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Boxer: Democrats must defend climate science
California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said Monday that Democrats will need to “play defense” against efforts by Republicans to question climate science in the next Congress.
“We will have to play some defense. I’m not blind to that,” Boxer, the chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, told reporters at a Capitol news conference. “There are going to be a lot of moves to turn back the progress we’ve made.”
Boxer’s comments come as some Republicans, particularly those emboldened by a new GOP majority in the House, have said they’d like to hold hearings on climate science as well as the Obama administration’s efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
“We’re going to continue in this committee to tell the truth, and that’s going to mean a robust debate,” she said.
Boxer also sought to convince negotiators at the United Nations climate summit in Cancun that the United States remains committed to reducing its greenhouse-gas emissions, despite the failure of the Senate to pass a broad climate change bill.
While noting that efforts to pass federal climate legislation “have not succeeded,” Boxer said, “we have taken many other steps.”
She pointed to efforts by the Obama administration to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and tighten fuel-economy standards in newer vehicles, as well as tax incentives for clean energy included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Boxer also highlighted efforts at the state and local level, including the landmark climate law, AB 32, in her home state.
“The reason I think it’s very important that I tell this to those reps in Cancun today is because there’s no one story on climate change,” she said. “There are many stories and there are many good stories.”
