This week in climate change, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, hoping to play a spoiler role at the GOP convention this summer, sat down with the Editorial Board at the Washington Post to discuss a range of policy issues. When asked to explain his position on climate change, the governor responded: “I do believe that we have climate change and I do believe that human beings affect it. I do. And I’m concerned about it…of course it’s a serious issue.”
Kasich explained that in formulating a solution, “we need to have renewables.”
“I think that solar and wind, and you know of course what I’m excited about is the Tesla, only from the standpoint of battery technology,” he said. “When you get battery technology, it’s going to transform everything, because then when the wind doesn’t blow, you store energy. When the sun doesn’t shine, you store it.”
“We know we have to do something about [climate change], but what’s the balance between doing something and throwing a lot of people out of work?” Kasich pondered. He said the Clean Power Plan would “throw everybody out of work” but also rejected the idea of a carbon tax.
“I think that reasonable regulations around emissions are fine,” he said. “I just think it’s about bringing the country together realizing we’ve got problems with climate. And let’s look at all the possible things that we can do that make sense that can balance a good environment with economic growth.”
Meanwhile, last weekend, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won all 14 available delegates in the multistep Wyoming, promising voters, “America is the Saudi Arabia of coal, and we are going to develop our resources.”
“We’ve seen for seven years a war on coal,” Cruz said. “Barack Obama promised when he got elected he would bankrupt every coal-fired power plant in America.” That is the only campaign promise he’s fulfilled, he noted, while making his own promise to “rein in” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Five states hold primaries on Tuesday.
Happy Earth Day! Check out our thoughts on this 46th commemoration here.