Steyer: Not Talking About Climate Change Now Is Saying, ‘I Don’t Want to Take Responsibility for What I Did’

During MSNBC’s coverage of Hurricane Irma on Saturday, NextGen Climate founder Tom Steyer argued that politicians who take money from fossil fuel companies and lie about climate change don’t want to talk about climate change now because they have “enabled” more problems and compared this to a drunk driver causing an accident and saying they don’t want to talk about drinking and driving.

Steyer said, “Look, the fossil fuel interests are intent on keeping the energy system that we have now, which is creating climate change. And the politicians who take the money from the fossil fuel interests and then lie about what’s happening are now watching what’s happened as a result. So, really the way I think about this is, of course, they don’t want to talk about climate change right now. Because they’re the people who have enabled the additional problems to happen. We’re not just looking at Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Jose. We’re also looking at record wildfires across the West. So, to me, this is like a drunk driver, after an accident telling me, ‘Let’s not talk about drinking and driving.’ Well, as a matter of fact, of course, we have to deal with the accident. Of course, we’re worried about the people. This is all about human tragedy. But don’t come to me and say, ‘I don’t want to take responsibility for what I did.’ Now’s the time to start taking responsibility to prevent problems, not just to deal with problems.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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