Most people today believe that the U.S. Republican Party (“GOP”) firmly denies climate change. How will it impact the party and its credibility once, presumably, more evidence amasses that confirms the views of the overwhelming majority of the scientific community? The Republican Party’s stance on climate change is\u00a0a complicated one…<\/p>\n
Current Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump\u00a0has repeatedly\u00a0expressed doubt in the science behind climate change, and his\u00a0policy proposals reflect that doubt. [1] Additionally, he\u00a0also has called global warming a \u201choax\u201d and \u201cbullshit\u201d via Twitter. [2]\u00a0Trump\u2019s denial of climate change has also led him to make false claims.\u00a0For example,\u00a0on July 26, 2016, Trump told Bill O\u2019Reilly at Fox News that \u201cpeople\u201d at the Copenhagen conference in 2009\u00a0were \u201csending out emails, scientists practically calling it a hoax, and they were laughing at it,\u201d.\u00a0However,\u00a0an independent international investigation set up by the\u00a0University of East Anglia\u00a0found no such wrongdoing or manipulation. [3]<\/span><\/p>\n First of all, although he has denied the existence of climate change as a candidate, Trump has actually accepted the reality of global warming as a businessman. \u00a0For example, Trump International Golf Links Ireland applied for a permit to build a sea wall to protect the\u00a0Irish golf course from “global warming and its effects.” The permit explicitly cites global warming and its consequences –\u00a0increased erosion due to rising sea levels and extreme weather this century –\u00a0as a chief justification for building the structure. [4]<\/p>\n Secondly, the Republican Party has not always denied climate change. Most recently, other GOP front runners such as Ted Cruz have denied man-made climate change, and two years ago only 8 Republicans in Congress, out of 278 in the caucus, made on-the-record comments accepting the reality of man-made global warming. [5] However, only eight years ago, the 2008 Republican platform acknowledged that human activity had increased the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and that “common sense dictates that the United States should take measured and reasonable steps.” The platform went on to say that “Republicans support technology-driven, market-based solutions that will decrease emissions” and “mitigate the impact of climate change where it occurs.” [6] And even further back, a\u00a0Republican president –\u00a0Richard Nixon –\u00a0signed into law the Clean Air Act, approved the Council on Environmental Quality and established the two federal agencies most focused on climate change today: the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [11]<\/p>\n Additionally, not every Republican politician denies climate change – some on the very contrary. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican governor of California 2003-2011) has been one of the most outspoken U.S. governors to tackle global warming and reduce emissions [7] and has implemented significant environmental protection legislation in California. [8] Also, former GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has spoken in favor of investing in green energy [9]. \u00a0Republican Senator of South Carolina Lindsey Graham\u00a0has even\u00a0called out members of his party who dismiss climate change. [10]<\/p>\n Some people suggest Republicans politicians’ climate change denial stems from their\u00a0pressure from the oil lobby. In fact, 80% of the energy industry’s contributions have gone to Republicans, who have implemented tax breaks and other favorable legislation for the oil industry on a nationwide scale\u00a0[12]. What some people view as lobbying, others see as corruption – either way, a causal relationship is difficult to prove and not the topic of this post. Regardless, oil companies themselves have actually accepted climate change and announced or implemented significant changes. [13]<\/p>\n Finally, many Republican politicians may escape responsibility after all by manipulating semantics, i.e. accepting “climate change”, but denying that it is “man-made”. [10] This causal relationship between “man-made” and “climate change” is obviously more difficult to prove and therefore, in their view, still absolves them of any requirement to take action to reduce emissions.<\/p>\n To summarize, in my view, a potential origin of this problem is the binary and reactionary nature of the U.S. two-party system which causes the other party to automatically adopt the opposite view of an issue. However, given the increasingly overwhelming scientific evidence, the Republican Party needs to take a clear and decisive position and acknowledge man-made climate change if it is to maintain its credibility. \u00a0If the GOP is looking to differentiate itself from the Democratic Party, it should do so via offering innovative\u00a0ideas on the implementation of green policy – what to tackle first, how to tackle it, and how to finance it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (745 words)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1] The Candidates on Climate Change. 2016. The Candidates on Climate Change<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/2016\/11\/the-candidates-on-climate-change\/<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [2]\u00a0Twitter. 2016. Donald J. Trump on Twitter: “This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bullshit has got to stop. Our planet is freezing, record low temps,and our GW scientists are stuck in ice”<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: https:\/\/twitter.com\/realdonaldtrump\/status\/418542137899491328<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [3]\u00a0Some \u2018Climategate\u2019 Conclusions. 2016. Some \u2018Climategate\u2019 Conclusions<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/2010\/04\/some-climategate-conclusions\/<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [4]\u00a0POLITICO. 2016. Donald Trump acknowledges climate change \u2014 at his golf course – POLITICO<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2016\/05\/donald-trump-climate-change-golf-course-223436<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [5]\u00a0@politifact. 2016. Jerry Brown says ‘virtually no Republican’ in Washington accepts climate change science | PolitiFact <\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.politifact.com\/truth-o-meter\/statements\/2014\/may\/18\/jerry-brown\/jerry-brown-says-virtually-no-republican-believes-\/<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [6]\u00a0ThinkProgress. 2016. The Republican Platform Once Tried To Fight Climate Change. Now It Denies It.<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/the-republican-platform-once-tried-to-fight-climate-change-now-it-denies-it-8550236c481#.ni4zzpd4q<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [7]\u00a0MSNBC. 2016. Schwarzenegger: Climate change is ‘the issue of our time’ | MSNBC<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/msnbc\/schwarzenegger-climate-change-the-issue-our-time<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [8]\u00a0Energy & the Environment | USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. 2016. Energy & the Environment | USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.schwarzeneggerinstitute.com\/policy-areas\/energy-and-the-environment<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [9] Forbes Welcome. 2016. Forbes Welcome<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/eco-nomics\/2011\/06\/03\/mitt-romneys-environmental-record\/#2fab98db37c8<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [10]\u00a0Where the 2016 Republican candidates stand on climate change – CBS News. 2016. Where the 2016 Republican candidates stand on climate change – CBS News<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/where-the-2016-republican-candidates-stand-on-climate-change\/<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [11]\u00a0Rolling Stone. 2016. Why Republicans Still Reject the Science of Global Warming – Rolling Stone<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/features\/why-republicans-still-reject-the-science-of-global-warming-w448023<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [12]\u00a0Big Oil’s Influence in Washington . NOW | PBS. 2016. Big Oil’s Influence in Washington . NOW | PBS<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/now\/shows\/347\/oil-politics.html<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n [13] Financial Times. 2016. . [ONLINE] Available at: https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/d3764126-a287-11e6-aa83-bcb58d1d2193<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016]; \u00a0Silvia Amaro, Sam Meredith, Hadley Gamble. 2016. Oil companies invest $1 billion to tackle climate change<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2016\/11\/04\/oil-companies-invest-1-billion-to-tackle-climate-change.html<\/a><\/u>. [Accessed 04 November 2016].<\/p>\n The U.S. Republican Party’s relationship with climate change is a complicated one. Will increasing evidence fundamentally change the GOP?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1781,"featured_media":13190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[1601,1597,1599,1603,1602,1600,1519,1598],"class_list":["post-10512","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-donald-trump","category-gop","category-parties","category-politics","category-republican-party","category-republicans","category-trump","category-usa"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/climate-change-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\n