Huntsman Crumbles: "The Onus Is On The Scientific Community" Re. Climate - LA Times

[hatrack]

EDIT

“Before we start setting goals going forward, I think we need to kind of step back and make some effort to make sure that people are on the same page, from a scientific standpoint,” he said, arguing that unilaterally reducing emissions “might debilitate economic recovery in this country, or hobble job creators.”

(That comment echoes what he told Time magazine in May: “Cap-and-trade ideas aren’t working; it hasn’t worked, and our economy’s in a different place than five years ago. Much of this discussion happened before the bottom fell out of the economy, and until it comes back, this isn’t the moment.”)

Asked if he was being inconsistent after having said in August that Republicans would find themselves “on the wrong side of science” if they took a position that runs counter to the consensus determined by the National Academy of Science that man is contributing to global warming, Huntsman dodged the question.

“I think the onus is on the scientific community,” Huntsman said, referring to “questions,” like the leaked e-mails from Britain's University of East Anglia, which led to allegations that the case for man-made climate change had been overstated. “I tend to defer to those who do it for a living, and I say I’d be prepared to take it out of the political milieu and put it in the scientific milieu,” he said, adding that “there’s probably more debate yet to play out.”

EDIT/END

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-huntsman-warming-20111206,0,4912990.story?track=rss

[rurallib]

1. I kept saying this guy is no different than the rest

now he flops to the anti-science side and asks Daddy to buy him a presidency.
Not an iota of difference.

[MADem]

2. I think he might be worse than the rest--he just "seems" more reasonable because

he is a blank slate, he doesn't look creepy, he has that youthful vigor thing going for him, he rides the motorcycle, and he has hot daughters.

It's all trying to not get pinned down, and looking good.

[Bob Wallace]

4. Huntsman...

Just McCained out.

Sold his soul for a chance to live in the White House.

[Old and In the Way]

3. "The jury's still out"

The jury will never be in with the Republican ideological agenda on climate change.

If we are wrong, the downside is a cleaner planet, more jobs, and a better future for our children. If they are wrong, the economic burden and the quality of life for our children will be immeasurably worse.