Romney Aide Andrea Saul Denied Climate Connection to Hurricane Katrina, Is Sandy Next?

Brendan DeMelle DeSmog
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Over half a decade ago, Andrea Saul, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s press secretary, denied any link between Hurricane Katrina and climateย change.

Working as a hired gun on behalf of ExxonMobil at the Washington, DC PR firm DCI Group, Saul was listed as the contact person on a press release that denied that global warming is intensifying extreme weather events:

โ€œComing off one of the most devastating hurricane seasons in recent memory, many are quick to blame the strength and frequency of these storms on global warming. Leading climate scientists, however, say there is no link between increased storm activity and a massive change in global climate.โ€

The 2006 Saul/DCI press release quotes the Koch-funded Cato Institute‘s Patrick Michaels, who stated, โ€œThere are many more factors determining hurricane frequency and severity, some of which (such as westerly wind strength) should become LESS conducive to hurricanes as the planetย warms.โ€ย 

Michaels is a notorious climate change denier who stated in August 2010 on CNNย that 40 percent of his funding comes from the oil industry. As with Hurricane Katrina, Pat Michaels this week denied any connection between climate change and Hurricane Sandy.

Will Andrea Saul, speaking on behalf of team Romney/Ryan, be next to deny that global warming added the steroids that increased the devastation of Hurricane Sandy?

Andrea Saul isn’t the only Romney aide with a connection to Exxon’s former PR shop, DCI Group. David Halperin notes onย Republic Report that Saul’s colleague Matt Rhoades, Romneyโ€™s campaign manager, also worked at DCI, fromย 2007-10.

Every year, nearly 400,000 deaths are attributable to climate change, โ€œmainly due to hunger and communicable diseases that affect above all children in developing countries,โ€ย according to a 2011 report published by DARA‘s Climate Vulnerable Forum. On a parallel track, 443,000 people โ€œdie prematurely from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke,โ€ according to theย Centers for Disease Control.

Obfuscation or denial of a link between climate change and extreme weather is as irresponsible as denying the link between cigarettes and cancer, yet bothย Romneyย and his running mateย Paul Ryan continue to re-fortify their posts in Camp Denial.

The question must be asked: how much of an influence do Andrea Saul and Matt Rhoades have over this campaign’s ostrich-like climate denial? Their former employer, DCI Group, after all, made its name in the PR world working on behalf of the tobacco industry.

Kert Davies, Greenpeace USA Research Director, writes over at Think Progress:

Saul worked with a DCI Tech Central Station team that created fake TV newcasts that โ€œreportedโ€ no connection between hurricanes and climate change.ย ย These tapes were distributed to Gulf state TV stations. The Saul tape and a Mississippi newscast that aired the piece were preserved by the Center for Investigativeย Reporting.

Watchย it:

Unlike Saulโ€™s collection of climate deniers, real scientists say this is dead wrong. There is indeed a link between stronger hurricanes like Sandy and globalย warming.

UPDATE: An attendee at a Mitt Romney campaign rally today tried to get Romney to talk about climate change. Watch as attendee Ted Glick’s โ€œEnd Climate Silenceโ€ sign is ripped away and the crowd shouts him down with chants of ‘USA, USA‘. (H/T ThinkProgress)

Photo Credit:ย PolluterWatch

Brendan DeMelle DeSmog
Brendan is Executive Director of DeSmog. He is also a freelance writer and researcher specializing in media, politics, climate change and energy. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Grist, The Washington Times and other outlets.

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