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The House Oversight Committee held a hearing Thursday about how the fossil fuel industry chokes the life out of any real action on the climate crisis. Democrats invited experts to provide testimony, and Republicans acted like fools while auditioning for a Fox News guest spot. It was standard operating procedure, really, but Thursday’s debate stood out as particularly offensive when Rep. Clay Higgins from Louisiana started lecturing environmental lawyer Raya Salter about the wonders of fossil fuels.
Salter is the founder of the Energy Justice Law and Policy Center and member of the New York State Climate Action Council. Higgins is one of the 139 House Republicans who voted to overturn the results of a free and fair election. It’s absurd that he’s still allowed to serve in Congress. At the very least, no one should listen to anything he says, but here we are. House members can trade stocks and enable coup attempts. It’s a real chill vibe there.
PREVIOUSLY: Hey, Louisiana Dipsh*t Congressman Idiot! We Found Michael Cohen’s Boxes!
Higgins demanded Salter “tell the world” how she personally would dispose of petrochemical products, which are literally killing the planet. Where’s her plan?
Everything you have — your clothes, your glasses, the car you got here on, your phone, the table you’re sitting at, the chair, the carpet under your feet — everything you’ve got is petrochemical products. What would you do with that?
Salter responded, “If I had that power, actually I don’t need that power, because what I would do is ask you, sir from Louisiana … “
Higgins obviously interrupted her at this point because she was a woman speaking for longer than two seconds.
Salter passionately pointed out that petrochemical plants release pollutants that are killing “Black and poor people in Louisiana” while Higgins, a fully owned subsidiary of the fossil fuel industry, went full plantation master on her.
HIGGINS: My good lady, I’m trying to give you the floor, boo …
Yes, he called Salter “boo.” When the committee chair meekly asked Higgins to stop talking over Salter, Higgins said, “It’s MY time. If I reclaim my time, I shall. I’m going to give this young lady an opportunity: You might not like it but America needs to hear it. You’ve got no answer do you, young lady? About what to do with petrochemical products? So I’ll move on.”
Higgins thought he’d exposed Salter and other environmental activists as clueless hypocrites who smear the fossil fuel industry’s good name while enjoying all the benefits of electricity … and pollution and global warming and contaminated water. However, Salter was pretty clear about her preferred plan of action: “We need to move away from petrochemicals, we need to shut down the petrochemical facilities in [Louisiana] and move away from plastic.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez immediately called out Higgins’ boorish behavior. She told Salter:
I just want you to know that in the four years that I’ve sat on this committee, I have never seen members of Congress — Republican or Democrat — disrespect a witness in the way that I have seen them disrespect you today. I do not care what party they are in. I’ve never seen anything like that. For the gentleman of Louisiana and the comfort he felt in yelling at you like that, there’s more than one way to get a point across.
Out of respect for arcane House rules, Ocasio-Cortez referred to Higgins as a “gentleman” but she definitely doesn’t think he is one in reality. She added:
Frankly, men who treat women like that in public, I fear how they treat them in private
Yes, Ocasio-Cortez implied that Higgins is probably even more abusive to women privately. That’s not just a cold diss. Studies support her fear.
(UPDATE: I see I have to clarify that Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t going out of her way to be polite, like she was at a country club. This wasn’t a press conference but the House floor where she would’ve been sanctioned for violating House rules.)
Higgins is a jackass and seditionist, and Republicans like him are only going to get worse if they regain the majority.
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