Republican lawmakers’ election of Mike Johnson as speaker of the US House of Representatives this month marks another shift by the party away from Democrats on the issue of climate change, political analysts say, deepening a division that is expected to be a feature of the 2024 election.
Johnson, a Louisiana congressman who has accepted more funding from oil and gas companies than any other sector, has a history of questioning the scientific evidence on climate change — and almost overnight has gone from relative obscurity to become one of the Republican party’s most visible leaders.
He has voted against scores of climate-related bills in the House and recently passed legislation aimed at rolling back some of the subsidies passed as part of President Joe Biden’s flagship climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act.