[Poclad] GOP stampeding toward absolutist rejection of climate science unmatched among political parties around the globe

[Wanda Ballentine]

http://climateprogress.org/2010/10/10/national-journal-gop-rejection-of-climate-science-ron-brownstei/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29


<http://climateprogress.org/2010/10/10/national-journal-gop-rejection-of-climate-science-ron-brownstei/>National 
Journal: “The GOP is stampeding toward an 
absolutist rejection of climate science that 
appears unmatched among major political parties 
around the globe, even conservative ones.”

October 10, 2010

Indeed, it is difficult to identify another major 
political party in any democracy as thoroughly 
dismissive of climate science as is the GOP here. 
Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on 
Global Climate Change, says that although other 
parties may contain pockets of climate 
skepticism, there is “no party-wide view like 
this anywhere in the world that I am aware of.”

It will be difficult for the world to move 
meaningfully against climate disruption if the 
United States does not. And it will be almost 
impossible for the U.S. to act if one party not 
only rejects the most common solution proposed 
for the problem (cap-and-trade) but repudiates 
even the idea that there is a problem to be 
solved. The GOP’s stiffening rejection of climate 
science sets the stage for much heated argument 
but little action as the world inexorably warms ­ 
and the dangers that Hague identified creep closer.

That’s from an excellent National Journal piece, 
“<http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/print_friendly.php?ID=nj_20101009_9888>GOP 
Gives Climate Science A Cold Shoulder.”  It’s 
rare for a straight political commentator like 
Ron Brownstein to write a piece that isn’t just 
political theater but actually gets the 
importance of being wrong on this most important of issues.

Hague is the UK’s conservative Foreign Secretary 
William Hague, who said in a must-read speech 
last week, 
<http://climateprogress.org/2010/09/29/william-hague-speech-climate-security/>“You 
cannot have food, water, or energy security 
without climate security.” The point is, only 
U.S. conservatives are this uniquely 
self-destructive, embracing a position that will 
destroy food security, water security, and energy 
security for the nation and the world.

Think Progress has a couple of recent instances 
of this, with videos, starting with the most 
famous one-time witchcraft dabbler on the planet:

CNN’s Jim Acosta 
<http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/10/07/odonnell.acosta.interview/>had 
the opportunity to interview GOP Senate candidate 
Christine O’Donnell yesterday, weeks after the 
tea party favorite 
<http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/07/odonnell-cnn-interview/>swore 
off national media appearances. O’Donnell gave 
Acosta the GOP line on tax cuts, health care, and 
national security, and 
<http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1010/08/ltm.02.html>joined 
the rest of the Republican Party’s candidates for 
U.S. Senate who 
<http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/gop-senate-deniers/>question 
the science that global warming is manmade:

ACOSTA: Global warming, is it manmade? Does human 
activity contribute to global warming?

O’DONNELL: I don’t have an opinion on that. I 
would have to look at a specific piece of 
legislation when it comes to cap and trade, the 
bill that has been pout there supposedly out 
there to combat climate change. I’m opposed to 
cap and trade because of the economic 
consequences. What it will do to the individual 
household, skyrocketing our utility bills beyond 
what we can afford, and it doesn’t address the 
real issue it was intended to address.

VIDEO


The Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson 
<http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/gop-senate-deniers/>notes, 
“In May, 2010, the National Academies of Science 
reported to Congress that ‘the U.S. should act 
now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and 
develop a national strategy to adapt to the 
inevitable impacts of climate change’ because 
global warming is ’caused largely by human 
activities, and poses significant risks for ­ and 
in many cases is already affecting ­ a broad 
range of human and natural systems.’”

That’s a TP 
<http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/08/odonnell-global-warming-manmade/>cross-post. 
Here’s another <http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/09/chris-dudley-denier/>one.

<http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/09/chris-dudley-denier/>OR 
Gov Candidate Chris Dudley: ‘I Don’t Know’ If Global Warming Is Man-Made

Like 
<http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/08/odonnell-global-warming-manmade/>Christine 
O’Donnell and other 
<http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/gop-senate-deniers/>know-nothing 
Tea Party candidates, Chris Dudley ­ the 
Republican nominee for Oregon’s governor ­ 
doesn’t know and doesn’t care if global warming 
is caused by fossil fuel pollution. Toeing the 
party line, Dudley opposes the Western Climate 
Initiative global warming agreement as a 
“<http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2010/09/more_on_chris_dudley_and_the_e.html>cap-tax-trade” 
system that would “do damage to the economy and 
job creation.” He even 
<http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/09/dudley_kitzhaber_take_differen.html>bashed 
a weatherization initiative as a boondoggle. 
“Climate change is probably caused by a variety 
of factors,” Dudley said in a September interview 
with the Oregonian, “but 
<http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2010/09/more_on_chris_dudley_and_the_e.html>that 
debate is beside the point.” In a gubernatorial 
debate on September 30, Dudley finally admitted 
he 
<http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/09/john_kitzhaber_and_chris_dudle.html>doesn’t 
know if pollution is causing global warming:

My thought on global warming is this: that global 
warming exists, man contributes to it, how much, 
I don’t know. I don’t know how much is man made and how much is natural.

VIDEO


In contrast, Democratic candidate John Kitzhaber 
is clear: “I do believe climate change is 
human-caused, and it poses an enormous threat to 
our country and to our nation.” While Dudley has 
been silent, Kitzhaber has issued a 
<http://www.johnkitzhaber.com/environmental-plan/goals/>strategic 
roadmap for green economic empowerment in Oregon.

Related Posts:
    * 
<http://climateprogress.org/2010/09/15/tea-party-extremists-big-oil-global-warming/>Why 
the victory of the Tea Party extremists (backed 
by Big Oil) over the slightly less extreme GOP 
establishment (also backed by Big Oil) is good 
for progressives, but bad for climate and clean energy
    * 
<http://climateprogress.org/2010/09/14/senate-gop-candidates-deny-scienceclimate-zombies/>Dawn 
of the brain-dead Senate
    * 
<http://climateprogress.org/2010/09/10/climate-zombies-gop-global-warming-deniers/>Attack 
of the climate zombies!


“If we do not do the impossible, we shall be 
faced with the unthinkable.”  social philosopher Murray Bookchin
How can a person live a moral life in a culture 
of death?  Charles Bowden  Some of the Dead Are Still Breathing