11/19/2023 0 Comments Been boozel![]() “You need to know what the possible is for them and understand why they may not be able to support an issue or might strongly support that issue,” Miller said. He said, as chairman, it was important for him to understand where his members were coming from. Miller chaired the committee in the 2013-14 session, when he said things were less divisive in Harrisburg. Ron Miller, a former Republican state representative from York County, said the problem with discussing climate solutions is that it’s emotional people treat it as an issue with no common ground. He said it’s better to show up prepared and ask questions that make it clear where the science stands. “Even though we have radical differences on policy, I do think he is sincere in these extreme right wing views he holds,” Vitali said. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware), Metcalfe’s Democratic counterpart on the environmental resources committee and near polar opposite, politically, said he’s learned it’s pointless to get upset over Metcalfe’s rhetoric in meetings. “It’s so backwards to debate the existence of climate change.” “I would like to see a move away from politics and moving into the practicality of how do we get this thing done,” Marinov said. She noted Pennsylvania has a responsibility to reduce emissions its emissions are the fifth-largest in the United States and larger than some small countries. She said she went to speak about the scientific consensus on climate change: humans are warming the planet by burning fossil fuels and emissions need to be cut dramatically in the next decades to avoid the worst consequences of that warming.īut she wasn’t expecting to present alongside a slate of climate deniers. University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Irina Marinov was shocked by the skepticism she faced when she appeared before the committee in 2019. The fact that Metcalfe dismisses climate science - and lawmakers who disagree with him - takes on special significance because he’s the head of the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, where he’s in a prime spot to block legislation that could address climate change. Last term, he equated climate change with seasonal weather, said predictions about the dangers of climate change are fiction, and implied carbon dioxide can’t be a pollutant because plants use it as food. Metcalfe did not respond to requests for comment for this story.īut he’s more than willing to voice his opinion during committee meetings. In his tenure, he has invited climate change deniers to testify at hearings, criticized the governor’s attempts to address climate change as overreach and unconstitutional, and tried to loosen a number of environmental regulations. It’s a familiar theme for Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler), who is chairing the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee for the second straight term. This week, for Earth Day, President Joe Biden is holding a virtual summit with world leaders to discuss the climate crisis.Īlso this week, Republican leaders in Pennsylvania’s capital showcased the oil and gas industry as good environmental stewards. ![]() What does that mean for climate action in Pa.?
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