Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) denied that human activity has any impact on climate change while on MSNBC Monday.
Miller, the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, told host Richard Lui that “the issue of climate change has been happening for a long time, and for us to be able to think that we, as matter of fact, can change what’s going on right now to any substantive measure is -- is really kind of foolish in my opinion.”
Though Lui continued to press Miller, whose district comprises part of the Florida panhandle, he didn't back down.
“For us to say that it is a settled argument right now, I think again, is a foolish argument to make because there are scientists on both sides of the issue that say that it is not settled,” Miller added. "Why did the dinosaurs go extinct? Were there men that were causing -- were there, were there cars running around at that point that were causing global warming? No. The climate has changed since earth was created."
In addition to Miller, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) have also expressed doubt that humans have any role in increasing the severity of climate change in recent weeks.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sharply criticized Rubio on his climate change views after Whitehouse himself visited Florida to study climate change's impact on the state.
In a Saturday interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, President Barack Obama reiterated his stance on the potential for climate change to have disastrous effects on the planet.
"Science is science," Obama told Friedman. “And there is no doubt that if we burned all the fossil fuel that’s in the ground right now that the planet’s going to get too hot and the consequences could be dire.”
The issue of climate change has reemerged within the public discourse lately as the Environmental Protection Agency announced new regulations on power plant emissions last Monday.
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