Louisiana Republican Rep. Garret Graves has been considered to be something of a moderate when it comes to environmental issues.
However, during a recent interview with the Washigton Examiner, even Graves admitted that he was losing patience with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) handling of matters concerning climate change.
Congressman blasts Pelosi
Specifically, Graves took issue with the decision by Pelosi’s special climate change committee to release a climate plan that lacked input from Republican members, despite the fact that committee rules called for the release of a joint report.
“It certainly does undermine trust, and not just trust, but the viability or the value of participating in this,” Graves told the Examiner on Monday about the plan’s release, adding, “If I had known then what I know now, why did we go through this whole waste of money by putting a committee together, wasting money on staff, and do a dog and pony show with hearings?
“You don’t need us to do this,” the two-term GOP congressman went on to complain. “You certainly didn’t need to spend taxpayer funds to do it,” stating:
I love policy, and if they want to have a constructive policy discussion about an informed, science-based path forward, I would have that discussion.
Democrat fires back
However, Graves did not have the only word on the matter, as the Examiner also spoke with Committee Chairwoman Rep. Kathy Castor.
“This certainly is a different tone from ranking member Graves than the one he used just last week, when we agreed to work on bipartisan climate recommendations in the coming months,” the Florida Democrat said.
“I encourage Republicans to publicly share their ideas to protect our communities from the next flood or the next big hurricane. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how important it is for policymakers to listen to scientists,” she went on.
Castor further declared that “The Climate Crisis Action Plan is a science-based roadmap to cheaper renewable energy with good-paying American jobs. Hopefully, Republicans can join us and rally around that too.”
Setting the stage for November
According to the Examiner, the plan released by the special committee was used as a way to communicate the Democrats’ commitment to radical change to the party’s progressive base in advance of the November election, as it calls for zero net emissions by 2050, carbon-free vehicles by 2035, and other aggressive objectives.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has continued the leftward drift he began almost as soon as he entered the presidential race, tapping liberal firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) last month to co-chair his campaign’s environmental advisory panel, as NBC News reported.
Given AOC’s prior warning that the world is poised to end in 12-years unless draconian, economy-crushing environmental policies are implemented, it is good to see at least one Republican lawmaker who is willing to step up and serve as a counterbalance to the nonsense.
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