Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) claimed the Republican Party should not ignore climate change, stating the party could not afford to have its “head in the sand.”
Carter, who was just appointed to lead the Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said it was important for Republicans to have a seat at the table when it comes to climate change and that the topic was a serious issue.
“I think it’s very important for conservatives to have a place at the table, a seat at the table,” Carter told Fox News. “For instance, I went to COP28, and I’m glad I went. I won’t kid you; there was a little bit of tribulation there at first because there are people in our party who are climate deniers — they don’t believe in climate change.”
He continued, “I don’t believe that if we don’t have this resolved by the day after tomorrow, we’re all going to fry. But I do believe in climate change. I believe that it’s real. And I believe that it is impacted by man. And I believe it is cyclical and that we are going through one of those cycles. If we are just going to stick our head in the sand, we’re going to miss the boat; we’re not going to have an opportunity to be involved at all.”
Carter said one of his priorities on the new subcommittee will be advancing the use of nuclear energy. Nuclear energy regulations have been a controversial topic on Capitol Hill, but Democrats have slowly begun to favor an expansion of nuclear energy, according to Carter. In fact, the United States signed a pledge, along with 20 other countries at COP28 in December, to triple its nuclear energy capacity by 2050.
Some progressive groups still oppose nuclear energy, such as the Sierra Club, and the nonprofit organization Green America. The latter claimed some of the reasons they were opposed to nuclear energy relate to nuclear waste and the fear it could lead to more nuclear weapons. They also fear nuclear power plants would be a target for terrorists and that poor countries could try building nuclear power plants without knowing how to do so safely.
Carter said his other priority is cutting back on green energy supply chains from China.
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“We need to beat China,” the congressman said. “Let’s face it: China is the OPEC of critical minerals. My district is one of the few districts in America that is mining critical minerals right now, and we need to do more of that. This attitude of ‘not in my backyard,’ we’ve got to get past that. We’ve got to have reliable supply chains. The Biden administration’s approach to this is dismal at best. It has not good at all.”
Carter added that the administration has turned a “blind eye” to the fact that the U.S. is too reliant on China and other adversaries for the minerals.