BREAKING: Tim Sheehy Deletes Climate Change Language from Company Website

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 21, 2023

CONTACT
monica@mtdems.org

ABC News: Sheehy removed language on “combat[ing] climate change and support for ESG, both major fronts in the GOP grassroots' culture wars”

Helena, MT – When Mitch McConnell recruit and Montana newcomer Tim Sheehy was preparing to run for U.S. Senate, he deleted all language referencing fighting climate change and his company’s ESG standards from his company website, according to a new report by ABC News. 

In January, Bridger Aerospace’s website touted its mission of “fighting on the front lines of climate change” and highlighted its “sustainable and environmentally safe firefighting methods.” 

By March, as Mitch McConnell was recruiting Sheehy to run for office, “No mention of the climate or climate change appeared on the company's homepage or anywhere else on its website.”

ABC News: Language on climate change, ESG removed from company website of Montana GOP Senate candidate
By Tal Axelrod 
July 21, 2023

• The website of the company run by Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy removed references to climate change and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) earlier this year as its owner was being courted in the spring to challenge Democratic incumbent Jon Tester.
   

• Since the recruitment effort got underway, Sheehy has largely backed the party line on several economic and social issues as the race ramps up -- and as he gears up for a possible primary race against hard-line Rep. Matt Rosendale.
   

• However [...] his company removed language from its website touting its efforts to combat climate change and support for ESG, both major fronts in the GOP grassroots' culture wars.
   

• As recently as January, Bridger Aerospace's website homepage introduced its company as "fighting on the front lines of climate change" and said its mission included using "sustainable and environmentally safe firefighting methods."
   

• By March, the website introduced Bridger as "aerial firefighters" and said its mission was to "to save lives and property threatened by wildfires" and that it is "the nation's most diverse and vertically integrated aerial firefighting task force, with specialized aircraft, a world-class team, and life-saving technology."
   

• No mention of the climate or climate change appeared on the company's homepage or anywhere else on its website.
   

• The deletions from Sheehy's website harken back to an episode from Arizona Republican Blake Masters' failed 2022 Senate bid, when Masters scrubbed language on abortion and other issues from his campaign website.
   

• Bridger also took down an investor presentation that was given in December that included the company's commitment to ESG and fighting climate change.
   

• The $160 million deal with Bridger and ESG bonds was described at the time as "one of the largest taxable non-rated municipal ESG bonds in the nation."
   

• The language from Bridger's website -- subsequently removed -- jibes with past comments Sheehy made about climate change and ESG before launching his Senate campaign.
   

• In 2021, he called for more international cooperation in fighting climate change after the U.S. rejoined the Paris climate accords and praised California Gov. Gavin Newsom's handling of climate change.
   

• And last September, in response to an SEC inquiry, Bridger said it planned to "produce an ESG report on a voluntary basis in future years as it further develops its ESG reporting program."
   

• Since launching his campaign, though, Sheehy has appeared more in sync with a Republican base that is skeptical of climate science and vociferously opposed to ESG, with his campaign website saying he'd support the "repeal the new EPA job-killing energy regulations" and that the country is "blessed" with "abundant coal" and other resources.
   

• "Energy security is national security. We are blessed with amazing energy resources in this country. And right now, the cleanest form of energy known to man is American fossil fuels," he said on Fox News earlier this month.
   

• Still, Bridger's now-deleted language and Sheehy's past comments set him apart from other Republicans like Rosendale, his potential primary opponent, and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., the chair of Senate Republicans' campaign arm, who helped spearhead the recruitment effort to get Sheehy in the race.
   

• "Let me make sure I've got this straight: Tim Sheehy believes in climate science when he's trying to win government contracts and thinks it's fake when he's trying to run to the right of Matt Rosendale. What'd I miss?" asked McKenna.

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