Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) attempted to put a positive spin on global warming and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wasn’t there for it.
During Wednesday’s Senate Budget Committee hearing on health care costs associated with the climate crisis, Johnson tried to argue that projected rising temperatures would benefit the United States and Wisconsin because fewer people would die from the cold.
“In terms of excess deaths, a warming globe is actually beneficial,” Johnson told University of Chicago economics professor Michael Greenstone, citing Greenstone’s research that suggests cold areas will see reduced mortality but warm areas will see a major increase.
Watch the video here:
The effects of climate change are going to be “very unequal,” Greenstone replied. “Absolutely, Wisconsin, Chicago, where I live, the reduction in cold days, the benefits from that will outweigh the damages from the hot days.”
“But if you look more carefully at that, there’s large swatches of the country where the damages will be much larger,” he said, later calling Johnson’s characterization of his study “incorrect.”
Newsom led the criticism of Johnson’s argument, tweeting: “Ignore those wildfires, folks! The heat is lovely!”
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