GOP candidates’ abysmal positions on the environment
As we celebrate Earth Day and recognize our efforts to make sure our planet is in a better place than when we found it, it is a good time to take a look at the GOP candidates’ positions on the environment. From claiming that climate change “was created by and for the Chinese” and outright denying the science behind climate change to promising to end regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and abolishing the Environmental Protection Agency, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz wish you a not-so-happy Earth Day.
Trump, Cruz on Climate Change
Donald Trump: “I don’t believe in climate change.” “During a Thursday morning interview on CNN’s ‘New Day,’ the New York real estate developer said that bad floods and other abnormal weather patterns have happened in the past, and the media fixated too much on the issue. ‘You can’t watch the news anymore. It’s always weather,’ said Mr. Trump, who added that China hasn’t done anything to address climate change. ‘I believe in clean air. Immaculate air,’ Mr. Trump said. ‘But I don’t believe in climate change.’” [Wall Street Journal, 9/24/15]
Donald Trump on climate change: “‘It’s called weather changes and you have storm and you have rain and you have beautiful days.” “Last month, Trump insisted that he was ‘not a believer in climate change,’ claiming that extreme weather patterns scientists attribute to man-made climate changes are simply ‘weather.’ ‘It’s called weather changes and you have storm and you have rain and you have beautiful days,’ Trump said.” [CNN, 10/19/15]
Donald Trump: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese.” “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” [@realDonaldTrump, 11/6/12, 2:25 p.m. EDT]
Ted Cruz said people who believe global warming is real are “the equivalent of the flat-Earthers.” “Cruz, the red-meat Texas senator with an army of conservative followers, raised eyebrows on Tuesday when he told the Texas Tribune that people who believe global warming is real are ‘the equivalent of the flat-Earthers’. ‘It used to be it is accepted scientific wisdom the Earth is flat, and this heretic named Galileo was branded a denier,’ Cruz said.” [Guardian,3/27/15]
Ted Cruz said climate scientists were “cooking the books” to support climate change. “Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday said facts don’t support climate change, in a speech that described the notion as a front for power-hungry politicians who want to control Americans’ lives. […] Instead, Cruz said, government researchers are reverse engineering data sets to falsify changes in the climate. ‘They’re cooking the books. They’re actually adjusting the numbers,’ Cruz said. ‘Enron used to do their books the same way.’ Cruz said scientists four decades ago were studying ‘global cooling, a global ice age was coming,’ and they were as wrong as those who now say the earth is warming.” [TIME,8/2/15]
Ted Cruz said his administration would end the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. “A Cruz Administration will identify all unnecessary programs – these 25 are merely a start: Eliminate the following Agencies, Bureaus, Commissions, and programs: […] Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Vehicles” [Cruz for President, 11/10/15]
Ted Cruz voted against legislation that would declare that climate change is man-made. “The Senate on Wednesday twice rejected measures declaring that humans are causing climate change. But in the course of those votes, 15 Republicans, including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted yes. Mr. Paul, who is considered a likely presidential contender next year, was joined by Senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Jeff Flake of Arizona, among others. Two other potential Republican presidential candidates, Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, voted no. It was the first time in years that senators had voted on a climate change measure, and it came in the course of a debate on a bill forcing approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.” [New York Times, 1/21/15]
Trump, Cruz on Environmental Safety and Conservation
Donald Trump said he would cut the Environmental Protection Agency. “Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Sunday that he would cut government agencies if he were elected President. Among them? The Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency, Trump told ‘Fox News Sunday’ host Chris Wallace.’” [Talking Points Memo, 10/18/15]
Donald Trump said that water regulations lead to “showers where I can’t wash my hair properly, it’s a disaster!” “When Donald Trump was asked about EPA water regulations at a rally in South Carolina, he talked about the way they personally affect his life: by harming his ability to wash his signature hairdo. At an event in Aiken, South Carolina Saturday afternoon, Trump was asked what he thought of regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency on waterways in the United States. ‘I’ll give you one regulation,’ Trump said, launching into an example of how strict environmental rules can hurt everyday Americans with great hair. ‘So I build, and I build a lot of stuff. And I go into areas where they have tremendous water… And you have sinks where the water doesn’t come out…. You have showers where I can’t wash my hair properly, it’s a disaster!’ he said, to laughter from the crowd. ‘It’s true,’ Trump continued. ‘They [the showerheads] have restrictors put in. The problem is you stay under the shower for five times as long.’” [TIME Magazine, 12/12/15]
Ted Cruz said he would abolish the Department of Energy. “Abolish the IRS, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A Cruz Administration will appoint heads of each of those agencies whose sole charge will be to wind them down and determine whether any programs need to be preserved.” [Cruz for President, 11/10/15]
Ted Cruz said that “volunteer conservation” was “the way the system ought to work.” “Asked about the Environmental Protection Agency, Cruz also advocated for ‘volunteer conservation’ as the ‘the way the system ought to works’ He decried federal efforts to expand regulatory oversight of water. ‘The EPA is trying to turn irrigation ditches into lakes and rivers and oceans,’ he said.” [Politico, 3/7/15]
Trump, Cruz on Alternative Energy
Donald Trump: “Wind farms are hurting the country.” “Trump: Right now, green energy is way behind the times. You look at the windmills that are destroying shorelines all over the world. Economically, they’re not good. It’s a very, very poor form of energy. Solar, as you know, hasn’t caught on because, I mean, a solar panel takes 32 years — it’s a 32-year payback. Who wants a 32-year payback? The fact is, the technology is not there yet. Wind farms are hurting the country.” [Fox News’ On The Record, 3/16/12]
Donald Trump: “We’re practically not allowed to use coal any more.” “Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough broke from questions about Muslims and immigration recently to ask Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump about another issue: what he would do about climate change. Trump initially responded by saying he wanted clean air and water. When Richard Haass, Council on Foreign Relations president and a panelist on the show, noted those are environmental concerns not directly related to climate change, Trump went on to tout the ‘many’ environmental awards his company had won for building projects. After more prodding, Trump said, ‘Remember this. We’re practically not allowed to use coal any more. What do we do with our coal? We ship it to China and they spew it in the air.’” [PolitiFact, 12/15/15]
Ted Cruz introduced legislation to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard. “Cruz has introduced legislation that would repeal the renewable fuel standard over the next five years. The standard mandates that gasoline contain 10 percent ethanol by volume. ‘I believe we should pursue an all-of-the-above energy policy and that Washington shouldn’t be picking winners and losers,’ he said. Cruz argues the fuel standard has proven unworkable and costly, according to a summary of his bill. He says it ignores the problem of an insufficient supply of biofuels to meet the standard.” [The Hill, 8/6/14]
Ted Cruz said the federal wind tax credit was akin to “corporate welfare.” “The Texans used almost identical language to describe their opposition to the RFS, saying it amounts to the government ‘picking winners and losers.’ During his conversation with Rastetter, Cruz extended the criticism to the federal wind tax credit, likening it to the ‘corporate welfare’ he has long opposed out of principle.” [Texas Tribune, 3/7/15]