Tom Steyer, the billionaire environmentalist who took a prominent role in funding climate change opponents through his Next Gen Climate Action group, actually kind of likes it when Republicans premise a response about climate change with “I’m not a scientist.”
The way Steyer sees it, it’s a sign that Republicans are moving away from blatant skepticism on the topic.
“There aren’t many science deniers anymore because you can’t get elected as a science denier,” Steyer said during a panel hosted by the Center for American Progress on Wednesday. “No one trusts someone who denies basic science at this and time. So that’s why we’ve seen whole spate in 2014 of ‘I’m not a scientist.’ That is actually a huge advance from ‘I disagree with the science.’”
The pattern Steyer touched on didn’t go unnoticed. Throughout the 2014 midterms, again and again, prominent Republicans like Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) used the “I’m not a scientist” line to dodge having to give a direct answer on whether climate change is real or not. In the case of Scott’s then challenger, former Gov. Charlie Crist (D) that refusal to answer gave him an opening to bash the Republican governor.
“I’m not a scientist either but I can use my brain and I can talk to one,” Crist said.
It’s a sign, Steyer said, that Republicans are trying to figure out how to respond to climate change questions.
“I think what we’re seeing is not just Democrats and particularly young, active Democrats who really care about this, but also we’re seeing Republicans trying to figure out a good way to respond to this issue intelligently and yet under pressure from a whole bunches of sources who are trying to push them away from addressing it directly,” Steyer said. “I think that’s going to happen throughout 2016.”
Not everyone on the panel with Steyer interpreted the increase in the “I’m not a scientist” line the same way. John Podesta, a counselor to President Barack Obama, said that that was a phrase to “try and get out of the conversation” and that it’s an attempt to hide GOPers antipathy toward climate change.”
