180 Climate Deniers in Congress Received $82 Million in Dirty Money

By Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch

01 May 17

hose of you who participated in Saturday's People's Climate March have 181 more reasons to protest.

New research shows that the 180 climate-denying members of Congress—plus President Trump, who famously denounced global warming as a hoax—have received more than $82 million from fossil fuel industries.

Researchers from the Center for American Progress Action Fund calculated that the Republican president, 142 representatives and 38 senators, who do not accept the overwhelming scientific consensus that human activity causes climate change, have received a total of $82,882,725 from coal, oil and gas industries—an increase from the $80,453,861 total in the previous report.

According to the new report, the top three recipients were Arizona Senator John McCain, who opposes the Environmental Protection Agency's finding that greenhouse gases are pollution; Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who once said, "For everybody who thinks it's warming, I can find somebody who thinks it isn't;" and Texas Senator John Cornyn, who actually acknowledges that humans have an impact on the environment but doesn't think it's the responsibility of the government to do anything about it.

For the report, the researchers defined a climate denier as any lawmaker who has:

• Questioned or denied the scientific consensus behind human-caused climate change;

• Answered climate questions with the "I'm not a scientist" dodge;

• Claimed the climate is always changing (as a way to dodge the implications of human-caused warming);

• Failed to acknowledge that climate change is a serious threat; or

• Questioned the extent to which human beings contribute to global climate change.

Trump himself received $1,132,996 in dirty energy money.

"Last year's analysis found that 202,803,591 people were represented by a climate denier in Congress. Now, the entire population of almost 325 million Americans is represented by a climate denier with the election of Donald Trump as president," the report stated.

The president's first 100 days in office has been widely considered as disastrous, especially for the environment. From appointing cabinet members with noted ties to the fossil fuel industry to signing a slew of executive orders that roll back key environmental regulations.

Center for American Progress Action Fund's new analysis was presented in an interactive map and accompanying data sheet.