Rep. Kathy Castor’s office denied she intentionally left a conservative climate activist out in a social media post about Wednesday’s climate crisis hearing, which featured three other activists.
The Florida Democrat posted a picture on her Twitter that included activists Greta Thunberg, Jamie Margolin, and Vic Barrett. Benji Backer, president of the American Conservation Coalition, was seated at the end of the table, but was not included in the picture, nor was he tagged in the post.
This is what it looks like when Congress listens to a generation of young people who are growing up in the #ClimateCrisis. Thank you @GretaThunberg, @Jamie_Margolin & @vict_barrett! pic.twitter.com/GsZeTeQNCr
— US Rep Kathy Castor (@USRepKCastor) September 18, 2019
The ACC is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization made up of conservative millennials who believe “that economic and environmental success can go hand in hand, and conservatives should champion this message and take a seat at the table in discussions concerning conservation, clean energy, sportsmen’s rights, agriculture, climate, and much more.”
Friends of Backer accused Castor, who is the chairwoman of the House Select Committee on Climate Crisis, of cropping him out of the photo and intentionally ignoring him, despite having answered a question from her during the hearing.
“We have people in Hong Kong waving flags and singing the American national anthem right now because we inspire them. We can do the same thing on climate change.” – @BenjiBacker on the importance of American leadership on climate pic.twitter.com/fFrtPCDyUW
— Danielle Butcher (@DaniSButcher) September 18, 2019
Aaron Huertas, the communications director for the select committee, told the Washington Examiner they did not intend to leave Backer out of the photo. As for leaving him out of the caption, “I wouldn’t read anything into it.”
The select committee’s Twitter account did mention Backer in one tweet during the hearing.
— ClimateCrisis (@ClimateCrisis) September 18, 2019
“We also linked to Mr. Backer’s testimony and Twitter account on our website,” Huertas added, also pointing out all of the panelists “participated in an Instagram takeover on our committee account before the hearing.”
“Anyone who watched today’s testimony saw firsthand that ACC’s message of a commonsense, bipartisan, and innovation-led climate approach took the hearing by storm,” Backer told the Washington Examiner. “Unfortunately, when the hearing ended, some went back to politics-as-usual by excluding conservative voices on a topic that should bring us together. We need to stop playing partisan politics on climate change.”
In a post praising the hearing, former Vice President Al Gore also did not include Backer, despite mentioning the other three panelists.
I’m proud to support @ClimateReality leader @Jamie_Margolin, along with @GretaThunberg & Vic Barret speaking truth to power to Congress this week. This generation and its leaders are rightly & justly demanding a better future. #LeadOnClimate pic.twitter.com/R8jigo6xBx
— Al Gore (@algore) September 16, 2019
