advertisement

SSN on Facebook SSN on Twitter SSN on YouTube RSS Feed

17 Comments
Politics

Gaetz Champions 'Super Pollutants Act' to Cut Down on Greenhouse Gases

September 10, 2019 - 7:00am
Matt Gaetz
Matt Gaetz

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a member of the Climate Solutions Caucus, is championing a proposal to cut down on greenhouse gases. 

At the end of last week, Gaetz, a key ally of President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill, teamed up with U.S. Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., to showcase the “Super Pollutants Act” which, they insist, will “slow climate change by regulating black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons, and methane -- some of the most potent greenhouse gases” and noted, “these short-lived climate pollutants, also called super pollutants, are significantly more potent than carbon dioxide.”

Gaetz’s office offered some of the details on the proposal. 

“The Super Pollutants Act also seeks to preserve current standards on methane pollution from oil and gas production. The bill strengthens standards for global methane emissions, codifies methane emission standards for new sources of methane, and regulates emissions at existing oil and gas operations if voluntary industry efforts do not decrease methane emissions by 40 percent below 2012 levels,” Gaetz’s office noted. “The bill creates a task force of experts from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, and Department of State to create an action plan to reduce super pollutants based on policy recommendations provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, U.S. Climate Alliance, the Interagency Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions, the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, and the Clean Cooking Alliance. The Super Pollutants Act also coordinates international efforts to reduce super pollutants by requiring federal agencies to provide technical assistance to other nations looking to curb their super pollutants.”

The congressmen pointed to research which showed “aggressively cutting super pollutants now could avoid 1.5 degrees of warming by the end of the century” and  “curbing super pollutants could reduce sea level rise 18 percent by 2050 and 24 percent by the end of the century.”

Gaetz weighed in on Friday, explaining why he was championing the proposal. 

“Eliminating harmful pollutants from our air, earth, and water is an endeavor that transcends party lines,” Gaetz said. “Environmental stewardship should not be held captive by protracted partisan politics. I’m proud to cosponsor this bill that promotes bipartisan solutions to address the undeniable reality of climate change and takes actionable steps to stem the dischargement of super pollutants. This legislation institutes a business-friendly and free market approach to mitigating pollution by encouraging private companies to voluntarily limit their own emissions. We have many differences in this town, but an issue we should all be able to agree on as humans is the fact that we collectively share the Earth — our most universally precious commodity.”

“As oceans warm, sea levels rise, and droughts sear our world, we must find immediate ways to slow and reverse climate change or face these dire consequences of inaction,” Peters said. “The Super Pollutants Act makes immediate, tangible steps to address some of the worst contributors to climate change and reduce the amount of greenhouse gas present in the atmosphere. We need bipartisan partnerships to address key drivers of climate change today and I look forward to using the coalition we’ve built to further address the climate crisis in innovative ways.”

Peters brought out the bill last month and Gaetz and U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., have thrown their support behind it. The bill was sent to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce, the Foreign Affairs and the Financial Services Committees. 

Over in the U.S. Senate, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., are backing the companion measure. 

The bill has the support of the Evangelical Environmental Network, the Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Precourt Institute for Energy, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions,  the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) and Oceana. 

Comments

Gaetz has drunk the Cool-Aid on the man-made climate change agenda, which is all about power in the hands of the globalists who thirst to control every aspect of human activity. This whole scheme is a hoax, propagated without true scientific data and unceasingly promoted by the fake news media. None of the dire predictions have come true and the same crowd who are worried about the heat said that we would die due to global cooling. Look it up. Can we find someone else who can better represent us?

While there is nothing wrong with saving and protecting the environment doing so at the expense of human life and safety is not the way. What I mean by this EPA recently approved (40 CFR Part 82) the use of flammable and explosive refrigerant to replace what most people know as Freon. It will be used in home refrigerators, freezers even your home and automobile air conditioning. Freon is being replaced with Isobutane (R600) Propane (R290) and your automobile air conditioning will be using R1234YF which is highly toxic and flammable. While these gases have a low global warming potential they are deadly to humans when exposed to a source of ignition. This was approved very quietly and without letting the general public know the danger they are putting us in. Yet you never hear any politician screaming save the people. I believe there is a way to save both but when I tried to meet with Matt Gaetz to discuss this I was told he didn't have time I would have to meet with one of his aids. I didn't vote for his aid!

The purpose of the legislation is to stop the Trump administration from rolling back methane standards which even the oil industry opposes. If you folks want Trump to destroy the Republican party with his idiocy and chaos that's OK, and since ALL Republican politicians are afraid of him it's now the Trump party anyway. But when it comes to the environment even Rick Scott admits the climate is changing. Even if you cling to the idea that it's natural and not the result of human activities it's hard to understand who would still not attempt to slow or stop the changes. Thankyou Matt Gaetz for recognizing the obvious and joining a bipartisan action to stem it.

It is not the State or Federal Governments responsibility to use TAXPAYERS money to help the Bahamas. They are an independent country and not our responsibility.

Sorry my computer opened the wrong link.

Matt Matt Matt there is nothing you can do to pander to the left to make them like you...even a little bit Matt...it ain't gonna happen. Matt in case you have failed to notice you are a conservative white non-LBGTQ man. Stay in your lane Matt and quit associating with Scott Peters D-Calif. And if you can not take my sage advice Matt I'll just leave you with this: Wear a condom Son.

Like Colt said, Quit Pandering or has he been a rhino all along.

Gaetz IS a 'super-pollutant'! He pollutes effective American governance by his mere presence in the U.S. House of Representatives!

Ah, I see I have trained you well. Always express total hatred of everyone who is not a member of the Democrat party, even if you've never heard of them.

Good luck with the test of the world.

"test" = "rest"

Excellent job Congressman Gaetz!

The Devil is in the details

What are we doing to get the BIG polluters from across the world to take real action to reduce their impact?

We start by bringing back smart, objective, properly trained and adequately staffed good government. And then getting rid of those in today's Koch Bros owned GOP in both the House and Senate (Federal and State) who hate anything to do with updating their polluting industries.

Getting Gaetz removed from office is the most efficient way of removing a "super pollutant".

Right on! Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle.

Comments are now closed.

politics
advertisement
advertisement
Live streaming of WBOB Talk Radio, a Sunshine State News Radio Partner.

advertisement