I am not going to say a lot here about how Governor Palin and the Republicans are treating the climate change issue at this point. I looked at McCain and Obama back in June. It is very interesting to note, though, that Palin's entry in the race has generated a huge amount of ink, and climate change is one of the areas on which her views are being made known. I just wanted to flag some of this coverage to you.
Here, for instance, is an AP article (via Yahoo) out today: Palin's statements on climate change at odds. Here is Sarah Palin's Record on Climate Change from the wholly nonpolitical sustainability think tank, Worldwatch Institute. "Politico" reports that Palin, McCain differ on global warming. A Tom Friedman column recently had some not-entirely flattering things to say on the selection of Palin in the light of climate change and energy concerns, among them "With his choice of Sarah Palin . John McCain has completed his makeover from the greenest Republican to run for president to just another representative of big oil." Ouch.
I am given pause, I will say, by this paragraph from this year's Republican platform. "Republicans caution against the doomsday climate change scenarios peddled by the aficionados of centralized command-and-control government. We can ‚ and should ‚ address the risk of climate change based on sound science without succumbing to the no-growth radicalism that treats climate questions as dogma rather than as situations to be managed responsibly." No dogma, though, in that. (See the platform, at page 95 under Environmental Protection for this.)