MSNBC's Chris Hayes rips Gov. Chris Christie for dismissing climate change

MSNBC host Chris Hayes sharply criticized New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday night for dismissing climate change following Hurricane Sandy.

"Chris Christie is too busy preparing to serve up red meat to bother with that," he said. "With his approval rating high and his political strength in New Jersey shored up, his challenge right now is not governing, but beginning to remember how to tell the Republican base everything they want to hear. And it's looking like climate denialism is going to be central to that strategy."

Christie angered conservatives last year by praising President Barack Obama's response to Hurricane Sandy ahead of the 2012 election. Now it appears the Republican governor is hoping to bolster his conservative credentials by dismissing climate change.

During a recent interview on NBC Today, Christie described climate change as a "distraction" and an "esoteric" theory.

Hayes explained that Christie's dismissal of climate change had observable consequences.

"Since taking office, he has de-funded the Office of Climate Change and Energy within the Department of Environmental Protection, taken $210 million out of the state's clean energy fund to balance the budget, withdrawn the state from the northeast cap and trade plan, and perhaps most relevant, so woefully underprepared his state transportation agency for the effects of climate change that the state sustained over $120 million of damages to their system after Sandy."

Watch video, courtesy of MSNBC, below:

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