Critics are responding to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s claim that climate change is at least partly to blame for recent severe weather events and the transportation crisis.
Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Buttigieg blamed recent severe airline turbulence and extreme weather on climate change.
Anchor Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg about the strain it could put on the nation’s transportation systems when severe weather coincides with a busy weekend like Memorial Day, and what he thought about NOAA’s latest forecast, which predicts a more severe hurricane season this year.
“The reality is that we’re already seeing the impacts of climate change on transportation,” Buttigieg responded.
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“We’ve seen it in everything from statistically impossible heat waves threatening to melt cables in the Pacific Northwest’s transportation system to signs of an increasingly extreme hurricane season with roughly a 15% increase in turbulence.
“That means evaluating everything we can do about it.”
Republican lawmakers and some climate analysts responded by rejecting Buttigieg’s mention of climate change, with one lawmaker arguing that he was politicizing the weather and public transportation.
“Secretary Buttigieg is clearly not serious about addressing our many transportation issues. He’s engaging in identity politics to the detriment of the American people,” said Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“Buttigieg’s recent comments contradict those of the National Transportation Safety Board and are yet another example of how out of touch he is with hard-working Americans.”
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Energy analyst Alex Epstein, a former Cato Institute fellow and author of “The Future of Fossils,” told Fox News Digital that the secretary has wrongly attributed the recent crisis to climate change.
“It’s not the climate itself that’s having a major impact on transportation, it’s the terrible climate policies, including Pete Buttigieg’s policies,” Epstein said.
“For example, the EPA’s new pollution standards would constitute a de facto EV mandate, forcing Americans to drive inferior vehicles and creating massive new demands for reliable electricity on an already-crippled power grid.”
Another climate expert pointed to the overall increase in air traffic as a reason for concern.
“One of the reasons we’re seeing more recorded turbulence is the increase in the number of flights,” said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate and Environment.
“Even if the United States stopped using all fossil fuels right now, government models show that temperatures would rise by only two-tenths of a degree by 2100. These changes cannot be attributed to climate change. The climate is always changing, but these changes cannot be attributed to the use of greenhouse gases.”
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Furchtgott-Roth also said the prevalence of social media and in-flight internet meant people could report problems during a flight almost instantly.
However, the Department of Transportation responded to the criticism, telling Fox News Digital: 2019 Survey A paper in Nature magazine discussing the relationship between climate change and aircraft turbulence.
Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) leaves a House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club on April 30, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“The study’s organisers have accumulated a vast body of scientific evidence showing that turbulence is increasing due to climate change,” a ministry representative quoted study co-author Paul Williams, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading, as saying.
“An invisible phenomenon called clear-air turbulence is caused by wind shear, and because of climate change it is 15 percent stronger now than it was in the 1970s. Wind shear is expected to get even stronger in the coming decades, potentially doubling or tripling the amount of severe turbulence,” Williams wrote.
The House Transportation Committee’s top Republican, Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, and the top Democrat, Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington, did not respond to requests for comment.
Calls to Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the chairs of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committees, were not returned at press time.
Charles Kreitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
A Pennsylvania native, Charles earned his Bachelor’s in Broadcast Journalism from Temple University. Send your story tips to charles.creitz@fox.com.
Critics accuse Buttigieg of ‘playing politics’ after comments linking turbulence to climate change
Critics are responding to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s claim that climate change is at least partly to blame for recent severe weather events and the transportation crisis.
Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Buttigieg blamed recent severe airline turbulence and extreme weather on climate change.
Anchor Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg about the strain it could put on the nation’s transportation systems when severe weather coincides with a busy weekend like Memorial Day, and what he thought about NOAA’s latest forecast, which predicts a more severe hurricane season this year.
“The reality is that we’re already seeing the impacts of climate change on transportation,” Buttigieg responded.
Auto experts warn Biden’s EV mandate will limit future gasoline-powered vehicle choices
“We’ve seen it in everything from statistically impossible heat waves threatening to melt cables in the Pacific Northwest’s transportation system to signs of an increasingly extreme hurricane season with roughly a 15% increase in turbulence.
“That means evaluating everything we can do about it.”
Republican lawmakers and some climate analysts responded by rejecting Buttigieg’s mention of climate change, with one lawmaker arguing that he was politicizing the weather and public transportation.
“Secretary Buttigieg is clearly not serious about addressing our many transportation issues. He’s engaging in identity politics to the detriment of the American people,” said Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“Buttigieg’s recent comments contradict those of the National Transportation Safety Board and are yet another example of how out of touch he is with hard-working Americans.”
19 state attorneys general challenge blue state ‘radical’ climate policies
Energy analyst Alex Epstein, a former Cato Institute fellow and author of “The Future of Fossils,” told Fox News Digital that the secretary has wrongly attributed the recent crisis to climate change.
“It’s not the climate itself that’s having a major impact on transportation, it’s the terrible climate policies, including Pete Buttigieg’s policies,” Epstein said.
“For example, the EPA’s new pollution standards would constitute a de facto EV mandate, forcing Americans to drive inferior vehicles and creating massive new demands for reliable electricity on an already-crippled power grid.”
Another climate expert pointed to the overall increase in air traffic as a reason for concern.
“One of the reasons we’re seeing more recorded turbulence is the increase in the number of flights,” said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate and Environment.
“Even if the United States stopped using all fossil fuels right now, government models show that temperatures would rise by only two-tenths of a degree by 2100. These changes cannot be attributed to climate change. The climate is always changing, but these changes cannot be attributed to the use of greenhouse gases.”
Click here to get the FOX News app
Furchtgott-Roth also said the prevalence of social media and in-flight internet meant people could report problems during a flight almost instantly.
However, the Department of Transportation responded to the criticism, telling Fox News Digital: 2019 Survey A paper in Nature magazine discussing the relationship between climate change and aircraft turbulence.
Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) leaves a House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club on April 30, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“The study’s organisers have accumulated a vast body of scientific evidence showing that turbulence is increasing due to climate change,” a ministry representative quoted study co-author Paul Williams, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading, as saying.
“An invisible phenomenon called clear-air turbulence is caused by wind shear, and because of climate change it is 15 percent stronger now than it was in the 1970s. Wind shear is expected to get even stronger in the coming decades, potentially doubling or tripling the amount of severe turbulence,” Williams wrote.
The House Transportation Committee’s top Republican, Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, and the top Democrat, Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington, did not respond to requests for comment.
Calls to Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the chairs of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committees, were not returned at press time.
Charles Kreitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
A Pennsylvania native, Charles earned his Bachelor’s in Broadcast Journalism from Temple University. Send your story tips to charles.creitz@fox.com.
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