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The Week in Climate Hearings: Confirming Conspiracies
Conspiracy-theory nominees RFK Jr, Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard. Plus billionaire Howard Lutnick
Brad Johnson
January 27, 2025
The fossil-fueled Storm Éowyn hits the United Kingdom. Credit: Sonia Bashir.
On Friday, Donald Trump released a conspiracy-laden executive order establishing a council to assess the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with the clear intent of pushing the U.S. Congress to dismantle it. He also celebrated his attacks on climate in his video address to the Davos conference:
I terminated the ridiculous and incredibly wasteful Green New Deal — I call it the “Green New Scam”; withdrew from the one-sided Paris climate accord; and ended the insane and costly electric vehicle mandate. We’re going to let people buy the car they want to buy.
I declared a national em- — energy emergency — and it’s so important — national energy emergency to unlock the liquid gold under our feet and pave the way for rapid approvals of new energy infrastructure. The United States has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we’re going to use it.
Speaking of which, Exxon, Chevron and Shell are holding earnings calls this week.
Democratic National Committee Elections
The 448-odd members of the Democratic National Committee are gathering this week at National Harbor, Maryland to elect new leadership for the Democratic Party. On Thursday, the candidates will gather in person at Georgetown University for a final forum, with the DNC chair candidates running in prime time with MSNBC anchors Jen Psaki, Symone Sanders, and Jonathan Capehart. The election for the DNC officers will be held on Saturday morning.
The U.S. Climate Politics Almanac will have a comprehensive preview of the election this week, so check your inboxes.
On The Hill
Tuesday, January 28
The 10 am Commerce hearing on the Panama Canal will be seen within the context of Trump’s fascistic blustering about taking over the canal from Panamanian control.
Wednesday, January 29
At 10 am, Senate Finance chair and climate denier Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) chairs the first of two hearings this week on the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy’s vaccine denial and covid conspiratorialism has infected his rhetoric on climate change as well.
“Americans had enough of that during Covid, of people using the crisis — that many people believe now was manufactured — in order to clamp down totalitarian controls and shift wealth upward. And they see a mirror of that in climate.”
When he was running for president, Kennedy hired Del Bigtree, an anti-vaccine activist who rejects climate science, as his communications director. He later endorsed Trump for president.
Also at 10 am, climate denier Ted Cruz (R-Texas) chairs the nomination hearing for Howard Lutnick to be Secretary of Commerce. Lutnick is the billionaire CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. The largest agency in the Department of Commerce is the 12,000-employee National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Project 2025 calls for the breakup of NOAA and the privatization of weather forecasts.
Although Cantor Fitzgerald holds major investments in firms like Invenergy and Next Era Energy, which have benefited strongly from the Inflation Reduction Act’s support for clean energy, Lutnick “has reflected Trump’s positions on the Biden administration’s climate law, saying in an interview on Fox News last month that the Inflation Reduction Act should be called the “Inflation Creation Act.’” “It’s a hosing of America, and we’ve got to stop it,” he said.
Similarly, “Lutnick called for cutting billions from agencies, including the Interior Department, which he said should more rightly be called the ‘department of all the land and mineral rights of the United States of America.’”
Multi-millionaire Kelly Loeffler’s nomination to head the Small Business Administration is also on Wednesday.
Thursday, January 30
Thursday is the big conspiracy-theorist day on the Hill.
Health chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician who has criticized RFK Jr.’s vaccine conspiracy theories, chairs the second hearing on the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services at 10 am.
At 9:30 am, the Senate Judiciary Committee holds its hearing on the nomination of Kash Patel to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Patel is a Q Anon grifter.
At 10 am, the Senate Intelligence Committee meets with leftist Democrat-turned conspiracy theorist Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s nominee to be Director of National Intelligence.
At 10:25 am, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee votes on the nomination of Elise Stefanik to be the Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations.
The Budget Committee also will be meeting to vote on the nomination of Project 2025 architect Russell Vought to head the Office of Management and Budget.
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1 Ken Martin is publicly backed by a majority of the state party chairs and vice chairs, and the entire delegations of at least six states. Wikler has the public “grasstops” backing of heavyweights like Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the leaders of the Democratic Governors Association, the leaders of the Lieutenant Democratic Governors Association, the heads of several national unions, billionaires like Reid Hoffman, and outside groups from Indivisible to Third Way. In the last election for DNC chair in 2017, reform candidate Keith Ellison had a seeming lead until Barack Obama and other party leaders whipped votes for their preferred candidate, Tom Perez. It remains to be seen if Wikler’s national pressure campaign will defeat Ken Martin’s years of democratic party-building.
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