New Texas GOP Platform Calls On Politicians To Ignore Climate Change

There is no mention of climate change in the 2012 Texas GOP platform and the Environmental Protection Agency is identified as an agency that should be abolished. The 2014 temporary GOP platform, revealed this week, no longer calls for the EPA to be abolished, but rather demands the elimination of onerous environmental regulations. It also mentions climate change:


While we all strive to be good stewards of the earth, “climate change” is a political agenda which attempts to control every aspect of our lives. We urge government at all levels to ignore any plea for money to fund global climate change or “climate justice” initiatives.

With the announcement of the EPA’s new rule for regulating the carbon emissions from power plants this week and the release of detailed studies from the IPCC along with the National Climate Assessment this year, climate change is emerging as one of the hottest political battlegrounds this summer. The Texas Republican Party, whose 2014 convention kicks off this Thursday, has now officially staked their claim as enduring climate deniers.

“With the announcement of the draft EPA carbon rule this week, it’s clearly a hot topic,” Luke Metzger, founder and director of Environment Texas, told ThinkProgress. “And with energy-related PACs donating more than $12 million to influence Texas elections in 2012 — most of which went to the GOP — it’s not surprising, but still disappointing, that the party is carrying water for big polluters.”

Metzer said he expects this is part of a broader strategy that big coal and other big polluters have to undermine the EPA carbon standard, which will also likely include litigation by the Texas Attorney General and efforts to roll back the standard by congressional Republicans.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/06/05/3445339/texas-gop-2014-platform-climate-change/