South Carolinians Press Republicans on Climate Change
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 10 (OneWorld) - Coastal residents and students from all over South Carolina are planning to picket this evening's Republican Party Presidential Candidates Debate.
Sporting surfwear and bathing suits, attendees plan to hold aquamarine balloons floating at 20 feet above sea level, to emphasize what scientists say will happen if the ice sheet covering Greenland were to completely melt. Observers say that with over 3,000 miles of tidal shoreline and an economy that depends heavily on tourism and agriculture, South Carolina is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. According to a January 2007 poll conducted for the group Environmental Defense, 81 percent of South Carolina's Republican voters believe the United States should reduce carbon dioxide emissions. South Carolina's Republican Governor Mark Sanford has commissioned a committee to create a climate action plan for the state. During the last legislative session, 90 House and 24 Senate members -- split evenly between Republicans and Democrats -- signed an open letter calling for presidential leadership on climate change. In November, 108 of South Carolina's mayors, including Rock Hill Mayor Doug Echols, Union Mayor Bruce Morgan, and Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, signed a separate letter also calling on presidential candidates to speak out on climate change. "As you visit the towns and cities where we make our homes, and talk to the constituents we serve, we urge you to make solving climate change a top priority in your conversations with South Carolina voters," the letter read. "We also hope you will share your ideas about the unique opportunities available in developing clean energy technologies, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, stimulating billions of dollars in new investments, and creating millions of new jobs." "Since solving global climate change will establish a healthier, more efficient, and more secure nation, we expect candidates from all parties to outline clear plans for addressing this issue," they concluded.
Among Republicans, Arizona Senator John McCain has been one of the most outspoken members of Congress on the issue. With Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), McCain introduced the Climate Stewardship Act in 2003, which failed to gain approval from the Senate. In 2007 he reintroduced the act, with bipartisan cosponsorship. The bill, McCain and Lieberman explained in a February 2007 Boston Globe editorial, "would harness the power of the free market and the engine of American innovation to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions substantially enough and quickly enough to forestall catastrophic global warming." If elected, McCain says he would support a mandatory cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions, advocate a global effort that would include developing countries to reduce greenhouse gases, limit carbon emissions by harnessing market forces that will bring advanced technologies to the market faster, and reduce dependence on foreign suppliers of energy. McCain considers nuclear energy a key component of efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. The man who finished second to McCain in the New Hampshire Republican primary, Mitt Romney has been less aggressive on the climate change issue. As governor of Massachusetts, Romney backed his state out of a regional pact of northeastern states to curb carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, citing concerns that the emissions fee would drive up the already-high price of electricity. On the campaign trail, Romney has hedged when asked about global warming: "I don't know what proportion of the [climate's] change is due to human activity but my policy is to adopt what I refer to as a 'no regrets policy' -- to take action that allows us to become more energy efficient and ultimately become energy independent as a nation," he told a forum of business leaders in Rochester, New Hampshire last May. "I would like to see us work on a global basis on this effort," Romney added. "I really don't think it's productive for us to act solely on a unilateral basis to reduce our greenhouse gases if we have developing nations like China and India continue to increase their output of greenhouse gases and not be party to a greenhouse gas effort," he said, echoing Bush administration arguments for removing the United States from the Kyoto Protocol. The winner of the Iowa Caucuses, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, has rooted his stance on climate change in his religious beliefs. When asked about his opinion on climate change in a March 2007 interview with Newsweek, Huckabee said, "It's a spiritual issue. [The Earth] belongs to God. I have no right to destroy it."
Huckabee also says he supports a mandatory cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions and he supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. For Charleston lawyer and climate change activist Art Bomley, Huckabee's support for changing policy is particularly good news. "What he's talking about is reflective of a large movement in the evangelical network of environmental concerns," Bomley told OneWorld. "There's been a call from the evangelical and environmental network to politicians in general to deal with this issue. So we're seeing a groundswell and we're also seeing a response." "I'm encouraged because all over the map we're seeing a huge shift," he added. "We're seeing this dealt with on a local level, the state level; and at the federal level we're seeing some very serious bills in the halls of Congress. So I think the next president of the United States is going to have to deal with this issue in a serious and comprehensive manner." Tonight's Republican debate will be held in Myrtle Beach and broadcast nationally on Fox News. South Carolina activists plan a similar event in front of the state's Democratic presidential debate, which is scheduled to be held in Myrtle Beach on January 21. ....................................................................................
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