New Hampshire Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte, who will be on the ballot next year, received a half million dollar campaign donation from Republican climate activist Jay Faison to fight climate change. Unfortunately, by working to re-elect Ayotte, Faison is helping Mitch McConnell in his efforts to derail any efforts to address climate
change. Effectively reducing emissions will require binding international agreements and as we see here, McConnell is trying hard to sabotage efforts to forge an international agreement on climate. In fact, Faison also gave an undisclosed sum to McConnell's campaign super-PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund. If she gets re-elected, it is unlikely that Ayotte will be a climate champion and merit Faison's sizable investment.
Earlier this year, Ayotte did vote for the Schatz Ammendment, which declared climate change is real and caused by humans. She also voted in favor of climate change science education, but she voted against the EPA Clean Power Plan, which is the most significant effort to reduce emissions and the centerpiece of President Obama's international efforts to reduce emissions.
Pressure from Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is leading efforts to fight climate change solutions nationally and internationally, likely led to her voting against the Clean Power Plan. As we see in the poll above, New Hampshire Republicans support the Clean Power Plan and the rest of the state's voters support the Clean Power Plan by even larger margins.
As a conservative who believes that climate change is real, perhaps she would simply prefer a more market based approach, like a carbon tax, that would take the authority to reduce emissions out of the EPA? Actually, no. Ayotte voted for a measue that would restrict the Senate from ever passing a carbon tax.
So while Ayotte’s record on climate is better than some Republicans: she does think climate change is a problem, but on legislation that directly addresses climate, like the EPA Clean Power Plan and a possible carbon tax, she has shown she won’t support a comprehensive solution to address the problem. By working to re-elect Ayotte, Faison is helping Mitch McConnell in his efforts to derail any efforts to address climate change.
By defeating Ayotte, climate voters can weaken McConnell's influence and increase the likelihood climate will be addressed. Her opponent next November will likely be in favor of the Clean Power Plan and efforts to price carbon.
If she is re-elected, what will Ayotte do to address climate beyond fighting against a carbon tax and the clean power plant rules? Does she think an international treaty to restrict emissions is a bad idea? Now that she has conceded climate change is a problem, her constituents would like to hear about her climate solutions.