CNN’s Kaitlan Collins welcomed former director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management and current Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz on to the Wednesday edition of The Source in the aftermath of Hurricane Idaila hitting the state and wondered how could government mitigate such storms if Republicans won’t cooperate in passing progressive climate policy.
Collins recalled, “Something President Biden said today when he was speaking on this in Maui, he said, quote, ‘I don't think anybody can deny the impact of the climate crisis’ now. But some Republicans, who were running for his job, are doing just that.”
She therefore wondered, “I mean, how do you deal with a crisis if lawmakers and the White House can't even find consensus on it?”
Moskowitz began his response by attributing Idaila to climate change, “Well, look, not every disaster, right, is necessarily because of the climate crisis, but I can tell you the hurricanes that are affecting Florida are. This went from a tropical storm, to a Category 4 storm, in 24 hours. It's called rapid intensification. It's the same thing that happened in Hurricane Michael. That's supposed to be the exception. It's now becoming the rule.”
Attacked Republicans’ recent debate performances, Moskowitz continued, “You know, watching the Republican debate, when they asked is climate change real, yes or no, wasn't a trick question. People looked around, like to see what the answer was from the teacher. I mean, it was ridiculous, right?”
In addition to hurricanes, Moskowitz also blamed climate change for “things happening in areas that haven't happened before. Tornado Alley is expanding. We're seeing flooding in different areas, fires, right, and hurricanes that are much stronger.”
Ultimately, however, Moskowitz didn’t have a good answer to Collins’s question, “And so listen, we’ve got to be honest, which is, is that climate change is going to not only affect us, globally, but it's going to make these natural disasters much stronger than we're used to seeing in the past.”
Collins then followed up with, not a question, but a declaration, “I mean, it wasn't just that that they looked around at that question. Vivek Ramaswamy said that, I believe his quote was that Climate change agenda is a hoax’”
Moskowitz also jumped on Ramaswamy’s remarks, but returning to the issue of Florida also stated that “during the Rick Scott administration, they didn't even say the word, ‘Climate change.’ They would come hearing after hearing after hearing, and they wouldn't even say the word, ‘Climate change,’ right? It's totally ridiculous, especially here in the state of Florida.
In his conclusion, Moskowitz would repeat his early pleas for Republicans to get onboard with his program, “And so, look, we got to obviously work, on a bipartisan level, to address this. Climate change is not just going to affect Democrats. It's not just going to affect the libs, right? It's just something that's going to affect us all together, and we got to figure out how we're going to work together, to solve it.”
Neither Collins nor Moskowitz ever specified what exact policy is needed “to solve it.”
This segment was sponsored by ADT.
Here is a transcript for the August 30 show:
CNN The Source with Kaitlan Collins
8/30/2023
9:20 PM ET
KAITLAN COLLINS: Something President Biden said today when he was speaking on this in Maui, he said, quote, "I don't think anybody can deny the impact of the climate crisis" now. But some Republicans, who were running for his job, are doing just that. I mean, how do you deal with a crisis if lawmakers and the White House can't even find consensus on it?
JARED MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, not every disaster, right, is necessarily because of the climate crisis, but I can tell you the hurricanes that are affecting Florida are.
This went from a tropical storm, to a Category 4 storm, in 24 hours. It's called rapid intensification. It's the same thing that happened in Hurricane Michael. That's supposed to be the exception. It's now becoming the rule.
Why? The Gulf of Mexico is basically a hot tub, right? It's 90 degrees, we had a buoy measure 98 degrees, off of the state of Florida and that's what's leading to this rapid intensification. So, that is where climate change is affecting the strength of these storms.
You know, watching the Republican debate, when they asked is climate change real, yes or no, wasn't a trick question. People looked around, like to see what the answer was from the teacher. I mean, it was ridiculous, right?
Climate change is real. Climate change is affecting these storms. And it's affecting things happening in areas that haven't happened before. Tornado Alley is expanding. We're seeing flooding in different areas, fires, right, and hurricanes that are much stronger.
And so listen, we’ve got to be honest, which is, is that climate change is going to not only affect us, globally, but it's going to make these natural disasters much stronger than we're used to seeing in the past.
COLLINS: I mean, it wasn't just that that they looked around at that question. Vivek Ramaswamy said that, I believe his quote was that "Climate change agenda is a hoax."
MOSKOWITZ: Yeah. Yeah, no, he did say that, right? Why not just blame the deep state, or say it was woke?
I mean, it was a weak example of what it's like to be a troll, running for Congress, and running for the presidency, and trying to tell people what they think they want to hear, because, "Oh, I'm going to get to the right of everybody," right? "I'm going to get to the right of everybody. I'm going to say climate change is a hoax." I mean what a joke? That's not leadership. That's placating to the lowest common denominator, right?
In the state of Florida, during the Rick Scott administration, they didn't even say the word, "Climate change." They would come hearing after hearing after hearing, and they wouldn't even say the word, "Climate change," right? It's totally ridiculous, especially here in the state of Florida.
And so, look, we got to obviously work, on a bipartisan level, to address this. Climate change is not just going to affect Democrats. It's not just going to affect the libs, right? It's just something that's going to affect us all together, and we got to figure out how we're going to work together, to solve it.
