Jon Huntsman may be emerging as the only GOP presidential candidate willing to whole-heartedly endorse climate science. As I noted a few weeks ago, he has been the most straightforward in his assertion that politicians should defer to the scientific community on the question of whether the planet is warming. Yesterday, he went a step further, suggesting that future generations will judge the GOP on the issue of environmental stewardship.
From the Associated Press:
“We will be judged by how well we were stewards of those (natural) resources,” said Huntsman, a veteran of three Republican administrations who until this spring was President Barack Obama’s ambassador to China.
“Conservation is conservative. I’m not ashamed to be a conservationist. I also believe that science should be driving our discussions on climate change,” he added.
Polling on the issue gives Huntsman little reason to embrace — or promote — his position or his moderate environmental record while governor.
Among the 2012 GOP candidates, Mitt Romney has also made the radical assertion that we should perhaps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. But now his campaign is busy quibbling with reporters about whether or not he thinks greenhouse gases are “pollutants,” which isn’t the greatest sign that he’s serious about the problem.
