Thread: GOP Rep. Michael Grimm Decides Climate Change Is Real After Actually Looking At Resea

GOP Rep. Michael Grimm Decides Climate Change Is Real After Actually Looking At Research

by Samantha Lachman
Posted: 04/25/2014 12:38 pm EDT Updated: 04/25/2014 1:59 pm EDT

Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) appears to have completely reversed his views on climate change as he fights to be reelected to a district hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.

Grimm tells MSNBC's Chris Hayes that his views have evolved in an excerpt from Showtime's “Years of Living Dangerously” series:

CHRIS HAYES: Last time you and I spoke, you said the jury was still out on climate science. Do you still feel that way?
MICHAEL GRIMM: After speaking with Bob Inglis, it made me do some of my own research, you know, I looked at some of the stuff that he sent over, my staff looked at. But the mass majority of respected scientists say that it’s conclusive, the evidence is clear. So I don't think the jury is out.
CHRIS HAYES: The basic story of -- we’re putting carbon in the atmosphere, the planet’s getting warmer, that’s gonna make the sea levels rise -- like, the basic story of that, you pretty much agree with, right?
MICHAEL GRIMM: Sure, I mean there’s no question that, um, you know, the oceans have risen, right? And the climate change part is, is a real part of it. The problem that we're gonna have right now -- there's no oxygen left in the room in Washington for another big debate, that’s the reality.

Grimm's comments to Hayes come just four years after he said at a candidate debate that "the jury is obviously still out" in response to a question about whether he believed climate change is "real."

“I have been one of the guys who have been skeptical of global warming from the beginning," Grimm said at the debate. "The jury is obviously still out on it. We see nothing but conflicting reports from across the globe. I’m not sure, I’m not a scientist.”

The second-term congressman represents New York's 11th District, including Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. He is a top target for Democrats this election cycle, so his new comments on climate change may be part and parcel with his recent support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Grimm received a dose of negative attention in January after he physically threatened a reporter at the Capitol. He also gets an unflattering mention in Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) new book as an example of a tea party candidate who benefitted for much of his life from government, but doesn't believe in government.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...n_5213523.html

AP

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...n_5213523.html

Updated: Rep. Grimm endorses climate change science, dropping previous skepticism, after Hurricane Sandy (with video)


"The mass majority of respected scientists say that it's conclusive," Rep. Michael Grimm said of climate change. "The evidence is clear. So I don't think the jury is out." (Staten Island Advance)

By Timothy Harrison | tharrison@siadvance.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on April 25, 2014 at 2:52 PM, updated April 25, 2014 at 5:19 PM

This story has been updated to include more information about the documentary Grimm's interview appears in.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Rep. Michael Grimm endorsed the findings of the "mass majority of respected scientists" to change his position on climate change and abandon his previous skepticism on the issue in an interview that will air Sunday night.

"The mass majority of respected scientists say that it's conclusive," Grimm said during the interview, which focused on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy on Staten Island. "The evidence is clear. So I don't think the jury is out."

Grimm was unavailable to return multiple calls for comment from the Advance on Friday.

Grimm's statement during the interview, which was taped August 26 but won't air until Sunday night, marks a shift away from the positions of other Congressional Republicans, and many of his constituents on Staten Island.

Despite the shift, Grimm cautioned that a political fight in Congress over climate change is unlikely. "There's no oxygen left in the room in Washington for another big debate," he said during the interview, given the House of Representative's focus on immigration and the economy.

The interview will appear in a documentary on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy Sunday at 10 p.m. on Showtime. The show's producer, David Gelber, attributed Grimm's shift to a desire to understand why Hurricane Sandy was so intense.

"[Grimm is] the only Republican that I know of who has changed his position on climate change, or who has acknowledged the scientific consensus on it," he said in a phone interview Friday afternoon.

Gelber said the consensus among scientists is that climate change added an extra foot to the storm surge during Hurricane Sandy "It's not like this is an abstract issue," Gelber said.

But according to a report released last month by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations group that studies climate science, problems associated with global warming could intensify during this century.

"The world has to adapt, and the world has to mitigate," said Rajendra K. Pachauri, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in March.

The documentary, which will air Sunday at 10 p.m. on Showtime, features extensive interviews with Grimm and Patricia Dresch, whose husband and daughter died during the storm, as well as footage from the immediate aftermath of the storm taped on Staten Island.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf...imate_cha.html
Video of Grimm's exchange with Chris Hayes is included below.

1. Updated: GOP Rep. Grimm endorses climate change science, dropping ... SILive.com-14 minutes ago The interview will appear in a documentary on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy Sunday at 10 p.m. on Showtime. The show's producer, David ...

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