At least 123 current members of Congress – 23 percent of 535 total members – deny or doubt the existence of human-caused climate change, according to a new report. If you want to understand this trend, it might be worth chasing the money: politicians who go against the scientific consensus on climate change have gained over $52 million from the fossil fuel industry over their careers.
To reach these findings, the Center for American Progress analyzed statements by sitting members of the 118th United States Congress to determine their views on human-caused climate change.
Climate change denialism is not always explicitly in-your-face. Instead, politicians might undervalue the influence of human activity on Earth’s evidently changing climate. Alternatively, they might play down the need for the US to address the problem, instead blaming foreign adversaries or falsely claiming “there’s nothing we can do about it”.
The tactics can be subtle, but they ultimately undermine action against human-driven climate change and go against the overwhelming scientific consensus.
The good news is that climate change denial has seemingly decreased among US politicians over the past few years. The number of outright climate deniers in Congress has dropped from 150 in the 116th Congress, to 139 in the 117th, and 123 in the latest 118th Congress. Of the 90 newly elected or appointed members of the 118th Congress, just 18 are climate deniers.
Although on the decrease, these beliefs are still unrepresentative of the wider US population. A study published in February 2024 in the journal Scientific Reports estimated that just 14.8 percent of Americans do not believe in climate change (although the bots on social media might suggest otherwise).
The new report highlights some links between funding from the fossil fuel industry and climate change denial. Per the report, one of the prominent climate-doubting politicians in the US, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, has received over $5 million in “total career fossil fuel contributions.”
Cruz has previously made several statements that have attempted to downplay the influence of human activity, like the use of fossil fuels, on climate change. In 2018, for instance, he said: “Of course the climate is changing. The climate has been changing from the dawn of time. The climate will change as long as we have a planet Earth.”
The link between fossil fuel money and climate change denial isn’t clear-cut, however. Senator Mitt Romney has received over $9.7 million in total career fossil fuel contributions, but he is not categorized as a climate denier. Among the 10 politicians who have received the most fossil fuel contributions, only two are climate deniers.
The Center for American Progress report argues that their findings show how “Big Oil” is trying to obstruct federal climate policy by spreading misinformation and influencing politicians. The fossil fuel giants have been doing this since the 1970s, the report says, and they’re still at it.
“Elected officials and the fossil fuel industry must be held accountable for their misleading and deceptive statements on climate change,” Kat So, a campaign manager for Energy and Environment Campaigns at the Center for American Progress and author of the report, said in a statement.
“Their refusal to accept scientific consensus and continued spread of misinformation are a major obstacle to addressing the climate crisis,” said So.
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