Former presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders prodded President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the Energy Department to admit that climate change is a “global crisis” that requires a move away from fossil fuels to renewables.
“Let’s get beyond the rhetoric,” said the Vermont independent on Thursday. “The majority of scientists that study this issue feel that climate change is a global crisis. It’s not a question of a balance of this and a balance of that. It is a global crisis that requires massive cuts in carbon and the transformation of our energy system. How do you respond to that?”
Trump’s energy pick, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, responded sternly, “I’d like to get past the rhetoric, sir. And getting past the rhetoric is looking at the record.”
Perry pushed back by saying the Lone Star State, a major fossil fuel producer, under his watch as governor managed to cut its carbon emissions significantly while also boosting manufacturing and jobs during a recession.
“I think it’s important for us to talk about the 12th largest economy in the world, while I was the governor, because you’re asking me what I’m going to do,” Perry said, getting deeper into a sparring match with Sanders.
The senator cut him off, saying, “I am asking you if you agree with the scientific community that climate change is a crisis?”
Perry: “And senator I will respond that I think that having an academic discussion, whether it’s with scientists or whether it’s with you, it is an interesting exercise.” Perry added that the real question is whether, as governor, he had “a record of affecting the climate in the world and in this country, and the answer is, yes.”
He said he lowered carbon emissions by 17 percent in his two terms as governor of the major oil-producing state, while also bringing down sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide levels by 68 and 56 percent, respectively. The two pollutants are leading causes of a number of respiratory illnesses and come from the burning of coal and fossil fuels.
“Don’t you think that is a good thing?” he asked Sanders.
Sanders: “I think what would be a better thing, is for you to say right now that you recognize that we have a global crisis and that the United States of America should help lead the world working with China, Russia, countries around the world to transform our energy system.”
Perry said he believes the “climate is changing” and that some of that change in the Earth’s temperature is the result of human activity. But the problem he has is finding a solution that does not harm economic growth for the sake of emissions reductions.
