Green group labels Rep. Gardner ‘dirty denier’

The NRDC Action Fund is targeting Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) for his positions on climate change and other environmental causes, calling him a “dirty denier.”

The Thursday blog post from the Action Fund is part of its “#DirtyDenier$” campaign, which calls out members of Congress who do not believe in human-caused climate change. NRDC Action Fund is affiliated with the Natural Resources Defense Council, but it is a separate organization.

{mosads}Gardner is running for Senate, challenging Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) in a close race. The Action Fund referred to Udall as a “climate champion.”

The group said Gardner sponsored a 2012 energy bill that would have greatly benefitted oil and gas interests over environmental and health concerns. He has led efforts to prohibit the federal government from taking action against climate change, the Action Fund said.

The group said the billionaire conservatives Charles and David Koch have contributed to three campaigns supporting Gardner or opposing Udall.

“Now is the time for Gardner to get in step with Colorado voters and support action on climate change,” the group said. “It would also be refreshing if he stopped raking in cash from the Koch brothers and their polluter allies.”

Gardner is on the League of Conservation Voters’ “dirty dozen” list, a similar set of lawmakers who that group said are not friendly to the environment.

The group said it will write a new post on a “dirty denier” each weekday throughout the congressional recess, which ends in September.

In addition to Gardner, the Action Fund has written posts on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).