News Main
Animals
Archaeology
Dinosaurs
Earth
History
Human Animal
Space
Tech

Candidates' Green Cred Put to Test

Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News

Photos

Topping the Republicans

Runners Up

Though he may be trailing other Dems, Edwards' score is more than double that of the highest-scoring Republican: John McCain, at 26. McCain, who is also the lead author of a bill to reduce carbon emissions by 65 percent by 2050, is the only Republican who returned the LCV questionnaire, according to the LCV report. He also knows his hell hounds:

"Among my priorities," writes McCain on his LCV questionnaire, "will be working with Congress, national, state, and local leaders, and the full range of stakeholders to promote U.S. energy security and implement a national market-based cap and trade system tailored to protect the nation's economic, environmental, and national security."

The scoring of other Republican candidates was made harder by the fact half of them had no national-level voting records by which to judge them. Neither Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee nor Mitt Romney has served in Congress, so the LCV could not give them a number score. Instead, they were judged by their campaign statements. By that measure, Huckabee is the only other Republican making noises that sound like a conservationist, according to the LCV report.

The Fourth 'E': Evangelical

"Whether humans are responsible for the bulk of climate change is going to be left to the scientists," said Huckabee in a recent debate quoted in the LCV report, "but it's all of our responsibility to leave this planet in better shape for the future generations than we found it. I believe that even our responsibility to God means that we have to be good stewards of this Earth."

Huckabee's position appears to reflect that of a growing movement among socially conservative evangelical Christians who recognize environmental protection as a moral and biblically prescribed obligation. That said, Huckabee has yet to make any clear plan to address global warming, the LCV reports. In fact, McCain is the only Republican candidate to do so.

More telling than the LCV scores, however, are the candidates' stated views on a range of specific conservation and energy issues. The most concise way to compare these are with the LCV's large chart which shows all the candidates positions on these and other prominent matters.

Finally, of course, is the fact that many politicians are known to reverse their stated positions once in office, the LCV cautions. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush said he considered carbon dioxide a major greenhouse gas that ought to be regulated like a pollutant, the LCV reminds readers. President Bush then spent the next several years blocking such regulations.

Related Links:

Larry O'Hanlon's blog: Earth Impacts

The League of Conservation Voters

LCV Candidate Chart

Discovery: Global Warming

How Stuff Works: Global Warming