“A Big Win for Climate Change Denial”

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/11/5/a_big_win_for_climate_change

In a video clip of Lee Fang and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, last Tuesday’s elections are discussed in regards to what it means for climate change policy. With Republicans winning the Senate, leadership of certain committees will be in the hands of very serious climate change skeptics. Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe made a video for the climate denying think tank “The Heartland Institute” about how climate change is just rhetoric for Democrats to get elected; he will be in control of the environment committee. Senator Ron Johnson will control the homeland security and government reform committee, meanwhile Senator Ted Cruz may serve as head of the science sub committee within the commerce committee, which controls federal science research.

By placing climate change skeptics in important positions, there will be a lot of pressure on the EPA to rollback or delay proposed rules on carbon emissions, a push for exporting oil and Keystone XL, and a call for fracking. Although Democrats also accept campaign funding from fossil fuel industries and haven’t eliminated the idea of increased fracking, very conservative Republicans were elected. In other clips that Democracy Now has shown, Ralph Nader has called this era, “the most militaristic, corporatist, cruel, anti-worker, anti-consumer, anti-environment, anti-women, even anti-children programs of the Republican Party” and senator Bernie Sanders has said “The United States is on the verge of becoming an oligarchy.”

With a divided government and even more anti-environmentalists in place, how do you think the rest of the government will respond to these elections? How about the public?