years — it becomes harder and harder for anyone to deny that it is currently taking place.In the short term, the anti-science Republicans in Washington may win. But in the long run, they will ultimately lose because it will be the entire world against a handful of fossil fuel-funded Republicans in America.--http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/11/16/gop_science_some_republicans_are_bucking_their_party_about_climate_change.htmllindsey graham<a href="https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/hres424/BILLS-114hres424ih.pdf">https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/hres424/BILLS-114hres424ih.pdf</a>IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

Mr. GIBSON (for himself, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mr. REICHERT, Mr.

DOLD, Mr. HANNA, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. ROSLEHTINEN,

Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Ms. STEFANIK, and Mr.

LOBIONDO) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on Energy and Commerce 10/20 http://grist.org/climate-energy/getting-warmer-more-republicans-are-starting-to-take-climate-change-seriously/Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) is angling to turn herself into a Republican leader on climate change — at least in part to fight a 2016 reelection challenge from a <a href="http://maggiefornh.tumblr.com/post/131747132191/release-governor-maggie-hassan-continues-to-be-a" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">climate-hawk Democrat</a>.On Sunday, Ayotte became the first GOP senator to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/10/26/3715954/ayotte-gop-support-clean-power-plan/" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">express support</a> for President Obama’s <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/obamas-big-climate-plan-is-now-final-and-its-even-stronger-than-expected/" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">Clean Power Plan</a>, which will rein in CO2 emissions from electric utilities. On Wednesday, she released <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsLHXrieQCQ" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">an ad</a> touting that position and her other efforts to protect the environment. And on Thursday, she <a href="https://www.ayotte.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2286" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">announced</a> the formation of a new Senate Energy and Environment Working Group, which a spokesperson said will “talk about ways to build support for protecting the environment and climate and promoting cleaner energy production while also helping the economy.”The new working group will include three other Republican senators who’ve acknowledged that climate change is a real problem: Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), and Mark Kirk (Ill.). Kirk, like Ayotte, is facing a tough reelection race in a moderate state. He appeared to <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/228963-sen-kirk-walks-back-on-climate-change" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">waffle</a> on climate science earlier this year, but has apparently settled on <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-mark-kirk-climate-change-met-20150108-story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">saying</a> it’s a real, human-caused problem and <a href="https://outreach.senate.gov/iqextranet/view_newsletter.aspx?id=234806&c=quorum_kirk-iq" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">trying</a> to do something about it.Politico’s Andrew Restuccia <a href="http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-energy/2015/10/pro-morning-energy-wolff-210991" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">writes</a>, “The establishment of the working group shows the shifting political dynamics at play over environmental policy, with some in the GOP worried that Republicans’ skepticism of mainstream climate science and opposition to air and water regulations isn’t sustainable in the long-term.”We see a similar dynamic at play in the House, where Rep. Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.) is rounding up a handful of Republicans who want to shift the party’s approach on climate change (and inoculate themselves against election-season charges of obstructing climate action). Last month, as <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/4-reasons-why-it-matters-that-a-few-house-republicans-are-calling-for-climate-action/" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">noted</a> by Grist’s Ben Adler, Gibson and 10 other House Republicans <a href="http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060024836" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">introduced</a> a <a href="http://gibson.house.gov/uploadedfiles/environmental_stewardship_resolution.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">resolution</a> affirming their acceptance of climate science and their support for (as-yet-undefined) action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.And these more climate-friendly congressional Republicans have some big-money backers. Jay Faison, a wealthy North Carolina businessman, has donated to Graham and other GOP candidates, and he plans to spend <a href="http://grist.org/news/this-republican-plans-to-spend-175-million-trying-to-get-his-party-to-care-about-climate-change/" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">$175 million</a> to push the GOP to address climate change. Andy Sabin is another wealthy businessman supporting Republicans who want to cut carbon emissions. In <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/meet-the-republican-magnate-whos-funding-a-push-for-climate-action/" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">an interview</a> with Grist earlier this month, Sabin named Ayotte, Kirk, Graham, and Gibson as Republicans he’s excited about.Some of those same names cropped up last week at the Conservative Clean Energy Summit in Washington, D.C., a first-of-its-kind gathering of Republicans pushing for “energy reform.” Amanda Little, who’s been interviewing conservative climate leaders for a <a href="http://grist.org/series/conservatives-and-climate-change/" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">Grist special series</a>, attended the conference and reported on it for The New Yorker. From <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/will-conservatives-finally-embrace-clean-energy" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">her piece</a>:<blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0.5625rem 1.25rem 0px 1.1875rem; border-left: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); line-height: 1.6;">The summit was organized and hosted by <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/from-the-christian-coalition-to-climate-change-one-conservative-activists-story/" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">Michele Combs</a>, who heads up the group Young Conservatives for Energy Reform (Y.C.E.R.), and her mother, Roberta Combs, the president and C.E.O. of the Christian Coalition of America. … “Clean energy is not a Democrat issue, it’s a family issue,” [Michele] told me. … The summit was part of an ongoing effort to move the issues of climate change and clean energy from the margins of the Republican Party to its mainstream. Although the Combses scarcely spoke at the event, they chose others to make their case — the executive of a solar-power company, a three-star and a four-star general, two congressman, and six U.S. senators. …The long-term goal of Y.C.E.R., Michele Combs told me, is to help get “a comprehensive energy-reform bill” passed in the Senate soon after the next administration takes office — a bill that could also, in effect, break the congressional climate-legislation stalemate. … “We’re building grassroots to provide cover — to keep senators politically safe when they support energy reform,” Combs said. “First, we’re establishing common ground and a new terminology. Terms like ‘energy reform’ will bring a lot more conservatives to the table than ‘climate change.’”</blockquote>No matter what they call it, changing most Republican politicians’ hearts and minds will be a tough slog. The <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate-denier-caucus-114th-congress/" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">majority</a> of GOP members of Congress still don’t accept the well-established science of climate change, and even those who do are more likely to criticize Democrats’ proposed solutions than to propose their own.It’s a good sign that Ayotte feels she needs to support climate protections if she wants to be reelected. We might see more of that from her GOP colleagues in the Senate, all of whom need to be elected by statewide constituencies. But in the House, Gibson and his fellow resolution signers are anomalies — they’re in moderate districts, while most of their Republican colleagues are in dark-red districts and risk being <a href="http://grist.org/article/hey-look-a-republican-who-cares-about-climate-change/" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">primaried out of office</a> if they call for cutting CO2 emissions.If Combs and her allies could change that dynamic, it would be huge. It’s highly unlikely to happen anytime soon, but you won’t find anyone better positioned to lead the charge. As Little wrote in the intro to a Grist <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/from-the-christian-coalition-to-climate-change-one-conservative-activists-story/" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">interview with Combs</a>, she’s “possibly the most impassioned and unexpected messenger on clean energy and climate change the GOP has ever seen.” And with a mom who’s president of the Christian Coalition, she’s certainly got conservative cred.<h2>=</h2>9/15 // pope visit:http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/17/republicans-climate-action/<h1 id="pf-title" style="margin: 0px 0px 6px; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">11 Congressional Republicans Call for Climate Action Ahead of Pope Francis’ Visit</h1><div id="pf-src" style="height: auto; width: auto; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); padding-top: 6px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/17/republicans-climate-action/" id="pf-src-url" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: default; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;"><img src="http://s2.googleusercontent.com/s2/favicons?domain=ecowatch.com" /> ecowatch.com/2015/09/17/republicans-climate-action/</a></div><div style="line-height: 19.04px; clear: both;"><div id="pf-content" class="pf-12" style="line-height: 19.04px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="post-content">Responding to <a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">climate change</a> shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Eleven Republican members of Congress, led by Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY), just demonstrated that this morning, when they <a href="http://gibson.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398414" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">introduced a resolution</a> that put the climate challenge in the broader context of conservation, stewardship, innovation and conservatism.<figure class="wp-caption alignnone pf-caption" style="margin: 0.5em 1.5em; padding: 8px 8px 16px; float: right; clear: both; border: 1px solid rgb(177, 167, 155); border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-radius: 3px; page-break-inside: avoid; vertical-align: top; max-width: 100%; width: 595px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/sandy_750_2.jpg" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Damage from Sandy in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. According to a recent analysis, sea level rise alone made Sandy $2 billion more costly than it would have been otherwise in NYC. Sandy hit the Jersey Shore hard, too and it’s taken years for some of my high school classmates to recover. Frank Lobiondo, a member of Congress representing New Jersey’s 2nd district, is also a resolution co-sponsor. Photo credit: Aaron Huertas</a></figcaption></figure><a href="http://ecowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/sandy_750_2.jpg" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">The resolution flags </a><a href="http://ecowatch.com/?s=extreme+weather" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">extreme weather</a>, <a href="http://ecowatch.com/?s=wildfires" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">wildfires</a>, <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/06/23/heat-waves-hit-planet/" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">heat waves</a> and <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/08/27/sea-level-rise-nasa/" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">sea level rise</a> as costly consequences of climate change and the members call on the House of Representatives to “work constructively” to address “measured changes to our global and regional climate.”To be sure, the resolution isn’t a full-throated endorsement of the main findings from the <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> or the <a href="http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">National Climate Assessment</a>, which federal science agencies produce for Congress about every five years.<figure class="wp-caption alignnone pf-caption" style="margin: 0.5em 1.5em; padding: 8px 8px 16px; float: right; clear: both; border: 1px solid rgb(177, 167, 155); border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-radius: 3px; page-break-inside: avoid; vertical-align: top; max-width: 100%; width: 595px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">Rep. Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.), a former Army colonel, represents a district that was hit by significant inland flooding during Hurricane Irene. Photo credit: NYGOP</figcaption></figure>Instead, the members simply acknowledge the need to base policy in “science and quantifiable facts on the ground.”And rather than citing purely scientific reports, the resolution turns to the Pentagon’s <a href="http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/2014-qhsr-final-508.pdf" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">2014 Quadrennial Defense Review</a>, which itself drew from the scientific literature and concluded that climate change is a “threat multiplier.”The resolution comes just a few days before <a href="http://ecowatch.com/?s=Pope+Francis" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Pope Francis</a> is slated to address Congress. The Pope has made climate change a priority and his own teachings on the topic are heavily <a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/the-pope-on-climate-change-science-and-morality-758" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">informed</a> by the Vatican’s own academy of science.Clearly, these members of Congress wanted to show that they are ready to constructively talk about climate policy, even if some of their own party leadership isn’t.Overall, the resolution is a positive sign and one that we should find encouraging. As my colleague Peter Frumhoff, Union of Concerned Scientist’s director of science and policy put it:<blockquote style="margin: 2.5em; padding: 0px 0.75em; border-left-width: 2px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Congressman Gibson and his colleagues are right to call for science-based policies to address climate change. Climate risks and the costs of dealing with them, are growing and the American people deserve strong political leadership on these issues. Measures to reduce emissions from <a href="http://ecowatch.com/news/energy-news/" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">fossil fuels</a> and increase our reliance on clean energy enjoy wide public support. We look forward to working with these members to strengthen America’s response to climate change.”</blockquote>Partisan divisions on climate are a relatively new thing. We can and should overcome them.When I worked for my member of Congress in New Jersey, I remember heading to Long Beach Island and taking pictures of erosion there. Houses were at risk of collapsing and the local townships wanted federal help to protect and repair their beaches.Rep. Jim Saxton, who had served in Congress for nearly 20 years at the time, was deeply familiar with these issues. He also supported action to address climate change.And he was a Republican.That was the early 2000s, when political opinion on climate change didn’t cleave so neatly along partisan lines in Washington.But facts on the ground are starting to scramble those lines. Many aspects of climate change fundamentally come down to geography and economics, so it’s not surprising that the growing costs of wildfires and coastal flooding are causing members of Congress to rethink how we pay for damage from these events in a warming world.<figure class="wp-caption alignnone pf-caption" style="margin: 0.5em 1.5em; padding: 8px 8px 16px; float: right; clear: both; border: 1px solid rgb(177, 167, 155); border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-radius: 3px; page-break-inside: avoid; vertical-align: top; max-width: 100%; width: 595px;"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R), a co-sponsor, represents Florida’s 26th district. It’s obviously a district where planning for rising seas is simply common sense. By the time one of today’s mortgages is paid off in 2045, Key West could face about 200 tidal floods a year, according to the Union of Concerned Scientist analysis. Photo credit: Wikipedia</figcaption></figure>A few months ago, I went to New Hampshire and learned about the state’s <a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/how-to-prepare-for-sea-level-rise-follow-new-hampshire-806" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">bipartisan plan</a> to deal with coastal flooding and sea level rise. It’s one of many places where <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/impacts/effects-of-tidal-flooding-and-sea-level-rise-east-coast-gulf-of-mexico#.VfrKkhFVhHw" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">increased flooding</a> and sea level rise are expected to pose significant challenges to local communities. It was wonderful to see leaders willing to put partisanship aside to tackle a common problem. After all, the ocean (and rising seas) don’t care what party you support.We need respectful cooperation like that at the national level, too. And that will mean encouraging our political leaders to have real, constructive debates about solutions so they can stop <a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/book-review-how-culture-shapes-the-climate-change-debate-by-andrew-hoffman-659" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">talking past each other</a>when they talk about the problem.Obviously, environmentalists and free market advocates won’t always agree with one another—heck, they often disagree among themselves—but they can and should come to the table with an equal understanding and respect for what scientists know about climate change.It’s good to see more Republican members of Congress joining them. We need more voices on climate policy, not fewer, if we’re going to adequately address the problem.YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE<a class="black-to-green" href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/17/climate-change-gop-debate/" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">‘America Is Not a Planet’: The Only Accurate Thing Said About Climate Change at GOP Debate</a><a class="black-to-green" href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/17/sanders-slams-gop-climate-change/" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Bernie Sanders Slams GOP for Ignoring ‘Planetary Crisis’ of Climate Change</a><a class="black-to-green" href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/17/file-climate-change-lawsuit-wolf/" style="text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 2px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">6 Youth File Constitutional Climate Change Lawsuit Against Gov. Tom Wolf</a></div></div>===Resolution cosponsors:<table style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" width="277" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 277px; white-space: nowrap;" valign="bottom">Rep. Carlos Curbelo (FL-26)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 277px; white-space: nowrap;" valign="bottom">Rep. David Reichert (WA-8)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 277px; white-space: nowrap;" valign="bottom">Rep. Robert Dold (IL-10)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 277px; white-space: nowrap;" valign="bottom">Rep. Richard Hanna (NY-22)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 277px; white-space: nowrap;" valign="bottom">Rep. Patrick Meehan (PA-7)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 277px; white-space: nowrap;" valign="bottom">Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (PA-8)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 277px; white-space: nowrap;" valign="bottom">Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-27)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 277px; white-space: nowrap;" valign="bottom">Rep. Ryan Costello (PA-6)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 277px; white-space: nowrap;" valign="bottom">Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 277px; white-space: nowrap;" valign="bottom">Rep. Frank LoBiondo (NJ-2)</td></tr></tbody></table>

===

Noting that Republicans are less likely than Democrats and independents to believe humans cause global warming, and tea party are the least likely of all groups to accept science PolitiFact was only able to find 8 our of 278 Republican congressmen who will admit to believingg in the science of climate change.

Rep. Michael Grimm, (R-N.Y.), Sen. Susan Collins, (R-MN), Sen. Lamar Alexander, (R-TN),Sen. Mark Kirk,( R-IL), Rep. Chris Smith, (R-N.J), Sen. Bob Corker, (R-TN), Sen. John Thune, (R-S.D.), Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, (R-N.J.) 5/14

==

<a href="http://grist.org/news/study-when-republicans-believe-scientists-they-support-climate-action/">http://grist.org/news/study-when-republicans-believe-scientists-they-support-climate-action/</a>

</a>

<a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-coming-gop-civil-war-over-climate-change-20130509">http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-coming-gop-civil-war-over-climate-change-20130509</a>

==

<h1 class="headline">A Republican calls for climate action — and has to remain anonymous to keep job</h1>

By <a href="http://grist.org/author/lisa-hymas/" title="Posts by Lisa Hymas">Lisa Hymas</a>

</header>

A Republican staffer at the U.S. House has written a fervent call for conservative action on climate change, winning second place in a <a href="http://energyandenterprise.com/writing-competition-2013/">young conservative writing contest</a> sponsored by the Energy and Enterprise Initiative. But he won’t be collecting his prize in person. He’s afraid to reveal his name or face.

The <a href="http://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2013/07/10/a_sensible_gop_solution_to_climate_change_106589.html">piece was published yesterday</a> on the Real Clear Science website under the pseudonym of Eric Bradenson. The author explains that he is “writing under a pen name to protect his boss and himself.” Here’s how his piece kicks off:

Someone in the GOP needs to say it: conservation is conservative; climate change is real; and conservatives need to lead on solutions because we have better answers than the other side.

… conservatives have long fought to protect the natural rights and property rights of individuals, living and unborn, from infringement by environmental degradation and pollution.

So why are so many Republicans in Congress taking a weed eater to what would naturally grow from the rich soil of conservatism?

</blockquote>

“Bradenson” goes on to propose one climate solution: “a phase-out of subsidies for all sources of energy coupled with a revenue-neutral carbon tax swap.”

He’s probably wise to keep his identity hidden. Bob Inglis, a former Republican U.S. rep for South Carolina, called for a carbon tax and <a href="http://grist.org/article/hey-look-a-republican-who-cares-about-climate-change/">promptly got booted out of office</a>. Now he runs the aforementioned <a href="http://energyandenterprise.com/writing-competition-2013/">Energy and Enterprise Initiative</a>.

“Bradenson” notes that it’s “conservatives outside of Congress — the ones ‘with nothing to lose’ like Bob Inglis, George Shultz, Art Laffer and Kevin Hassett — [who] are paving the way for Republicans to take the small government, pro-growth conservative stand on climate change.”

We’ve also been hearing anecdotes about young conservatives who want the Republican Party to get real and address climate change. A <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-coming-gop-civil-war-over-climate-change-20130509">long article in National Journal</a> two months ago spotlighted some of them, and an <a href="http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059984034">article in ClimateWire</a> this week does the same.

But if calling for a carbon tax — or even just calling for discussion of the possibility that <a href="http://grist.org/news/97-out-of-100-climate-scientists-agree-humans-are-responsible-for-warming/">97 percent of climate scientists</a> are on to something — is enough to get you ousted from the GOP establishment, you know the party <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/conservatives-seek-alternatives-to-climate-denialism-come-up-short/">has a long way to go</a>.

</section>

Lisa Hymas is senior editor at Grist <a href="http://grist.org/news/republican-calls-for-climate-action-and-has-to-remain-anonymous-to-keep-job/">http://grist.org/news/republican-calls-for-climate-action-and-has-to-remain-anonymous-to-keep-job/</a>

===

</div>