Texas

Sen. Ted Cruz. Andrew Harnik/AP

Sen. John Cornyn

In 2009, Cornyn publicly called for an investigation into NASA's research on global warming, writing in a letter of support, "Taxpayer funded research by NASA and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) concerning the warmest years on record has been the subject of dispute and after challenges, has been changed and re-released… As we consider policies on climate change which will impact our quality of life and economy for decades to come, we must have confidence in the data used to make these determinations."

The Dallas Morning News reported in 2014 that Cornyn admitted that the climate is changing and that it is due in part to human activity, but he is "not willing to put the federal government in charge of trying to micromanage the environment for the United States of America ... by putting restrictions in place that other nations are not."

In a 2019 floor debate about The Green New Deal, Cornyn called the policy a "power grab." When asked by Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York if he believed in climate change, Cornyn responded, "I know what their talking points are now, but I don't believe that what we ought to do about the environment is impose a travesty like the Green New Deal."

League of Conservation Voters score: 5%

Sen. Ted Cruz

In a 2014 interview with CNN, Cruz directly challenged the idea of global warming, saying, "The last 15 years, there has been no recorded warming. Contrary to all the theories that they are expounding, there should have been warming over the last 15 years. It hasn't happened."

"The climate has been changing from the dawn of time," Cruz said during an October 2018 debate. "The climate will change as long as we have a planet Earth."

League of Conservation Voters score: 4%

Rep. Jodey Arrington

The Abilene Reporter-News reported in 2016 that "Global warming has become a political thunderstorm. Mr. Arrington said the facts fall both ways, so he's not yet convinced."

In a 2019 interview with Fox34, Arrington compared the Green New Deal to the policies of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, suggesting that it could lead to people "starving to death."

League of Conservation Voters score: 0%

Rep. Kevin Brady

In 2014, Brady posted an article to his Facebook page from The Daily Caller that said data from NASA showed a "pause" in global climate warming in the past 10 to 15 years. Brady wrote above the article that he wondered "if proponents of 'climate change' consider a NASA climatologist worth listening to."

League of Conservation Voters score: 3%

Rep. John Carter

"We may or may not even be in a warming cycle," Carter wrote in a statement on an un-dated page currently on his website. "Even if we are, scientific evidence does not conclude that activity by man plays any significant role."

League of Conservation Voters score: 4%

Rep. Lance Gooden

"I don't deny the conclusions of the scientific community, but I take issue with those who claim to have all the answers," Gooden said in his answers for a 2017 voter guide from the Dallas Morning News. "Climate science is imprecise and so are the consequences of any legislative action we take to address the issue. We can never be so arrogant to believe we can predict with certainty the impacts that will follow specific regulations about emissions, not only for the environment but also for our economy."

League of Conservation Voters score: N/A, Gooden took office in January 2019

Rep. Dan Crenshaw

"We need to have a well-reasoned discussion and debate about what is causing climate change," Crenshaw said in a June 2018 Facebook Live feed. "We can't start off the conversation saying the climate is settled. The right way to have this conversation is to actually listen to what the science says on both sides."

"It's clear climate change is occurring and that man-made emissions play a part in that," Crenshaw said in a statement when reached by INSIDER for comment. "What isn't clear is how our actions will serve to reverse that warming trend, and what the cost-benefit outcome would be. Regardless, we should continue pursuing new green energy solutions that lessen our impact on the environment and create cleaner air and water."

League of Conservation Voters score: N/A, Crenshaw took office in January 2019

Rep. Louie Gohmert

"It seems like when you hear somebody say over and over again that climate change is our biggest problem, they don't know that climate has been changing a lot worse over all the millennia of mankind," Gohmert said in a 2016 Breitbart News Daily Radio clip before claiming warm temperatures in Greenland during the Viking Age prove climate change is a myth.

At a February 2019 House Natural Resources panel, Gohmert disputed discussions around climate change as a whole and motioned to adjourn the meeting before the session began. The motion was passed by four other Republicans and condemned by Democratic Rep. TJ Cox of California, who called the motion an example of "systematic denial" displayed by Republicans.

League of Conservation Voters score: 4%

Rep. Michael McCaul

In a 2018 speech, McCaul said climate change had "gotten completely politicized," and "the question is, are we going through a normal Earth cycle or is it — how much of this is man-made?"

League of Conservation Voters score: 5%

Rep. Pete Olson

In a June 2017 statement responding to the United States' withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, Olson said: "I have long said that while I support clean air and clean water, any actions on climate change by the US need to be weighed against the science, the impact our reductions will have on a global scale and the economic impacts they will have here at home."

League of Conservation Voters score: 1%

Rep. John Ratcliffe

"I do not support congressional action to reduce the output of greenhouse gasses. Many constituents of mine are surprised to know that greenhouse gas emissions in the United States are at two-decade lows," Ratcliffe said, pointing to natural gas as a possible solution energy policy in a 2018 candidate survey.

League of Conservation Voters score: 0%

Rep. Mac Thornberry

"We need to be careful of what we say in the name of climate change," Thornberry said in 2016, according to the Hereford Brand. "It has become untethered from what the science really proves so far."

Thornberry had previously questioned climate science in a 2011 USA Today op-ed.

League of Conservation Voters score: 2%

Rep. Randy Weber

Weber said at a November 2017 hearing for the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology that "the future is bright for geoengineering," but did not acknowledge existing recommendations for science to combat rising global temperatures, and instead touted "placement of mirrors in space" and "brightening the clouds overhead" that "could have a cooling effect on our lower atmosphere."

League of Conservation Voters score: 2%