Pawlenty: Man's Impact On Global Warming 'Half A Percent'

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/09/10/pawlenty-denigrates-global-warming/ Appearing on Glenn Beck's radio show on September 9, Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) says cap and trade has "faded to the background," and that "half a percent" of global warming is caused by man. BECK: Help me make sense of something. You and McCain both are for cap and trade. Th-th-th-th-the the one company that was the leading champion of cap and trade was Enron, because these big companies can trade — nothing. They can, can trade the air! PAWLENTY: I would say a couple of things. First of all, anything that adds cost to energy prices right now is going to be viewed with a great amount of concern. And so, you notice the cap and trade debate has kind of faded into the background and its unclear what that would look like when and if it reemerges. I would also state Sen. McCain supports that approach, but how you do it is really important. And just cap and trade is not the same across the board. Theres a lot that rises or falls depending on the details of that, so thats yet to come. BECK: But all it is is another tax, thats all it is. PAWLENTY: You know, it depends on how you do it. But, you know, in my view is this: you can argue that the world, the globe is warming as it always has for natural reasons. But I think the weight of the science indicates that at least some of it — you know you could argue its half a percent or something more substantial, you know — is caused by human behavior. So there are some things that we can reasonably and voluntarily do to reduce the human impact without wrecking the economy or without violating, you know, Republican and conservative principles. And I think theres some room within those — that description to do something, but what you do and how you do it matters a lot. The details matter a lot. But, in the wake of this energy crisis, where people are, you know, struggling to pay the bills, that debate on cap and trade has fallen to the background for understandable reasons.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• news
• global warming
• Pawlenty
• Glenn Beck
• Beck
• McCain
• cap and trade