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As ‘Green New Deal’ talk gains traction, lawmakers who deny climate change are on the decline

Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Credit: Xinhua/Liu Jie

New data indicates lawmakers who align themselves with the president’s climate rhetoric are losing ground.

As support for proposals that would broadly address climate change gain support and prominence on a national level, the number of lawmakers who deny or are skeptical of global warming is on the decline.

According to new analysis from the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), there are 30 fewer lawmakers in Congress compared to last year who deny some element of climate change — whether it’s fully denying that global temperatures are increasing at all or just that warming is exacerbated by human activity.  (ThinkProgress is an editorially independent publication housed at the CAP Action Fund.)

That means there are total 150 lawmakers who deny or downplay climate change, all Republicans, who were singled out by the report. They represent 28 percent of the 116th Congress. Together, these lawmakers have received an average lifetime contribution of $455,730.55 from fossil fuel political action committees (PACs), CEOs, and employees.

View the complete January 28 article by E.A. Crunden on the ThinkProgress website here.

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