It’s only his first term in Congress, but Montana’s Ryan Zinke has taken no time to get his list of lies started.
The freshman Congressman inflated the number of immigrants in our country when he told a reporter how “it infuriates me when driver’s license tests are in 15 different languages.” Zinke said there were 25 million undocumented immigrants, when the actual number is a fraction of that.
And he couldn’t be a member of the Party of Trump without making false claims on climate change, right? Apparently “it’s not proven science,” even though, you know…it is.
Ryan Zinke lied about climate change
Ryan Zinke said manmade climate change was not “proven science.” “Asked whether he believes global warming is human-caused, Zinke cited a recent Wall Street Journal article by a former Obama administration official that concluded climate is changing as it always has, humans are an influence but what the human influence is has not been settled. ‘It’s not a hoax, but it’s not proven science either,’ Zinke said. ‘But you don’t dismantle America’s power and energy on a maybe. We need to be energy independent first. We need to do it better, which we can, but it is not a settled science.’” [Billings Gazette, 10/4/14]
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New York Times: Scientists have published strong evidence of more frequent and intense weather, rainstorms, and flooding as a result of human emissions. “Scientists have published strong evidence that the warming climate is making heat waves more frequent and intense. It is also causing heavier rainstorms, and coastal flooding is getting worse as the oceans rise because of human emissions. Global warming has intensified droughts in regions like the Middle East, and it may have strengthened the drought in California.” [New York times, 11/28/15]
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National Academies of Sciences: “The compelling case that climate change is occurring and is caused in large part by human activities is based on a strong, credible body of evidence.” “As part of its most comprehensive study of climate change to date, the National Research Council today issued three reports emphasizing why the U.S. should act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop a national strategy to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change. The reports by the Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering, are part of a congressionally requested suite of five studies known as America’s Climate Choices. […] The compelling case that climate change is occurring and is caused in large part by human activities is based on a strong, credible body of evidence, says Advancing the Science of Climate Change, one of the new reports. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never ‘closed,’ the report emphasizes that multiple lines of evidence support scientific understanding of climate change.” [National Academies, 5/19/10]
Ryan Zinke lied about undocumented immigration
Ryan Zinke said there were 25 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. “Zinke said he supports work visas for illegal immigrants, who he said currently number 25 million. ‘The right path is work visas and make sure a border is controlled.’ He supports requiring citizens to be fluent in English. ‘It infuriates me when driver’s license tests are in 15 different languages,’ he said.” [Bigfork Eagle, 1/30/14]
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Pew Research: “There were 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2014.” “There were 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2014. The population has remained essentially stable for five years, and currently makes up 3.5% of the nation’s population. The number of unauthorized immigrants peaked in 2007 at 12.2 million, when this group was 4% of the U.S. population.” [Pew Research, 11/19/15]