Dem Sen: GOP ignoring ‘moral responsibility’ on climate change

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) is accusing Republicans of abdicating their “moral and political responsibility” to address climate change.

“Every Senate R except for one voted for [Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott] Pruitt,” Schatz wrote on Twitter Saturday. “The Republican Party is refusing moral and political responsibility for the planet itself.”

Every Senate R except for one voted for Pruitt. The Republican Party is refusing moral and political responsibility for the planet itself. https://t.co/8bzfSfukKD

— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) September 9, 2017

Schatz’s comments came after Pruitt told CNN in an interview on Thursday that it would be “insensitive” to talk about climate change as a potential catalyst for the recent bout of deadly hurricanes that has emerged in recent weeks. 

He said that the current conversation should instead be about helping the victims of the storms, rather than on the “cause and effect” of the storms.

“What we need to focus on is access to clean water, addressing these areas of superfund activities that may cause an attack on water, these issues of access to fuel,” Pruitt said.

“Those are things so important to citizens of Florida right now, and to discuss the cause and effect of these storms, there’s the… place (and time) to do that, it’s not now.”

Hurricane Irma, a powerful Category 3 storm, is set to make landfall in Florida early Sunday, meaning it will become the second major hurricane to hit the continental U.S. in just over two weeks. Another massive storm, Hurricane Harvey, devastated parts of Texas and Louisiana late last month.

The Senate voted 52-46 in February to confirm Pruitt, with only one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), bucking party lines to vote against him. Two Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) voted for him.