Congressman Flush With Oil Money Leading Environmental Subcommittee, Voices Skepticism On Climate Change

If his remarks Wednesday are any indication, the new chairman of the House environmental subcommittee seems to think more like an economist than an environmentalist.

Republican Rep. Chris Stewart is skeptical of climate change science and has already used his new position as a platform to voice opposition to the widely-accepted belief that humans are responsible for climate change.

"I'm not as convinced as a lot of people are that man-made climate change is the threat they think it is," he said to The Salt Lake Tribune. "I think it is probably not as immediate as some people do."

He went on to say that the fiscal impact of any policy should be considered with priority.

"What is the real threat? What are the economic impacts of those threats? And what are the economic impacts of those remedies?" he said to the Tribune, explaining his three-step approach to solving environmental issues. "Some of the remedies are more expensive to our economy than the threat may turn out to be."

The Tribune noted that Stewart's 2nd Congressional District includes Davis County, home to a number of oil refineries.

When Stewart ran for office in 2012, campaign contributions from donors associated with the oil and gas industries totaled in excess of $40,000, making the industry his second-highest donor pool, behind Republican congress men, the Tribune reported.

Stweart's ties to oil may come from in celebrated need for speed. During his Air Force days, Stewart and a flight of two B-1s set the world record for the fastest non-stop flight around the world. Stewart was the senior project officer for the 1995 mission. 

Stewart reportedly dismissed allegations that he bases policy decisions on campaign contributions.

Utah Sierra Club member Tim Wagner took a more sardonic view of Stewart's position, which is meant to meant to head congressional oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency.

"If he is overseeing a committee that is supposed to be based on science, but ignoring the science, it doesn't do much for his credibility," said Wagner, to the Tribune. "Unless he's trying to appeal to a specific industry, which is fossil fuels."