GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman told conservatives Tuesday that he had doubts about the consensus science on manmade climate change -- science he once believed in. He is only the latest GOPer to flip-flop on science. There was a time when Republicans "believed" in science and cap-and-trade was a Republican invention.
"There was a time—not that long ago—when climate change was almost a bipartisan issue. Both Barack Obama and John McCain said on the 2008 campaign trail that they were worried about the threat of climate change, and they both had relatively similar carbon cap-and-trade proposals. Seriously, this happened -- I'm almost positive that I didn't hallucinate the whole thing.
But 2012 will obviously be a very different campaign, and today to be considered a Republican Presidential candidate in good standing, you need to repudiate the informed opinion of nearly all climate scientists and pronounce yourself a skeptic. Rick Perry has done it, Mitt Romney has done it, Herman Cain has done it, Michele Bachmann has done it and I'm pretty sure Rick Santorum would do it if anyone cared enough to ask him. This has virtually nothing to do with a changing understanding of climate science and everything to do with politics and culture—one way to signal that you're conservative is to say that you don't believe in climate change."
Bryan Walsh reports for TIME's Ecocentric blog December 7, 2011.
SEE ALSO:
"Heads in the Sand" (National Journal)
"Americans for Prosperity Takes Credit for Bullying GOP Lawmakers Into Climate Denial" (Political Correction/Media Matters)
"Jon Huntsman's Climate Change Flip Flop Explained" (Talking Points Memo)
"Jon Huntsman Climate Change Speech Sounds Different Than He Sounded Earlier This Year" (Politico)
"Jon Huntsman Shifts Stance On Climate Change" (Huffington Post/Jason Linkins)
"Jon Huntsman's Climate Flop?" (ComPost/Washington Post)
"Jon Huntsman Goes Squishy on Climate Change" (Atlantic/Molly Ball)
"Huntsman Changes Tune on Climate Change" (CBS News)
"Jon Huntsman Tacks To Skepticism on Climate" (Politico)
"Huntsman Rejects 'Unilateral Disarmament' to Combat Global Warming" (Heritage Foundation)
"Huntsman Didn't Flip-Flop on Climate Change" (American Spectator)
"Media Inaccurately Presents Huntsman's Radical Climate Reversal As A 'Squishy' 'Tweak'" (Think Progress Green/Brad Johnson)
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