Yes, for those familiar with climate politics, you know that Republicans have gone to odd lengths to dismiss the threats of global climate change.
The nice thing is that the media is finally starting to pick up on this.
Here are a couple quotes from the National Journal’s recent piece, GOP Gives Climate Science A Could Shoulder.
“The GOP is stampeding toward an absolutist rejection of climate science that appears unmatched among major political parties around the globe, even conservative ones.”
and
“It is difficult to identify another major political party in any democracy as thoroughly dismissive of climate science as is the GOP here.”
While some political parties in the world may have pockets of “skepticism,” no party is outright refusing to accept or address the issue like the US Republican party, the article reports.
The NYTimes, today, also covered this topic a little bit today, focusing more on the extremely anti-science Tea Party crowd and delving into where a lot of the anti-climate science beliefs come from. Of course, it covered the normal bases — numerous fossil-fuel-funded studies (not very well done) challenging the conclusive findings of world-renowned climate scientists and completely anti-government media personalities like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck — but also got into some other topics.
Here are a few quotes from that piece, Climate Change Doubt is Tea Party Article of Faith:
“‘It’s a flat-out lie,’ Mr. Dennison said in an interview after the debate, adding that he had based his view on the preaching of Rush Limbaugh and the teaching of Scripture. ‘I read my Bible,’ Mr. Dennison said. ‘He made this earth for us to utilize.’”
and
“‘This so-called climate science is just ridiculous,’ said Kelly Khuri, founder of the Clark County Tea Party Patriots. “I think it’s all cyclical.’”
and
“Those views in general align with those of the fossil fuel industries, which have for decades waged a concerted campaign to raise doubts about the science of global warming and to undermine policies devised to address it.
They have created and lavishly financed institutes to produce anti-global-warming studies, paid for rallies and Web sites to question the science, and generated scores of economic analyses that purport to show that policies to reduce emissions of climate-altering gases will have a devastating effect on jobs and the overall economy.”
Conservative leaders even in Great Britain are light years ahead of poorly informed conservatives in the US. When will US conservatives wake up?
As an action item, I recommend you sign the following Change.org petition: It’s Time to Talk About Climate Change! (Learn a Lesson from the Brits)
Photo Credit: marcn via flickr under a CC license
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Zachary Shahan
If you couldn't guess, I spend most of my time on CleanTechnica and Planetsave. I'm the director/editor of both sites and am a little obsessed with them and the topics they cover. I'm also Publishing Services Manager at Important Media, which means that I do everything I can to support other Important Media writers, editors, and directors (as well as the network as a whole) in the good work they are engaged in. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Change.org, most of the sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. For more, or to connect, go to: zacharyshahan.com
8 Responses to GOP Only Political Party in World to Reject Climate Science?
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Leave a ReplyOk. I get it now. I see it clearly:
This climate change issue is really a tea party, neocon concern with you faded believers isn’t it? What about us fellow liberal climate change deniers? Are we out of the party now? Are we evil conservatives now? Nobody, even us is going to vote yes to taxes to make the weather colder. We trusted the government to run the climate too? Voters have the final consensus and if any of you believers still think there is enough voter support out or will ever be out there, YOU are the new denier.
This is our Iraq War, this our mistake of climate change.
@mememine69: thank you for being a regular reader and contributor. yes, overall the US is extremely uneducated on the matter. but for more on the exact topic you are discussing, check out: http://redgreenandblue.org/2010/10/18/voters-overwhelmingly-support-clean-energy-candidates/
the point of this article is that the GOP is the only political party in the world that flat-out refuses to learn about and accept global climate change.
yes, there are a few on the other side of our wonderful two-party system who have been bought by dirty energy or are too scared to accept the reality as well
Hey Zach – nice response. And what exactly is a “faded believer?” The comment about “making the weather cooler” belies the commenters ignorance on the issue. Tiresome.