Energy Secretary: Growing Criticism of Climate Change Denials Is Progress

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast on April 27, 2015.
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz dubbed it “progress” that major companies are arguing more and more that climate change is a reality.

Moniz’s comment was in response to a question by TPM at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast on Monday over increasingly public feuding between major American companies and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on climate change. As TPM has previously noted, a number of major companies such as Microsoft and Google have publicly criticized ALEC for its position on climate change.

Recently ALEC sent cease and desist letters to liberal-leaning advocacy groups calling the conservative organization climate deniers. Moniz, in responding to TPM, noted that on climate change he’s said “it’s time to stop debating what’s not debatable” and that climate change is real.

“Also I would say that I think in the private sector we are seeing continued progress —if you like, I call it progress— in terms of CEOs and companies, global companies committing to the need to get certainty as to how we approach climate,” Moniz said. “We are seeing it from the military community. We are seeing it from the religious community and I just feel that we are on the track to in the not-too-distant future getting an economy wide approach to climate change, risk mitigation, and climate change adaptation.”

So does that mean Moniz is encouraging companies that are still members of ALEC to either speak out against the group on climate change or leave the organization all together?

“I’m not going to give them specific advice over that but my position is clear in terms of what these companies should be doing and I think in the end a lack of certainty and a lack of the kind of economy-wide approach that only legislation can deliver, ultimately, is not helpful to the private sector,” Moniz said.

As National Journal has previously noted, ALEC’s model legislation argues that there are actually benefits of climate change. The group has has said it doesn’t deny climate change but that human activity that alters the planet’s atmosphere “may lead to deleterious, neutral, or possibly beneficial climate changes.”

(Photo credit: Michael Bonfigli/The Christian Science Monitor)

Latest DC
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: