In a video interview with The Daily Caller, South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott downplayed President Barack Obama’s vow to act alone without Congress on climate change as “ridiculous.”
“There are lots of executive actions that this president seems to find intriguing and important that I think are ridiculous, but at the end of the day, you know, it’s a speech. I’ve heard three of them so far and 80 percent of what he says we never see come to fruition,” Scott told TheDC on Capitol Hill.
“At the end of the day, we’ll deal with it if it occurs. I guess he was trying to challenge and encourage Congress to do something, but in the end, I don’t think we’re going to worry about that executive order at this point. But we’ll be prepared for the debate that seems to be coming.”
In his State of the Union address, Obama suggested Superstorm Sandy was the result of climate change.
“We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science — and act before it’s too late,” Obama said.
“If Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.”
The American Clean Energy and Security Act, or cap-and-trade bill, was designed to reduce total carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. It passed in the Democratic-controlled House in 2009, but was defeated in the Democratic-controlled Senate.