What stance will US politicians take on Global Warming in forthcoming presidential elections?

Question

I am interested to know what my American friends think.

I know politicians will adopt the stance which gives them the most votes. Does no one apart from Life sucks care to crystal gaze as to what that stance might be for the Republicans and Democrats? Is the American public too divided for them to want to make it an issue at all?

Thanks Harry H and markar - some interesting stuff!

Thanks Mike - a sort of phoney war then - I fear to a large degree that is going on in Europe too - but 'binding' targets have been set here so I suppose real fighting must start at some point.

Thanks Gerry S. Clearly if one pulls some levers too fast it will stall the economy. But is there ways to keep damage to a minimum whilst actually achieving something significant?

Thanks crabby_blindguy If I was an American voter I guess I would want a little bit from the second group and a lot from the third. Perhaps the second group is not 'real' politics in the US - I know the UK government stopped increasing petrol tax for fear of further unrest when refineries were blockaded by activists.

I think it would be interesting to put this to a vote.

Answer 1

Keep pumping out oil until we run out of it

We can leave the environment crap to Europe and China

Answer 2

None of the politicians will actually make any significant changes.

They all will propose legislation that sounds impressive but in practice will do very little.

There is a reason for this and that is the economy.

Reducing the emission of greenhouse gases does have a cost to the economy.

If legislation were passed that really mandated significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions there would be a quick and noticeable downturn in the economy.

The standard method that United States politicians use to meet such a challenge is to craft legislation that sounds impressive but in practice does very little.

That is true of both the Republicans and the Democrats.

Answer 3

Both Republicans and Democrats will support passing legislation to control carbon emissions. Already, we see the new candidates all declaring their support to do this.

All the big oil companies have been wanting to push the legislation agenda with the exception of Exxon/Mobil since the very beginning.

Also, the Bush administration is the only hold up. They will be out of office soon.

My personal feeling is that the legislation is only their to get multinational businesses the opportunity to privatize the atmosphere for making new commerce out of natural air molecules. Weather news and predictive forecasts of next weeks possible gloom and doom will be used as a means to control the commodities exchanges all over the world so rich people can make more money.

We won't know all the results of the new legislation until a few years after they get forever written into our legislation books. In the meantime, GW will come and go (or perhaps stay as a constant State of Fear as Crichton suggests.)

Answer 4

Pretty much all of hem by the end of next year will say "yes, global warming is a problem--we ought to do something about it."

The real question is WHAT tey say they are going to do/support. Rhetoric is jsut noise. Substantive policy proposals are what count.

You'll seee three groups--mostly, but not entirely along party lines. One (mostly right wing) will say "we should leave this to the freemarket--and give car companies, etc. subsidies to encourage "research"--but without actually requiring any results for the money. A second group--mostly on the left--will propose high taxes on oil, maybe coal, cars--and a stream of regulations about how andhow much CO2 can be emitted by cars, etc.

The third group will want to set standards of performance for industry--but leave it to industry and the market to find the best ways to meet the standards, rather than imposing regulations. They will tax--if at all--very selectively. They will push for shifts in policy to encourage mass transit rather than more roads for cars, promote energy efficcient homes, and funding basic research in partenership with universities and firms with a track record of innovation.

Guess which ones I'm voting for? :)

Answer 5

hello,,maybe they'll endorse a new HEMI that gets a mile more to the gallon. back in 1973 we saw the future starting to unfold with gasoline, and the automotive industry struggle to recover , but the designs they offer are not what we needed , the urge to go faster and less economically advanced technology won. Now the new rising sun is in the far east and taking over for our incompetent engineers, should have listened to the" heartbeat of america"

Answer 6

"What stance will US politicians address worldwide Warming in imminent presidential elections?" ft shoulder width aside. palms unfolded to the factor. status in front of the air conditioning unit positioned on extreme... thinking of each and every of the funds they're going to get for pushing extra Nuclear ability Stations...

Answer 7

Liberals will use it as an excuse to strip us of individual liberty and put the government in control of every aspect of our lives. Conservatives will insist that the market is the best decision maker and governement action will cause more harm than good.

Answer 8

It will be a huge issue, a front burner issue.
It will be because there are millions of voters who care about it.
It will be because there are political ramifications internationally also.
Industry will be greatly effected by it. Jobs.
The loudest voices will be for pro-green positions.

Answer 9

Politicians will take whichever stance will win them the most votes; like they always do!

Answer 10

Polititions will ban beer... opening millions of cans of beer all the time causes global warming

Answer 11

What ever stance the company who own that particular politician pays them to take.