Virginia Republicans are trying to derail the global climate change talks in Paris. Matt Laslo reports on the battle raging in Washington that will be felt across Virginia.
The US Senate recently passed legislation by a slim majority to block the new carbon reduction rules coming from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Now, as President Obama has promised the US will spend even more money to combat climate change, Republicans are saying ‘Not so fast.’ Virginia Republican Congressman Morgan Griffith says the president is being disingenuous by promising to spend billions of dollars more on his clean energy initiatives.
“President Obama doesn’t have the authority to spend all of the money that he says he has the authority to spend, that is the purgative of congress and if you think we’re going to spend billions and billions of dollars in other countries when our country is running a huge deficit.”
Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to score political points, instead of trying to combat sea level rise in places like Hampton Roads. Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner says the Paris conference is vital.
“But now that you see China and India and other nations starting to stand up and the whole purpose of the Paris conference is to set some level of baseline so the whole world acts in concert. I feel like those who are still denying the science are fighting kind of a rearguard action.”
One way or another, whatever happens in Paris, is going to be felt in Virginia.
