Super Tuesday Roundup: Your GOP Candidates on Global Warming and the Environment


Photos: Wikimedia Commons

Today, 10 states (including Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia) will hold Republican primaries and caucuses, putting a total 437 total delegates at stake鈥攋ust under 20 percent of the total delegates. But before you attend a caucus or vote in a primary, take a look at the four remaining Republican presidential candidates with regards to Mother Earth. Who stacks up?

Newt Gingrich

  • -In 2008, Gingrich appeared with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for Al Gore鈥檚 Alliance for Climate Protection, in which he said, 鈥淸O]ur country must take action to address climate change,鈥 . But in December Gingrich said the commercial was the 鈥渄umbest single thing鈥 he鈥檚 done in the last few years.
  • -In an with Grist in 2010, Gingrich said he did 鈥渘ot necessarily鈥 think the government should have certain standards for clean water and air.
  • 鈥揋ingrich seems to support domestic oil drilling. 鈥滻t is time for an honest debate about drilling and producing in places like Alaska, our national forests, and off the coast of scenic areas. The Left uses scare tactics from a different era to block environmentally sound production of raw materials,鈥 he said on newt.org in December 2006, .
  • -But, he also has a hybrid. And his house has a smaller carbon footprint than Al Gore. At least, that鈥檚 what .

Ron Paul

  • -In a speech on the House floor opposing cap-and-trade legislation, Paul said the human right to consume energy doesn鈥檛 extend to activities that could endanger the Earth鈥檚 climate. True to Paul鈥檚 Libertarian beliefs, he continued, saying 鈥渂ogus claims about climate dangers should not be used as a justification to further limit the American people's freedom,鈥 .
  • -On , Paul advocates for energy independence. He also will 鈥渓ead the fight鈥 against the EPA, vowing to shut it down. 鈥淧olluters should answer directly to property owners in court for the damages they create鈥攏ot to Washington.鈥
  • -Paul also wants to 鈥淟ift government roadblocks to the use of coal and nuclear power,鈥 according to In addition, he would eliminate the federal tax on gasoline.

Mitt Romney

  • -Last June, Romney dared suggest that humans might have something to do with climate change, but in the fall, he declared in a forum, 鈥淢y view is that we don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 causing climate change on this planet. And the idea of spending trillions and trillions of dollars to try to reduce CO2 emissions is not the right course for us,鈥 the presidential hopeful said, .
  • -Romney opposes international treaties (such as the ill-fated Kyoto Protocol) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to .
    -While he favors investment in alternative forms of energy, Romney supports drilling for potential gas and oil resources in the United States, according to . 鈥淓thanol is a good step, but its not a sufficient step. I believe we have to be developing more energy sources ourselves, which would include offshore drilling and drilling in ANWR, nuclear power, biodiesel, biofuels, cellulastic ethanol, probably liquefied coal,鈥 he said.

Rick Santorum

  • -On The Rush Limbaugh Show last June, Santorum said he believed the earth gets warmer and cooler, . He added that the idea that man caused this change with the production of CO2 is absurd 鈥渨hen you consider all the other factors, El Ni帽o, La Ni帽a, sunspots, moisture in the air.鈥
  • -Santorum is against the Endangered Species Act, which he said last month 鈥渉as prevented us from timbering all sorts of acreage鈥 in his Pennsylvania home state, .
  • -Also in February, Santorum said that hydrofracking is the 鈥渘ew bogeyman.鈥 The left, Santorum said, is 鈥減reying on the Northeast, saying, 鈥楲ook what鈥檚 going to happen. Ooh, all this bad stuff鈥檚 gonna happen, we don鈥檛 know all these chemicals and all this stuff, what鈥檚 gonna happen?鈥欌 .