Mitt Romney Climate Change

APayzant
Period 3

Mitt Romney, a republican nominee for the up coming United States presidential election, takes a clear stance on many of the current political issues. However, one of the main issues that Mitt Romney seems to be ignoring is the issue of climate change or global warming. When it comes to the issue of climate change, Mitt Romney has been very vague on where he stands on the issue. He has not given a definite answer to the people of the United States explaining what he would do to fix the problem or how he feels about the issue. Romney has stated, “some in the Republican Party are embracing the radical environmental ideas of the liberal left,” and protested that “Kyoto-style sweeping mandates, imposed unilaterally in the United States, would kill jobs, depress growth and shift manufacturing to the dirtiest developing nations. Republicans should never abandon pro-growth conservative principles in an effort to embrace the ideas of Al Gore.” Mitt Romney does not seem to be very concerned with the global warming issue. It is questionable whether he believes that global warming even exists and that it could a large problem that should be taken care of. Although Romney tries to ignore the issue of global warming and does not include anything about the issue in his campaign website, he did support the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. “The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, is a cooperative effort by Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions -- a greenhouse gas that causes global warming.” Supporting the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative eventually led Romney to fee businesses that had exceeded the emissions limit. "New England has the highest energy rates in the country, and RGGI would cost us more,” Romney stated. The high cost of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative led to Romney, in December of 2005 to no longer supporting the plan and no longer using the plan to help solve the problems of climate change. Mitt Romney does not support the proposal for wind farms in Cape Cod. He believes that these wind farms will ruin the visual aspect of Nantucket. It is also believed that Mitt Romney may be tied to the Astroturf group. This is a group that was set up to question and deny the science of global warming, even though it promotes itself as a group that is concerned with the environment. Mitt Romney does not take a clear stance on the political issue of climate change. It is questionable whether he even believes that it is an issue of any importance; or even if he thinks that it even exists at all. Mitt Romney continues to ignore the issue and also continues to “flip-flop” his position on the issue.

Citations:
"Mitt Romney Ignores Global Warming." Progressive Patriots. 24 May 2007. Progressive Patriots. 6 Feb. 2008 <http://progressivepatriots.com/2007/05/24/mitt-romney-ignores-global-warming/>.
"Political positions of Mitt Romney." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 Feb 2008, 08:16 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 8 Feb 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Political_positions_of_Mitt_Romney&oldid=189457045>.
"Statement By McCain Campaign On Mitt Romney's Flip-Flopping On Climate Change And Gas Tax." All American Patriots. 29 Jan. 2008. All American Patriots. 6 Feb. 2008 <http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/48741655_statement-mccain-campaign-mitt-romneys-flip-floppi>.
Taino, . "Romney Tied to Global Warming Denier Group." Governor W. Mitt Romney. 15 Jan. 2008. Zimbio. 6 Feb. 2008 <http://www.zimbio.com/Governor+W.+Mitt+Romney+/articles/297/Romney+Tied+Global+Warming+Denier+Group>.