Humans’ Role in Climate Change Questioned by Kentucky Governor

Humans’ Role in Climate Change Questioned by Kentucky Governor

In September 2017, during a speech at the annual meeting of the Southern States Energy Board, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin asserted that climate change is not caused by human activities. He said: “The idea that somehow we’re the boogeyman, that we’re the catalyst, that’s nonsense.” To support his view, Governor Bevin argued that “the world was once largely covered by ice,” which disappeared “[l]ong before the Industrial Revolution, long before anybody in Titusville started pulling any kind of petro-chemical out of the ground,” referring to the first successful oil well drilled in the U.S. in 1859. Bevin concluded his speech by telling participants “to be bold and strong about our messaging because there is a well-funded counterpoint. But it’s wrong, it’s wrong.”