Long Ago Even Utter Climate Hacks Like Inhofe Had One "Green" Issue To Parade; Now They Don't Bother
Once upon a time, environmentalists’ favorite villains always kept a pet green cause in their back pockets. James G. Watt, Ronald Reagan’s pious, libertarian Interior Secretary, sought to lease every square inch of American coastline whether or not it bore potential for oil and gas. He also suggested that if environmental regulation could not be overcome with the ballot box, then the “cartridge box” awaited. But even Watt tipped his political hat to environmental values, endorsing a halt to global commercial whaling during a 1991 whale watch excursion.
Years later, Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe was well on his way to establishing himself as the alpha dog of congressional climate deniers. But in 2004, he became champion of the endangered Kemp Ridley sea turtles, co-sponsoring a measure to protect their nesting grounds along the Gulf Coast.
EDIT
I looked at the 1990 Congress as a random year. Two senators and 23 House members rated a zero LCV score that year. Republican senators averaged 32%; Democrats, 65%. In the House, LCV gave the GOP a 40% average; the Dems scored 68% on average. Well, the zeroes actually haven’t grown by a lot: 33 House members and, in fact, none in the Senate. But, virtually every single Republican House and Senate member today is under 30%. Prominent among those with a 0% LCV score are several reps. whose outspoken-ness has raised eyebrows, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
To me it’s horrifying to see things coming to a head as they are this summer and America’s two political parties more polarized than ever. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a senator with presidential dreams, is pulling a 5%, with his state barely five feet above rising seas. Presidential rival Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose state has been ravaged by heat, drought and storms, is at 3%. Higher scorers like Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., at 30% are ending their careers, voluntarily or otherwise.
EDIT
https://www.dailyclimate.org/senators-who-deny-climate-change-2658174414/that-was-then
