Crenshaw right about climate change
This past week, U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw called on his fellow Republicans to take climate change seriously — a welcome development.
No, the Houston-area congressman isn’t coming out for the “Green New Deal” being promoted by a fellow freshman with a high profile, New York Democrat Alexandria OcasioCortez. Rather, he is backing a new initiative from House Republicans
that offers a more conservative approach to the problem.
With polls showing voters in both parties increasingly concerned about global warming, the move by Crenshaw and other young Republicans to acknowledge the threat and put forth a plan is shrewd politics, if nothing else.
Some of Crenshaw’s 2nd District constituents may be cynical about his motives, as he looks ahead to a potentially tough re-election fight in the fall. But his willingness to challenge climate change deniers is something to cheer, given that they have outsized influence in the House GOP.
Crenshaw discussed the issue during a question-and-answer session on Wednesday at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s annual Policy Orientation in Austin.
The Republican proposal doesn’t have a hashtag yet, Crenshaw said, but he’s push
ing for “Clean Frontier.” It consists of 12 bills, including one that he authored, the Launching Energy Advancement and Development through Innovations for Natural Gas (LEADING) Act of 2019. The measure directs the U.S. Department of Energy to use up to $50 million for research and development related to carbon capture technologies. Republicans are also working on legislation that would promote the planting of trees as another way to sequester carbon and reduce plastic pollution, among other things.
The overarching goal of these efforts, Crenshaw explained, is to counter the left’s push for more aggressive government action with an approach that emphasizes innovation as a way to address the climate crisis.
“If you do polling, if you ask both conservatives and liberals what they think about the environment, it’s up there in concerns,” he said.
The environment is also a top concern for independents, Crenshaw added, along with health care. That being the case, it would be tempting, but perilous, to scoff at concerns about climate change.
“From a political standpoint, we cannot ignore it completely,” Crenshaw said.
He’s right.
Crenshaw is among the Republicans who can’t afford to ignore the issue. He was elected in 2018 by roughly 6 points. He has since become a fixture on political talk shows and proved a top fundraiser. Still, Democrats
believe he is vulnerable in a year with Trump on the ballot. And climate change is a real concern for many voters in this storm-battered district, which swoops from central Houston to Kingwood.
‘Old GOP playbook’
With that said, many Republicans have been unduly skittish about engaging over the left’s calls for climate action — particularly since Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. Republicans got a lot of political mileage running against Obama’s cap-and-trade bill, which they called “job-killing.”
Republican Bob Inglis, a former South Carolina congressman and the founder of republicEn.org, spoke of a “lost decade” on this front when we met in Houston in December, as part of his efforts to enlist conservatives to the cause.
And young conservatives in Texas, who have been pushing party leaders for a different approach, commended Crenshaw’s remarks.
“I think it’s great,” said Josiah Neeley, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute, based in Austin. “It shows he is aware the old GOP playbook on climate is out of date, and he’s thinking constructively on the issue.”
The House GOP’s proposal might not go as far as one would like, Neeley continued, but he’s at peace with that.
“I’m always for talking about a carbon tax, but I recognize it’s a big lift, particularly with Congress in the state it’s in,” Neeley said. “I think it makes sense to work on more focused ideas that can be done in the short term.”
Jay Kay Aiyer, a political scientist based in Houston, was more skeptical of Crenshaw’s advocacy.
“It's a step in the right direction, but his argument is based on political expediency, not an understanding and acceptance of the science,” said Aiyer.
“I think we've set the bar so low that saying something that is relatively basic is now grounds for celebration,” he added.
Indeed. We have. And not without reason. A look at Crenshaw’s Twitter feed helps explain why.
“The American people should know: there’s a 3rd option when it comes to addressing climate change,” Crenshaw tweeted, the day before his appearance at the Austin event, linking to an article about the impending proposal from House Republicans.
“It’s not the absurd Green
New Deal, & it’s not inaction,” he continued. “It’s innovation & it’ll decrease emissions without sacrificing our economy. Example: carbon capture, LNG, hydro & nuclear.”
This anodyne tweet received some 1400 responses, some of which commended Crenshaw for speaking up on the issue, some of which questioned his motives in doing so, and many of which denounced him for the perceived sin of playing footsie with the left.
Backlash from right
“You idiots! The climate changes all the time and most of the changes come from the main energy source, the sun, not environmental issues,” wrote one of the respondents.
“#ClimateChangeHoax is a ploy to dupe us into squandering trillions of dollars worth of our resources,” said another, “2ATexan.”
“This tweet is alarming. Not on subject matter but the words you used,” replied a woman named Allison. “I used to think you were a good guy, now I fear you are part of the plot to take down our President!”
It’s not clear who these people are, where they live, or if they’re even Americans. I would doubt many of them are based in the Houston area, where back-to-back-to-back historic storm events have raised both awareness and urgency about the issue at hand.
But the rhetoric used by Crenshaw’s online critics is reminiscent of that used by the president, on the subject of climate change.
This week, for example, Trump was at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he called on his fellow world leaders to reject “the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse.”
“They are the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune tellers,” Trump continued. “And I have them, and you have them, and we all have them. And they want to see us do badly, but we don’t let that happen.”
That head-in-the-sand approach, as Crenshaw said, isn’t a smart one for Republicans, or helpful for anyone. But it’s nonetheless being espoused by the president, with whom Crenshaw has often made common cause. That being the case, it’s good to see this young Republican congressman advocate a different path, even though in his case it’s also smart politics.