Rep. Sullivan's vanquisher: Global warming needs 'clearer evidence' - The Hill (blog)

Jim Bridenstine, the Republican who beat sitting GOP Energy and Commerce Committee member John Sullivan (R-Okla.) in Tuesday’s primary, will join the ranks of House members who are skeptical of climate change.

The Hill’s Emily Goodin has more on Sullivan’s loss here. Here’s what Bridenstine, a Navy pilot, has to say about climate change on his website:

While the environment should be protected and global warming studied, global warming should not drive national energy policy without clearer evidence.

Bridenstine, who will be heavily favored in the general election, is poised to win a House seat at a time when Republicans are seeking to overturn EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases.

A federal appeals court upheld EPA’s climate rules Tuesday, reviving GOP calls for congressional action to block the regulations. Sullivan voted with other Republicans last year to overturn EPA’s climate regulations.

The overwhelming majority of scientists say the planet is warming and that human activities â€" including the use of coal and oil â€" are a key reason why. A very small minority call data on warming trends inaccurate or inconclusive.

The vanquished Sullivan is the vice chairman of the Energy and Power subcommittee.

He’s the main House backer of legislation that would provide billions of dollars in tax credits to spur conversion to natural gas in heavy trucking fleets, but the plan, which a suite of conservative groups oppose, has stalled and faces dim prospects.

Here’s more from Bridenstine’s website on his approach to energy:

Energy reform should reduce our dependence on foreign oil while increasing access to various forms of clean energy. To quickly reduce our dependence on foreign oil, Congress should lift restrictions on clean drilling in our own territory. Natural gas, wind, solar, nuclear, and geothermal energy are viable alternatives to crude oil, and the free market has the capacity to advance these technologies.

Cap and Trade legislation will tax fossil fuels, raise energy prices, and force consumers into alternative fuels prematurely. Controlling markets in this fashion is not an appropriate role of government and cripples the economy.

---