Rubio Expands On His Comment That Climate Change Isn’t Real

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. pauses while speaking during a luncheon program at the National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, May 13, 2014. Younger voters would face higher retirement ages but all Americans could join ... Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. pauses while speaking during a luncheon program at the National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, May 13, 2014. Younger voters would face higher retirement ages but all Americans could join federal retirement accounts in a plan proposed Tuesday by Sen. Rubio in his latest in a series of national policy prescriptions. (AP Photo/Molly Riley) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Tuesday revisited his recent claim that manmade activity has not driven climate change.

“Headlines notwithstanding, of course the climate is changing, because the climate is always changing,” Rubio said during a speech at the National Press Club, as recorded by MSNBC.

But then Rubio proceeded to give a confusing explanation as to why he opposes cap and trade legislation to curb carbon emissions. And he apparently didn’t touch whether he believes climate change is caused by humans.

“What I disagree with is the notion if we pass cap and trade, for example, this will stop this from happening, when in fact half of the new emissions on the planet are coming from developing countries and half of that is coming from one country, China, that isn’t going to follow whatever laws we pass,” he said, indicating that he might think emissions have a negative impact on the environment.

Rubio said he supported “advances in technology and innovation that makes us cleaner and more efficient,” but then hedged again and suggested there isn’t a clear link between human activity and severe weather patterns.

“But for people to go out and say ‘if you pass this bill that I am proposing this will somehow led us to have less tornado and less hurricanes’ that’s just not an accurate statement and that’s what I take issue with,” he said, according to the Washington Post.

But none of that exactly contradicts what Rubio said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday when he pushed back against the notion of manmade climate change.

“Our climate is always changing,” Rubio said on the show. “And what they have chosen to do is take a handful of decades of research and say that this is now evidence of a longer-term trend that’s directly and almost solely attributable to manmade activity, I do not agree with that.”

Latest Livewire
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: