In a Switch, Some Republicans Start Citing Climate Change as Driving Their Policies

WASHINGTON — When John Barrasso, a Republican from oil and uranium-rich Wyoming who has spent years blocking climate change legislation, introduced a bill this year to promote nuclear energy, he added a twist: a desire to tackle global warming.

John Barrasso, a Republican Senator from uranium-rich
Wyoming, with President Trump in 2017. Mr. Barrasso
has introduced a bill to promote nuclear power that he
frames as a climate solution.

Mr. Barrasso’s remarks — “If we are serious about climate change, we must be serious about expanding our use of nuclear energy” — were hardly a clarion call to action. Still they were highly unusual for the lawmaker who, despite decades of support for nuclear power and other policies that would reduce planet-warming emissions, has until recently avoided talking about them in the context of climate change.

The comments represent an important shift among Republicans in Congress. Driven by polls showing that voters in both parties — particularly younger Americans — are increasingly concerned about a warming planet, and prodded by the new Democratic majority in the House shining a spotlight on the issue, a growing number of Republicans are now openly discussing climate change and proposing what they call conservative solutions.

Read the story from The New York Times by Lisa Friedman “In a Switch, Some Republicans Start Citing Climate Change as Driving Their Policies.”