Bobby Jindal pleads with Obama not to mention the climate crisis during Hurricane Katrina commemoration

He is running for president, commemorating the 10th anniversary of his state's worst natural disaster (man-made catastrophe) and hosting screenings of undercover anti-Planned Parenthood sting videos on his front lawn, but Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal still found time in his busy schedule to write a letter to President Obama this week, imploring him not to "politicize" the somber anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by mentioning the "radical agenda" of climate change.

Warning that "partisan politics from Washington, D.C. are unwelcome in Louisiana in the best of times," Jindal warned President Obama to "carefully consider" what he says during his upcoming visit to the Crescent City in a letter released Wednesday evening. President Obama is expected to focus on the persistent racial and economic inequities that have dogged the city since before the storm.

Nevertheless, Jindal found it appropriate to suggest President Obama ignore the topic of the environment all together. “Although I understand that your emphasis in New Orleans will – rightly – be on economic development, the temptation to stray into climate change politics should be resisted,” Jindal urged President Obama. “I would ask you to respect this important time of remembrance by not inserting the divisive political agenda of liberal environmental activism,” Jindal wrote.

That's right. The governor of Louisiana would rather the president not talk about the environment during a tour of the long-term impact of one of the most devastating hurricanes to hit this country.

Jindal dismissed any such mention as a "lecture on climate change," claiming it would "distract from the losses we have suffered." Jindal also falsely suggested that President Obama's concern about the impact of climate change amounted to an "opinion that we can legislate away hurricanes with higher taxes, business regulations and EPA power grabs."

Bobby Jindal is currently polling in 14th place nationally, with 0.4 percent support from Republican primary voters according to the Huffington Post tracker.

(h/t TPM)