Despite overwhelming evidence that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are the main driver of a climate crisis that threatens to imperil modern life on Earth, some far-right members of the Wyoming Legislature contend it’s a hoax intended to depress the state’s fossil fuel-reliant economy.
Rather than capitulate to out-of-state policies and market forces, the state ought to set an example and outlaw carbon reduction measures altogether — a “bold step forward to lead a balanced, science-based dialogue,” Sen. Cheri Steinmetz (R-Torrington) wrote in a column published by the Cowboy State Daily, announcing Senate File 92, “Make carbon dioxide great again-no net zero.”
The bill is co-sponsored by Freedom Caucus Chairman Emeritus Rep. John Bear, a Republican who represents Gillette, the heart of Wyoming’s coal country. It would declare that “carbon dioxide is not a pollutant and is a beneficial substance,” and codify in Wyoming law that carbon dioxide “not be designated or treated as a pollutant or contaminant.”…