Washington, DC – In response to media reports that have not portrayed Rep. Dave Reichert’s (WA-08) position on global warming accurately, Congressman Reichert issued the following statement:

“I do not question the reality of global warming. The question I have and am investigating is whether global warming is caused by man’s activity or if global warming is one of the natural temperature fluctuations we’ve seen over the course of the earth’s history. And the follow-up question for me is, what can we do about it?

“That is why I have pursued an environmental and energy agenda that assumes global warming is affected by man’s activity. I support carbon sequestration technology, increased CAFÉ standards, more stringent regulations of greenhouse gas emissions, more energy efficient buildings, heavy-truck idling reduction and energy conservation technology, the development of hydrogen engines and a greatly reduced reliance on fossil fuels, among other things, in order to decrease the effects of global warming.

“This is good policy even outside of the global warming debate. As an investigator, I am pursuing all of the information available on global warming and its potential causes. My mind is open and my office is open. I will continue to meet with groups concerned about this issue and gather evidence. Until I am able to conclusively determine its cause(s) based on the results of my investigation, I will continue to aggressively pursue and advocate for an environmental agenda that assumes it is caused by man’s activity and works to counteract it. This is sound environmental policy, and it is sound Homeland Security policy.

“Misunderstanding on this issue seems to have arisen because I have not simply made a definitive statement that I know for a fact what causes Global Warming. I will not make such a definitive statement until I know it is true. But I do understand that Global Warming exists, that it is likely caused by man, and that we must aggressively pursue an agenda that works to alleviate this