Daines raps Biden calling climate change a threat to U.S. ‘financial stability’: ‘Virtue signaling’

Sen. Steve Daines blasted the White House on Friday for “virtue signaling” on climate change ahead of President Biden’s appearance at the United Nations Climate Summit in Scotland.

Mr. Daines, a Montana Republican, penned a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen excoriating her recent decision to designate climate change as an “emerging threat” to U.S. financial stability. In his letter, a copy of which was obtained exclusively by The Washington Times, Mr. Daines said the move amounted to little more than “virtue signaling.”

“It is unclear to me that this decision was made based on sound evidence, and appears more likely to be politically motivated and virtue signaling,” wrote Mr. Daines. “More concerning to me is that you have stated that your report on this topic is just the ‘first step.’”

He went on to argue that although climate change presented a challenge to most countries, Mr. Biden’s energy policies were the real threat to America’s “financial stability.”

“President Biden’s policies designed explicitly to chill investment and financing of baseload energy, such as oil, natural gas and coal, threaten our energy security and will lead to unbearable increases to domestic energy costs,” wrote Mr. Daines.

The White House and Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.