150 Congressional Republicans Represent Fossil Fuel Companies Instead of Their Communities
Last week,
we mocked the fossil fuel industry’s use of an outlet it owns to brag about perverting democracy — but we didn’t actually call out the politicians in the industry’s pocket.
Lucky for us, the Center for American Progress Action Fund did just that this week. A new analysis from CAP
tallies up the climate deniers in the 116th Congress. As it turns out, there are a lot: 150.
But that’s actually an improvement from last year, when there were 180. Of those 180, 47 are no longer serving: 22 were defeated in 2018, 16 retired, five resigned, and four went to other positions.
This may explain why the industry was so keen last week to assert the influence their money has. As it turns out, taking the cash may actually be a bad move for a candidate, since fossil-fuel funded candidates lost 30 seats in the 2018 elections (not factoring in the myriad of other factors at play, of course).
And make no mistake — it is the fossil fuel industry that demands denial, not average Americans. CAP Action Fund
cites polling that shows a majority of Americans, including Republicans, know that climate change is real, that it is making weather more extreme, and that we should take action to reduce fossil fuel use.
Exact numbers obviously depend on the poll, but
by and large it’s safe to say that a majority of all Americans, including
some 55 percent to
66 percent of Republicans, support various types of climate action,
including the policies in the Green New Deal.
More:
https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/01/...blicans-climate-deniers-fossil-fuel-companies