In the Wake of Hurricane Ian, Sen. Rubio’s Sunday Show Tour Does Not Erase an Entire Career of Climate Denial
tags
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Sunday, Senator Marco Rubio appeared on CNN’s State of the Union to discuss the impacts of Hurricane Ian. While Rubio appeared to be concerned about the storm’s deadly devastation, he missed the mark by failing to acknowledge the cause of rapidly-intensifying storms like Ian: climate change. This isn’t surprising – Rubio has a long record of climate inaction and disaster-relief obstruction.
“Senator Rubio said disaster recovery isn’t about politics, yet he played politics by stalling critical disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Now, in the wake of Hurricane Ian he wants credit for doing the bare minimum. Playing politics while offering no meaningful solutions to address climate change ignores the science and puts Floridians at risk,” said Climate Power Associate Director of State Communications Meghan Schneider. “Science demands bold action to cut emissions and build a resilient infrastructure for our changing climate, yet Rubio has repeatedly stood in the way of pro-climate policies. Mostly recently, he voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, the most transformational clean energy bill in American history. Florida voters struggling to recover from Ian will remember this when they reach the polls in five weeks.”
Though scientists unanimously agree that climate change supercharged Hurricane Ian and makes devastating storms more frequent and more devastating, Senator Rubio is on record denying the reality of human-caused climate change. His votes continue to benefit big donors like the climate-denying Koch brothers, Rubio has also opposed every major proposal to tackle climate change and improve climate resilience that has come across his desk:
- He voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, which is the largest investment in U.S. history in speeding the transition away from climate-warming fossil fuels.
- He voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided billions of dollars in funding to make communities more resilient to climate disasters like Hurricane Ian.
- On Thursday, he skipped a vote in the Senate that included $18 billion in FEMA relief money intended for Hurricane Ian response, then wrote a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee Asking for more relief funds.
- He held up desperately needed aid for Hurricane Sandy in 2012 over a political dispute. On Sunday, he told Dana Bash he would do the same thing for Hurricane Ian relief if other Senators attempted to include things he deemed irrelevant.
Voters in Florida and around the country deserve to be informed about Senator Rubio’s hypocrisy and dangerous record on critical climate issues.