Sierra Club blasts Marco Rubio's stance on climate change

Florida Senator Marco Rubio may be the most-watched member of that august body right now. He's this week's Time magazine cover boy (on which he's dubbed "The Republican Savior") and figures to be frequently in the news as the GOP's lead voice in trying to pass some form of comprehensive immigration reform.

Rubio's high-profile stature was also boosted this week we he was selected to be the Republican Party standard-bearer and give the televised response to President Obama's State of the Union speech next Tuesday night. (Not always a good thing, though we doubt Rubio will lay a Bobby Jindal-sized egg before a national TV audience.)

But not everyone is swooning for all things Rubio.

On Thursday, the Florida Sierra Club issued a short press release blasting the freshman Senator for his statement earlier this week to BuzzFeed's Ben Smith regarding climate change.

"The climate is always changing," Rubio told Smith. He added, "I've actually seen reasonable debate on that principle."

This morning Sierra Club Florida Staff Director Frank Jackalone Issued the following statement in response:

“In the last few years, extreme weather has seriously damaged Florida’s infrastructure and sea level rise is projected to make it far worse. Local governments are developing regional plans to deal with rising seas. Mangled sidewalks in Ft. Lauderdale and flooded streets in Miami Beach are the visible proof that climate change is here. But, Marco Rubio says he won't do anything about our climate crisis.

We cannot afford to sit idly while the threat of climate change becomes a dangerous reality. By denying the climate crisis and rejecting climate action, Marco Rubio’s got his head buried in the sand — and that’s a bad place to be when the seas are rising."