Maybe you’ve been following the OC Reg’s series comparing the positions of the Republican Presidential hopefuls on various issues. The latest entry focuses on the “environment” (Presidential candidate comparison: Environment).
I’ve edited the Reg comparison down to focus on the issue of global climate change in particular.
Of the seven Republican candidates mentioned by the Reg, all but Huntsman are some sort of “global climate change” skeptic.
Mitt Romney
…In June 2011 said, “I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that.”
Now says, “My view is that we don’t know what’s causing climate change on this planet.”….
Newt Gingrich
…Supported tougher environmental regulation early in congressional career.
In 2008, Gingrich made an ad with Democrat Nancy Pelosi urging steps to address human contribution to climate change, including cleaner forms of energy. “We do agree our country must take action to address climate change,” Gingrich said.
Soon after the ad – and criticism from some conservatives – Gingrich said, “I don’t think that we have conclusive proof of global warming. And I don’t think we have conclusive proof that humans are at the center of it.”….
Ron Paul
In 2008, said “human activity probably does play a role” in global warming and part of the solution should be to stop subsidizing the oil industry and let prices rise until the free market turns to alternate energy sources.
Now calls the science on manmade global warming a “hoax.”….
Rick Perry
Manmade global warming is a “scientific theory that has not been proven and from my perspective is more and more being put into question.”
Proposes repeal of EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases and elimination of all EPA programs to restrict carbon dioxide emissions….
Michele Bachmann
Open federal lands to economic activity by “repealing radical environmental laws that kill access to natural resources.”
Voted to bar Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases….
Rick Santorum
Says the science establishing human activity as a likely contributor to global warming is “patently absurd” and “junk science.”
Jon Huntsman
End the EPA’s “regulatory reign of terror.”
Acknowledges the scientific evidence that humans contribute to global warming.
As Utah governor, supported regional cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and urged Congress to cap them.
“I will break down barriers to the continued, safe use of fracking,” an environmentally risky technique for extracting natural gas.
[All emphases my own. --BvT]FOR THOSE WHO NEED A CLUE:
• The position of scientists regarding this issue: see Climate change at the national academies (including the conservative National Academy of Sciences)
• That skepticism is driven by politics, not science: Poles apart: The international reporting of climate skepticism
• Respected scientific magazine takes on the challenge: Seven Answers to Climate Contrarian Nonsense (Scientific American)
