Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a member of the Finance Committee, the Appropriations Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Indian Affairs Committee.
Steve Daines on Climate Change
During his term in the House of Representatives in 2012, Steve Daines had an interview on Montana Public Radio where he said on the issue of climate change, “I think there’s still reasonable debate here… I think the jury’s still out, in my opinion… I’ve seen some very good data that says there are other contributing factors. We’re certainly looking at the effect the sun has versus CO2 and greenhouse gases. I’m not convinced. I’m a skeptic on both sides.” In 2014, Daines disagreed with new regulations on carbon emissions put forth by the Obama Administration which would require Montana to reduce emissions by 21% by 2030, calling it “just another step in this administration’s war on coal.”
Daines’ disregard of climate science carried into his first term in the Senate, as he voted against the Amendment to the Keystone XL Pipeline Removal Act that states in-text that climate change is both real and a result of human pollution. The full text of the amendment can be found on S267 of this article of the Congressional Record.
According to his League of Conservation Scorecard, Steve Daines has a 6% lifetime score, and only infrequently of votes for pro-environment legislation. Daines is running for reelection in 2020.
Steve Daines and Friends
Steve Daines has accepted a total of $32,185 from Club For Growth, a conservative organization that opposes climate reform and publicly supported President Trump’s decision to exit the Paris Agreement. Throughout his time in the U.S. Senate, Daines has received a sum of $290,452 from the oil and gas industries.
See Also
Sen. Tom Cotton
Sen. Cory Gardner
Sen. Joni Ernst
Climate of Denial