Free Republic

Nikki Haley’s departure from the Republican presidential race removes the last possibility of moderation on environmental and climate change policy in top GOP leadership. Haley’s concession Wednesday, after only getting a handful of delegates in the primary contests, cements former President Donald Trump’s place as the party’s undisputed leader and presumptive presidential nominee against President Joe Biden. While Haley made energy and climate promises that were not very different from Trump, she earned accolades from conservative environmental organizations that wanted to back a Republican candidate who took the issues more seriously than Trump.

Former GOP Rep. Ryan Costello (Pa.) is signing on to work for a group pushing a business-backed proposal to fight climate change with a carbon tax. Costello, less than a week out of the House, announced Monday in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that he’s the new managing director of Americans for Carbon Dividends. The group is the advocacy affiliate of the Climate Leadership Council, pushing a plan by former GOP Secretaries of State James Baker and George Shultz to tax carbon dioxide emissions and return the money to individuals and families on a quarterly basis. “I understand the...

The Republican Party is divided over whether to attack the science of climate change when opposing liberal policies. Many of the most vocal Republicans say they have significant problems with the scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that greenhouse gas emissions from human activity is the main cause. The skeptics include presidential hopefuls Ben Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Capitol Hill chairmen Sen. Jim Inhofe (Okla.) and Rep. Lamar Smith (Texas). But others in the GOP aren't interested in litigating the science. They say it's more important - and far easier - to show that Democratic...