Original Article By Audrey Streb
The Center for American Progress (CAP), a left-leaning D.C. think tank, released a report Thursday identifying so-called “climate deniers” in the Trump administration and Capitol Hill.
The group defined a “climate denier” as one who does not subscribe to the “scientific consensus of human-caused climate change.” The report tallies a total of Congressional “climate deniers” as well as some prominent cabinet members such as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin.
Notably, former President Joe Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken sits on CAP’s board, according to the group’s website. TIME Magazine also dubbed CAP as “Obama’s Idea Factory in Washington” in 2008.
“There are currently 119 members of the 119th Congress — 24 senators and 95 representatives — who publicly deny the scientific consensus of human-caused climate change,” states CAP’s report. “The overall number of climate deniers has declined slightly since the 118th Congress, which had 123 deniers, as 11 lost or did not run for reelection in 2024, two have been appointed to Cabinet positions, and JD Vance was elected vice president of the United States. Of the 75 new members of Congress, 13 are climate deniers.”
Meanwhile, Environment and Public Works ranking member and Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is spearheading an effort to put senators on record regarding their positions on climate change, according to E&E News.
President Donald Trump has referred to climate change as a hoax and campaigned against Biden’s energy policies that he’s termed the “green new scam.” The Trump administration has moved to cut billions in climate-related funding and stressed that reliable energy is vital to human flourishing.
“This analysis considers a person a climate denier if they have stated that they believe that climate change is not real or is a hoax,” the report states. “If a member previously made statements that qualified as climate denial in past CAP analyses but has since consistently acknowledged the validity of climate science, this analysis no longer classifies them as a climate denier.”
Other beliefs that qualify one as a “climate denier” under the CAP analysis include those who have “claimed that while humans are contributing to a changing climate, they are not the main contributors,” or have “stated that the climate has always been changing as a result of natural factors and that today’s warming is merely a continuation of natural cycles.”
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