Former Florida governor Jeb Bush addressed a question on clean energy at the Faith and Family Forum at Bob Jones University in South Carolina.
“I do think that we have a need to protect the natural systems and the critters,” Bush said. “We are guided by our faith to do that. It’s an important value for people, particularly of the Christian faith but I’m sure other faiths feel duty bound to do the same.”
“Here’s where I veer off a little bit from my religious leader, Pope Francis,” Bush continued. “The climate change debate needs to be focused on science, real science, because you could make decisions that will hollow out the industrial core, lessen economic activity. You could have no one working and you’ll end up with a smaller carbon footprint, but if you have no one working, you’re not going to have the resources in order to invest in the long term disruptive technologies that might bring about low cost renewable energy.”
“The climate’s changing. Man has some impact. I think most people would agree with that.”
The solution, Bush explained to applause: “Let the markets work. Simplify the tax code. Stop trying to pick winners and losers. There’s someone in a garage somewhere in Greenville that has a better chance of disrupting the order of things as it relates to energy than a bureaucrat inside the Department of Energy.”
South Carolina’s Republican primary is Saturday.