GOP’s Huntsman Talks Sense on Climate Change
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
In the most clever and most covered Tweet of the Republican Presidential nominating contest to date, John Huntsman said “To be clear, I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming Call me crazy.” Huntsman was referring to Gov. Rick Perry's (R-Texas) statement that global warming is a “hoax”—just one of many colorful descriptions Perry has used in proclaiming his skepticism that human activity causes climate change.
Huntsman stepped up this line of attack in an appearance over the weekend on ABC’s “This Week,” the second-highest rated national Sunday morning chat show, warning of the negative consequences of the Republican Party being perceived as “anti-science.”
While Huntsman’s new, more confrontational strategy is clearly an attempt to revive his stalled campaign, the former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China is also performing a public service. According to an analysis by the Brookings Institution, the single largest determinant of one’s views on climate change is an “individual’s partisan affiliation.” A majority of Republicans do not believe there is a solid evidence of global warming, while a substantial majority of Democrats do. In other words, Perry’s position better reflects the current beliefs of most Republican voters than Huntsman's.
Unfortunately, the concerted and well-funded effort to raise doubts about the science of climate change has been somewhat effective across the board, and particularly effective with Republicans. The oil industry has pumped in millions of dollars to spread untruths and misinformation. Their bogus and self-interested claims have been loudly echoed by conservative talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
As a result, while the evidence of climate change grows stronger and the models show an acceleration of warming and its impacts, doubts have increased and political support for action has weakened. The "Cap and Trade" legislation, which set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and provided strong market incentives, died in the Senate because likely Republican supporters, such as John McCain and Lindsey Graham, backed away as Republican voters became more hostile to the concept.
In the face of this, Huntsman’s decision to talk sense on climate change, which follows Mitt Romney statement that he believes global warming is caused by human activity, is of real importance and would make the late Sen. John Chafee—a staunch advocate for the environment—proud.
The significant national action required to tackle the difficult problem of climate change can only be accomplished with some support from Republican elected officials. Before action can occur, however, there first needs to be an agreement that there is a problem.
Republican voters need to hear from at least some of their leaders that climate change is real. That is what Huntsman is doing and it is long overdue.
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