Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Republican congressman from Arizona’s 6th district, joined The Show recently to talk about his work on the Conservative Climate Caucus. Among other things, he described what he sees as a legislative strategy that acknowledges the existence of climate change, while looking for pro-business solutions to the issue.
For a Democratic perspective on climate, Rep. Yassamin Ansari joined The Show.
Before she was elected to the House in 2024, Ansari served as a climate adviser at the U.N. and planned the 2016 Climate Action Summit. During her time on the Phoenix City Council, she created the city’s Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, and pushed to electrify city vehicles like buses and fire trucks.
Full conversation
SAM DINGMAN: So, we recently had Representative Juan Ciscomani on The Show, and he's a member of the Conservative Climate Caucus. And one of the things that they're focused on is partnering with private industry to address climate change, in part by removing some regulations on those industries. An example that he cited is mining, where there are environmental concerns about mining, but there are also critical minerals that we need for mining operations to maintain production of, for example, electric cars.
How do you see private industry and regulations around industry? As being part of the vision for a future that acknowledges climate change.
YASSAMIN ANSARI: Well, there's no question that we can't address climate change without the deep and significant involvement of the private sector, but what we've seen from these companies is really doubling down. That is why this industry decided to invest over a billion dollars in getting Donald Trump elected. There's, of course, the very notable example of him publicly saying and pleading to oil and gas companies to say, hey, like if you invest in me getting elected, I will make sure you are rewarded. And that is what's happening now.
That is exactly what's happening when the president is, you know, issuing executive orders rolling back every environmental policy that has gotten us to this point where we're making progress on climate change. He pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement. He is wanting to open up public lands, and, you know, expand offshore drilling of oil and gas, all the while not even trying to promote wind and solar in any meaningful way and in fact reversing course on that front.
So, you know, if, if the truth was that oil and gas wanted to be a responsible part of the solution, that would be great. I think people would welcome that, but instead they are making record profits, getting handouts like no other industry, and not acting in a way that is at all geared towards moving us into the future.
DINGMAN: So the EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has talked about a lot of proposed changes that the administration wants to make around climate policy, as I'm paraphrasing slightly, but driving a dagger through the heart of the climate change religion. I asked Representative Ciscomani the same question. What is your reaction to that statement?
ANSARI: I continue to struggle to understand why people like Lee Zeldin, Donald Trump, and Republicans don't want to follow basic science. I mean, it is oil and gas companies back in the 1970s along with our U.S. military establishment, like the United States Navy, who sounded the alarm on the damage that climate change is causing.
I can tell you in Phoenix, Arizona, we have more than 600 people die every single summer from extreme heat and still don't have any sort of support from FEMA or the federal government when it comes to resilience or to combating this issue.
DINGMAN: So let me ask you, congresswoman, I mean, clearly you feel like there is great urgency here to address the issue of climate change, but it continues to be an issue, it seems, where it is difficult to bring it to the top of the urgency list for the voting public writ large. What in your mind, have been successful strategies that you have seen in your work on this issue that you would like to see your colleagues in Congress who agree with you undertake?
ANSARI: When I knock on doors in my district in Phoenix, I often talk with my constituents about the impacts of air pollution. There are so many parents in the district to feel the impacts of the poor air quality that we have in Phoenix. We're ranked about fifth nationwide for worst ozone pollution, and they know that because their kids are getting asthma at much higher rates than in previous generations, you know, they're, we're seeing higher lung cancer rates than usual, and they feel these impacts so directly on their health.
On the flip side, on the positive of that, jobs, I mean, The benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act are immense in a place like Phoenix. I mean, labor unions who are super split politically, you know, we're talking about plumbers and pipefitters, carpenters, painters, they are so excited and, you know, thrilled to be part of building, you know, solar plants or building new wind projects across our state that are a result of funding that we receive from the federal government over the last couple of years, and now that that's been paused, I think many are concerned that, you know, their jobs will be at risk.
So I really think climate change, the threats are so intense and significant that I think it's important to really localize it to the extent possible.
DINGMAN: Well, I'm glad you brought up the inflation Reduction Act because that's something that Representative Ciscomani also brought up and it makes me wanna ask you a little bit about the dynamic around that legislation at the moment from your perspective, because he, he talked about wanting to preserve some elements of the IRA, in particular the clean energy tax credits.
Do you think points of agreement like that are indicative of any sort of bipartisan spirit when it comes to climate legislation in the current Congress? Are you optimistic about finding any common ground?
ANSARI: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think, I think that's a great example of where there is really bipartisan support. I think this like push and pull really highlights, unfortunately, the role of money in politics and what an outsized influence it can have and and why it's so harmful, because the truth is, not only did the majority of Americans believe in climate change and the science behind it, but I think, you know, even pulling on something like electric vehicles is is up,
However, you have an oil and gas industry that is worried, and so they spent the $1 billion to get their choice elected as president, and now that is the reason why we are moving back so far. And that's my concern is that not only on the issue of climate, but so many other issues, the policy is actually moving in a direction that most Americans don't agree with. And why is that? It's because of that industry's role with the money that they've spent.
