Conclave Of GOP Hacks Meets To "Reclaim Narrative" On Climate; Lots Of "Technology" "Free Markets"
The House's top energy and environment Republicans met privately in Utah last weekend to try to find ways to "reclaim the narrative" from Democrats on combating climate change and promoting conservation. Utah Rep. John Curtis, a new member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, organized the meeting that drew roughly two dozen Republican lawmakers.
Among the attendees were Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), ranking member on the E&C panel; Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), ranking member on the Natural Resources Committee; Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), ranking member on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis; and Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), ranking member on the Budget Committee. The sessions were not announced publicly and most attendees declined to talk about them or offered only broad outlines about the get-together. A full list of those attending was not available.
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The Utah conclave was just the latest attempt by the House GOP to shift the party away from questioning or even denying climate science. Instead, attendees wanted to stress policy and legislative options focused on market-driven technologies and "all of the above" energy production rather than a new regulatory regime or taxes. The attempt at rebranding comes as Democrats are expected in the coming weeks to propose a massive infrastructure bill that will aim to combat climate change with substantial investments in clean energy and perhaps, pay for it with a carbon tax.
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McMorris Rodgers, who sidestepped specifics of the meeting, said Republicans are ready to "engage" on climate solutions and show how the party is already producing ideas and policies that have helped to reduce emissions over the past decade. "Just because we haven't been talking about all the solutions, whether it's natural gas or hydro or carbon capture or nuclear in terms of being climate solutions, we have been doing it and we just need to make that connection," she said.
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Ah, yes - it's not that we're garbage people with garbage policies - it's our messaging!!
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https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063725963