John McCain was an early and persistent supporter of cap-and-trade efforts to reduce the greenhouse gases (mainly carbon dioxide) associated with climate change. So was Newt Gingrich, who went on to make a YouTube video ad - with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, no less - where he said, “Our country must take action to address climate change."
Now, Republican presidential hopefuls seem to be racing in the opposite direction - disavowing their past support for policy measures on climate - even any sense that there's a problem to be addressed.
As Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty signed a state greenhouse gas law limiting emissions, led a regional climate partnership with Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and he supported cap-and-trade. Since then, he's flip-flopped.
At the Conservative Political Action Committee conference in Washington earlier this year he made his mea culpa. Read the full report here.
Source: by Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer, Christian Science Monitor.
