“The Center for American Progress has periodically analyzed statements by sitting members of Congress to determine whether they deny the existence of human-caused climate change. This analysis of the 118th U.S. Congress found that 123 elected officials are climate deniers—23 percent of 535 total members. These 100 representatives and 23 senators wield significant influence on public perceptions of climate change as well as on the speed and direction of climate policy in the United States. Members of Congress also receive publicly disclosed contributions, which may provide a window into the possible influence of the fossil fuel industry. Additionally, this analysis explores rhetorical shifts from outright climate denial to subtler types of obstruction, which may further delay action on the climate crisis as well as prolong the influence of the fossil fuel industry on environmental and energy policy in the United States. While “climate denial” is arguably the most commonly understood and historically used term, it only describes one type of an ever-widening array of tactics. This analysis finds:

• Currently, 123 members of the 118th Congress are climate deniers.
• Among the 90 newly elected or appointed members of the 118th Congress, 18 are climate deniers
• The climate deniers in the current Congress have received $52,071,133 in lifetime campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry.
• The number of outright climate deniers in Congress continues a downward trend from 150 in the 116th Congress, 139 in the 117th, and now, 123 in the 118th Congress.
• There are still prominent instances of outright climate denial, including from the majority leader in the house, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA). When asked what the GOP is doing to combat climate change, Rep. Scalise responded: “We’ve had freezing periods in the 1970s. They said it was going to be a new cooling period. And now it gets warmer and gets colder, and that’s called Mother Nature. But the idea that hurricanes or wildfires were caused just in the last few years is just fallacy.”