Conservative Congressman Francis Rooney says not only that he accepts climate change science, but that he thinks the U.S. needs to get tough in our response, which is why he’s a lead supporter of a carbon tax proposal.
“To me, it’s an opportunity to lead. I’ll talk to these conservative groups and they’ll say ‘why did you introduce a carbon tax bill’ and I’ll say ‘because I don’t think we need to burn coal.’ And a carbon tax is the most market-oriented, non-bureaucratic, efficient way I can see to kill off coal,” he said in an interview with the Fort Meyers News-Press. Just elected to a second term in Florida, he pointed out the need to respond to the concerns of younger generations of voters. “I talk to our young people all the time and they are more environmentally sensitive. They’re more pro-alternative energy. They get the natural gas thing instead of coal. And I’d like to use environmental issues as a way to reach out to them.”
In a separate interview with NBC-2 Rooney pointed out: “If there is any state whose people should be embracing climate change, it’s Florida. We are the state most at risk for sea level rise than any.”
He is expected to reintroduce a carbon tax bill early in 2019.