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Collin Peterson votes against climate protection

Some years ago I was a columnist for the Becker County Record, which was published out of Detroit Lakes. One of the columns that I wrote was about Collin Peterson’s struggle to decide whether he was a Democrat or a Republican. He had been a Minnesota State Senator and, at the time, was a newly elected Democratic member of Congress. For some months he publicly struggled with the idea of rebranding himself as a Republican. In my column I mocked his political lack of principle and pointed out that he was already voting like a Republican.

Peterson ultimately decided to continue to market himself as a Democrat but over the years he has continued to vote very much like a Republican in many areas. This is especially true in the area of climate disruption and climate chaos. An analysis of his voting record on issues of climate disruption and climate protection has Representative Peterson voting in favor of climate disruption three-quarters of the time. A whopping 74% of the time Collin Peterson voted for climate disruption and against climate protection.

For example, Peterson voted for H.R. 1431, the “EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2017”. This bill would have undermined the ability of the EPA’s Science Advisory Board to provide independent, objective, and credible scientific advice to the EPA. This legislation would also have allowed industry to significantly prolong the scientific review process which would delay key public health and environmental protections.
Peterson took another vote against providing good scientific information to the EPA when he voted for H.R. 1430, also known as the “HONEST Act”. This bill would endanger public health by making it extremely difficult for the EPA to use the best available science. The bill contains favorable exemptions for industry and would restrict the health studies that the EPA is able to use by requiring that data is shared with anyone willing to sign a vague confidentiality agreement. These provisions would severely limit the EPA’s ability to use data that includes studies with confidential health information, which are the basis for the best research on the health effects of pollution, according to 350.org. 

Peterson once again voted as a climate disruptor when he voted for H.R. 806. This bill would have delayed the EPA’s recently updated standards for ozone pollution and gutted a central pillar of the Clean Air Act. 

You can see more of Rep. Peterson’s anti-climate votes, along with the rare climate protector vote, at 

I will vote for Collin Peterson in November but I am deeply troubled by his support for climate disruption initiatives that have come from the Trump White House. Peterson needs to be held accountable for his climate disruption votes. I will attempt to do that and I hope that you will too.

Tim
Central Minnesota Political

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