Waxman: Time to change tactics on climate

With House GOP Leadership making it impossible to move any type of legislation on climate change in Congress at the moment, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and fellow Democrats plan to take their cause off the House floor.

In 2013, members of the Safe Climate Caucus, chaired by Waxman, gave speeches for 117 consecutive days, delivering more than 140 speeches on climate change.

{mosads}”We can’t see the agenda in the committees,” Waxman said on Thursday. “The Republicans are doing nothing, but we will not be silenced.”

Waxman and members of the caucus are taking a new route: weekly op-eds in The Huffington Post and weekly videos posted to YouTube on the risks of climate change.

Despite the current stalemate in Congress on substantial climate legislation, Waxman is optimistic.

“I think the American people, as they see one climate disaster following another, they are going to wake up and say to their representatives, ‘How can you deny this?’ ” Waxman said.

“I think congress will get to a point where we will start acting, but in the meantime, we have to rely on the president to do much of what we could do by law in ways I think may even be more conducive to reducing climate threats. But in meantime, the president has authority to take a lot of actions on his own.”

There is a chance legislation on energy efficiency standards could pass Congress this year, Waxman added.