A Rick Perry Reversal on Gutting the Energy Department
In which Rick Perry seems to have finally figured out that DOE doesn’t just take care of Nuclear reactors, but also our Nuclear weapons. It never ceases to amaze me how many of the anti-government kooks on the right are clueless when it comes to what our government actually does.
This morning, Rick Perry will make his case before the Senate Energy Committee that he is qualified to run the agency he vowed to abolish when running for president in 2012.
The former Texas governor will address his awkward history on the issue up front in his testimony. “My past statements made over five years ago about abolishing the Department of Energy do not reflect my current thinking,” he says in his prepared remarks, adding, “In fact, after being briefed on so many of the vital functions of the Department of Energy, I regret recommending its elimination.”
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Mr. Perry will also acknowledge that he has changed his views about the established science of climate change, which, in his 2010 book, “Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America From Washington,” he called a “contrived, phony mess.”
“I believe the climate is changing,” Mr. Perry will tell senators. “I believe some of it is naturally occurring, but some of it is also caused by man-made activity.”
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