This week in climate change, no mention of the issue was made at the GOP debate in Michigan Thursday night.
Donald Trump charged ahead, winning seven of 11 primaries on Super Tuesday, while Sen. Ted Cruz took three and Sen. Marco Rubio settled for one win.
The race has presumably narrowed down to four (Gov. John Kasich is holding out for wins in the Midwest) with the expected withdrawal of Dr. Ben Carson. Earlier in the week, Carson stated that he didn’t see a “path forward” and skipped the debate, leading us to believe it is time to bid the retired neurosurgeon farewell.
Carson’s environmental position generally was grounded in his faith and belief that “responsible human beings must be concerned about our surroundings and what we will pass on to future generations.” He also believed that we should not “use climate change as an excuse not to develop our God-given resources.”
While known for being mild mannered, Carson had a testy climate exchange over the summer, retorting “gimme a break” when asked about climate. “I know there are a lot of people who say ‘overwhelming science,’ but then when you ask them to show the overwhelming science, they never can show it.”
Toward the end of his run, he noted that environmental policy is too politicized and said that climate change “would not be the overarching driver of my policies” if elected president.
Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, Kasich appeared in Arlington, Virginia on Super Tuesday, where he pointed to his position on climate change when asked how he would appeal to younger voters. In the lead up to Super Tuesday, he also campaigned in Massachusetts, where at a town hall meeting, a voter asked what Kasich’s approach would be on climate change.
“We’ve seen the glaciers shrinking,” he said, referring to several trips his family has taken to Glacier National Park in Montana. He called for a pragmatic, business-friendly approach to climate change. “I know we need to develop all the renewables, and we need to do it in an orderly way.”
Kasich did not win Massachusetts but came in a distant second to Trump.
Did we miss a critical piece of news or a great climate quote? Feel free to send your own alerts to our ClimateEye editor, Chelsea Henderson, at chelsea@republicen.org.