Sen. Mitt Romney came to Congress talking a big game about making climate issues a centerpiece of his legislative portfolio, but he’s getting ready to retire having done little in his high-profile role to advance the cause.
It brings to an end what was likely the last chapter in the Utah Republican’s political career, which has broadly been marked by ebbs and flows in his advocacy on the environment and other issues.
When Romney was elected to the Senate in 2018, advocates were excited about what he could do in his new role. During his two failed presidential bids — as a candidate in 2008 and the GOP nominee 2012 — he’d acknowledged human contributions to climate change when few others in his party would.
Romney has also endorsed the concept of a carbon tax, which many green activists and fiscal hawks agree would be the single most effective way to combat climate change with the most cost savings.
Yet he never signed onto Democratic-led legislation to institute a price on carbon, nor did he work hard to lobby members of his party to embrace one.