Over a year ago, the Washington Post ran a piece detailing where the GOP presidential field stood on climate change.
It's interesting to revisit. But I wondered if, in light of recent events, anyone had changed their stance. Head below the sienna squiggle for more.
Jeb Bush - who actually responded to one of my #climatechange tweets once (or, well, a staffer did) is still digging in his heels. Agree with the Pope on this one? Not so fast, pardner! Jeb! is not going to be swayed by a Pontiff, no sirree!
I've combed through the recent headlines and can't find a quote from Ted Cruz. According to this CNN piece from last month, he's stuck on "the pause," saying that the satellite data demonstrates there's been no warming for 17 years. Given how far that is from reality, I doubt that Junior Astronaut Cruz will pay a speck of attention to Pope Francis. At this point, per an AP report, he and Rand Paul have kept schtum when asked about the encycical.
And that's probably wise, given that the Pope's historic action (if a lengthy paper and a tweet-storm can be considered action) was pretty thoroughly stomped on in the news by the horrific reports of the massacre in Charleston. Give it a few more days, guys, and the encyclical will never come up again!
Rick Perry - who is so utterly delusional that he claimed Dylann Roof murdered 9 innocent people because he was on drugs - is similarly out there about climate change. He issued a statement that apparently did not mention the Pope's encyclical. I can't find it on his website, but it's referenced here. So, again, if he's lucky, he can keep his trap shut for a few days and never have to worry about being asked about it again.
Marco Rubio, of the Great Sinking State of Florida, had an aide refer reporters to early statements he's made about climate change (same source as above). His campaign website issues page (I went there, so you don't have to!) does not even mention the climate. Or energy policy. Hmmmm....
Since I'm a feminist, and since she's thrown her cloche in the ring since the year old piece linked to above, I thought I would see what Carly Fiorina thinks. There's nothing in the news, and the news page on her website hasn't been updated since June 17th, so it seems safe to say she hasn't weighed in on "Laudato Si'" - and won't.
Her position as of April, however, is depressingly predictable. Not that there's any danger she's going to be President of the United States, of course! But she could be Veep.....
Lindsey Graham? As reported in grist, he actually acknowledged climate change, which is something of a miracle. I've read that he favors "business friendly solutions," however, which sounds like weak tea to me. And there is bupkiss on his campaign website. I can't even find a way to get past the "donate now" form to find an issues page!
Not that he's going to be president.
So I guess for now most folks in the GOP field (and no, I didn't look them all up, because - too many!) aren't changing their tune on climate change, and the radical hippie commie Pope be damned!
Count me surprised? Nope. You?