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The RNC Just Started. Will We Hear More Than Thoughts and Prayers Tonight?

Washington, D.C. – It will be a split-screen moment at tonight’s Republican National Convention. As the program began, Hurricane Laura — a Category 4 hurricane that has been called both catastrophic and unsurvivable — will be bearing down on the Gulf Coast.

Low-lying, lower-income, frontline communities will struggle with record-breaking storm surge, flooding, and a potential deluge of toxic chemicals, as two of the most powerful people in the country make a pitch for re-election.

The storm could make landfall just as Donald Trump and Mike Pence take the stage, likely offering just thoughts and prayers for the people in Laura’s path but nothing in the way of action. And thoughts and prayers are not a solution.

Over the past two nights, Republican speakers have ignored climate change and instead pushed to merely continue on with an agenda that is anti-science and anti-climate action. This despite the overwhelming evidence that the most devastating impacts of climate change are that hurricanes like Laura are becoming more extreme and damaging due to warmer waters, a wetter climate, and rising seas. 

It’s time for more than thoughts and prayers. It’s time for climate action. 

PAST CLIMATE DENIAL FROM TONIGHT’S SPEAKERS

  • Vice President Mike Pence: Called climate change a “myth” and said the evidence was “simply not there.” As Republican Conference leader in the House, Pence hosted a mock climate change hearing where he brought climate deniers together to oppose action on climate change.
  • Iowa Senator Join Ernst: “I don’t know the science behind climate change. I can’t say one way or another what is the direct impact from, whether it’s man-made or not.”
  • South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem: “I’ve always had concerns about the Paris agreement. I’m glad that the President is coming back and withdrawing from it and looking at different agreements that could be made to still protect our environment.”
  • Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw: “If you don’t believe the world is literally ending in 12 years because of climate change, you’re labeled a ‘denier.’ This misleading label peddles lies, divides us, and prevents bipartisan efforts to lower emissions. Real solutions exist. Watch this:”
  • New York Rep. Lee Zeldin: “It would be productive if we could get to what is real and what is not real…I’m not sold yet on the whole argument that we have as serious a problem as other people are.”
  • Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn: In 2014, then-congresswoman Blackburn fought with Bill Nye, the Science Guy, about the science of climate change on Meet The Press: “Neither [Bill Nye] nor I are a climate scientist. He is an engineer and actor, I am a member of Congress. And what we have to do is look at the information that we get from climate scientists. There is no agreement around the fact of exactly what is causing this.”

NOTE: Bill Nye is one of the most trusted voices Americans trust in science.