A former Republican governor from a conservative state who is now considering a run for President is....get ready for it..vouching for climate science and not denying the existence of global warming. Shocking! Unbelievable! He also must not be seriously thinking he can win the GOP nomination. Here's the excerpt of Jon Huntsman's interview with Time magazine:
You also believe in climate change, right?This is an issue that ought to be answered by the scientific community; I'm not a meteorologist. All I know is 90 percent of the scientists say climate change is occurring. If 90 percent of the oncological community said something was causing cancer we'd listen to them. I respect science and the professionals behind the science so I tend to think it's better left to the science community "“ though we can debate what that means for the energy and transportation sectors.
But on the outside chance this bit of Republican blasphemy can be tolerated, Huntstman is towing the party line on cap-and-trade. Here's the rest of the climate-related exchange:
Matt [David, Huntsman's communications director,] says you've changed your mind about cap-and-trade.Cap-and-trade ideas aren't working; it hasn't worked, and our economy's in a different place than five years ago. Much of this discussion happened before the bottom fell out of the economy, and until it comes back, this isn't the moment.Will it ever be the moment, though? The environment never takes priority because it never seems like something has to be addressed this quarter or else, but if you look at what's happening to our planet"¦If anyone knows about the need to clean up the planet, we do; we've been living somewhere [Beijing] where you feel like you're killing your kids sending them out to school every day. But putting additional burdens on the pillars of growth right now is counter-productive. If we have a lost decade, then nothing else matters. Ask Japan about that.
Ah, the lost decade. Sounds like the 60s. Speaking of Chinese air pollution, I wonder if that had as much as anything to do with Huntsman returning to the U.S. I wouldn't want my kids breathing that foul air, either. I'm already at war with idling trucks in my neighborhood.
