Earth Day: Republicans Talk About Climate Change

Sunday is Earth Day, and some Republicans who aren't convinced of climate change may not be celebrating. Mitt Romney's views on the matter have evolved to "we don't know what's causing climate change," while Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, has used the Bible to deny global warming.

Here is what the GOP presidential candidates and others have to say about climate change.

Comments

[ZeraLee]

04:14 AM on 04/24/2012

We have unlocked the power of the atom.

We started destroying our natural shielding against solar radiation with simple aerosol spray cans.

Every year, human activity pumps many times the amount of pollutants into the atmosphere that Nature itself generates. Volcanoes included.

Hydrofracking hammers the Earth's crust to the point that we now have man-made earthquakes.

We now have the ability to damage the world in which we live on a scale that would previously have been considered Godlike.

Do we have the ability to damage the Earth's ecology and environment? Without question.
Should we? Not so much.

Even most animals don't foul their own nests. Conservatives don't hesitate to foul everyone's nests, especially those of others.

[rich3324]

07:08 PM on 04/23/2012

Enjoy that swim to work everyday.

[cazsue]

04:59 PM on 04/23/2012

Facing facts would mean taking responsibility for their actions (the rest of us are willing to).

That is the entire problem, a party that has as its basis, the inability to admit any fault, ever, as they wreck havoc.

[silverwolf13]

06:20 PM on 04/26/2012

Unfortunately, it seems that every politician today is deathly afraid to admit that they ever made a mistake.

[proudcalib]

02:54 PM on 04/23/2012

They also believe the planet is only 5000 years old, so that kind of throws their credibility out the window.

[Old3nglish]

02:31 PM on 04/23/2012

It doesnt really matter what is causing GW, It is happening, and most likely there is nothing we can do to stop it.
This doesnt change the fact that pollution is still bad for the environment on many levels, and strides to incorporate new fuel sources should be a priority.

Everyone has a stake in this, whether it be economically, National Security, environmentally, or whatever else.

That being said, programs such as cap and trade are utter failures

[hsspringman]

02:05 AM on 04/24/2012

Cap and Trade are why we do not have the acid rain problems that we had in the recent past so how can you say they are utter failures? The only failures I see are people who for some absurd reason do not wish to acknowledge that the CO2 that we produce is a problem that needs to be dealt with yesterday.

[lisakaz2]

02:25 PM on 04/23/2012

Overall, this is sad. Apparently, as another poster stated, the US is the only developed country where a major political party still denies climate change versus having some constructive position or policy ideas.

[RTIII]

02:17 PM on 04/23/2012

Jack Kasich - least kooky of the bunch; who'da thunk it?!

[Good Ubu]

02:00 PM on 04/23/2012

If the lord be wantin' climit change, he goin git it! Aint nothin we goin do 'bout it.

[wxw101]

01:54 PM on 04/23/2012

Our new religion of science - even though we know so little of the universe, somehow scientists have pinned down that YOU are the cancer on this earth. This little premise is all they need to control you.

There is no doubt that WE as a species have had, and will continue to have an impact on the earth. But it is also absolutely naive to assume that the earth isn't in a constant state of flux.

Nothing temporal is forever... or maybe that is the conundrum.

[cazsue]

04:51 PM on 04/23/2012

Science = the pursuit of truth. It is not religion.

"YOU are the cancer on this earth." Is it really so impossible to take any responsibility for your actions that you take it personally if humans are affecting the planet?

97% of climate scientists agree that global warming is man made, and there is plenty of date that proves it - CO2 levels in ice cores that show the fluctuations and type of CO2, and the pattern has gone from up and down to up and off the charts, with the by far the greatest CO2 sources being man made.

[candcje]

01:45 PM on 04/23/2012

Mr. Santorum: ""We were put on this Earth as creatures of God to have dominion over the Earth, to use it wisely and steward it wisely, but for our benefit not for the Earth's benefit.""

How do you fail to see the hypocrisy in your own comment??? First off, "to use it wisely" doesn't mean that we're not able to destroy it. Clearly we're not using it all that wisely....

Secondly, "dominion over the earth to use it for OUR benefit, not for the EARTH'S benefit???? C'mon. Do you really fail to grasp that if we r@pe the earth of all it has to offer, then we are not using it to our benefit? We must protect the earth so that it remains viable for us to continue to use.... Duh. Or are you on the Gingrich boat and figure we'll just relocate to the moon and then Mars and then some other solar system and destroy each one in turn because it's clearly all just there for us to use and discard?

[lisakaz2]

02:27 PM on 04/23/2012

If we r-pe the earth, in the long run we will no longer benefit from it. Indeed, without viability, we got nothing. No wonder Gingrich wants a moon colony.

[candcje]

01:41 PM on 04/23/2012

Mr. Inhoffe..... first of all, the bible was written by MAN over the course of a few hundred years. It is not a book that fell from the sky one day from some unseen almighty power. It is fables and tales written by HUMANS about HUMANS.

The reality of your argument is that religion and faith have NOTHING to do with science. In fact, religion and faith are generally quite afraid of science because science aims to gather data and come to conclusions while religion requires us to ignore data and evidence and rely on emotion. So the bible has no place in a discussion about climate change.

But, for the sake of discussion, let's use your bible.... If there is a God and the stories in the bible are true, then you have to accept that God gave us FREE WILL and with that will has come a tremendous amount of destruction to ourselves and our planet - we've polluted water and air, destroyed forests and green lands.... Why would we with our free will not be able to actively affect the climate when we clearly actively affect the rest of our environment? Your logic fails on your own terms and those of the real world.

[Dev Austin]

01:30 PM on 04/23/2012

I've got a suggestion that the republicans might like. Everyone turn their air conditioners on full blast and open all doors and windows. It's right in line with their thinking about birth control and women's health.

[AnthropologistAmongApes]

01:23 PM on 04/23/2012

A better exhibit for anti-intellectualism and science illiteracy is hard to imagine. Beneath every one of their positions is an endorsement of greed and economic rankism which cannot tolerate ecological limits. Any worldview which is founded on such a sick ideology is mal-adapted and a threat to all species.

[RobbieB]

01:06 PM on 04/23/2012

This will be WAAAAAYYYYYY over the head of all the tr00lie$ that visit this site, but it's a great place to review the facts:

http://www.skepticalscience.com/

[stopnlisten]

01:05 PM on 04/23/2012

They deny anything that has to do with reality. Nothing new.