One of the primary issues involved in the upcoming presidential election is the controversy over the actual existence of global warming, never mind human involvement in climate change. Americans have come to identify a trend in the beliefs and disbeliefs within candidates concerning global warming as Republicans inherently deny its existence in our world today, while Democrats take the side of scientific research and advocate not only for its existence, but its severity as a reason for environmental and economic change.
The on-going Republican primaries have evidenced to Americans that one of the factors in determining the true conservatism of a candidate is their support of global warming denial. Front-runner Rick Santorum, whose overall views on global warming are evidenced in this video, took the time to scrutinize competitors Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney for their one-time support of cap-and-trade policies, which would limit carbon emissions, therefore buying in to the belief of climate change as well man’s involvement. Santorum argues that his Christian faith reasons for him to disbelieve the issue of global warming, stating that it is “an absolute travesty of scientific research that was motivated by those who, in my opinion, saw this as an opportunity to create a panic and a crisis for
government to be able to step in and even more greatly control your life” (quoted in Villarreal). So the belief of global warming is equivalent to Democratic fascism, Mr. Santorum? As Fig. 1 demonstrates, the rapid spike in CO2 levels and average arctic temperature are affected directly by humankind’s excessive use of emitting fuels such as gas, coal, and oil. The evidence proving the existence of global warming, much less man’s involvement in speeding the process, is difficult to deny, yet Republicans continue to voice their opposition.
During the 2010 mid-term elections within the United States Senate, 47 of the 48 Republicans voiced their denial of the climate change and their refusal to provide any action for the issue (Goldenberg). Senator John McCain, who marginally lost the presidential election to Barack
Obama in 2008, deemed the idea of cap-and-trade policies a “monstrosity” despite the fact that he had once fought for the issue of climate change to be recognized within the Senate legislation (Goldenberg). California Republican Carly Fiorina, who was once considered for the Vice President position in McCain’s 2008 campaign, “has said on repeated occasions that she is ‘not sure’ climate change is real” (Goldenberg). Unfortunately for Republicans and other sources of opposition, every claim against the existence of global warming can be proven as untrue or understated with the evidence of climate change rapidly taking place on earth. For a visual, side-by-side comparison of fact to fiction, it is worth taking the time to visit Dave McCandless’s skeptics versus science chart at this link. If a Republican candidate is elected to the presidency at the end of this year, the people of the United States can expect to see a drop in the overall funding to prevent climate change; as one of the top global emitters of greenhouse gases, a future without efforts for carbon reduction would be dim at best.
Sources:
Goldenberg, Suzanne. “Republican hopefuls deny global warming.” The Guardian. 14 Sept. 2010. Web. 29 Feb 2012.
McCandless, Dave. “Climate Change Deniers vs. The Consensus.” Information is Beautiful. 2009. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.
Mooney, Chris. “Climate Info Graphic.” Climate Progress. Photo. 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 3 Mar. 2012.
Villarreal, Ryan. “Rick Santorum Global Warming Denial: ‘I Never Bought the Hoax’.” International Business News. 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.