Replies

"But, at the same time, in direct contradiction to his words, he enacted the "Massachusetts Climate Protection Plan," which is EVERYTHING the radical enviros are after anyway."

EV, you neglected to mention critical facts about the Massachusetts Climate Protection Plan which make it far from what radical environmentalist want enacted:

"Unlike the Kyoto Protocol, Romney's plan focuses on voluntary initiatives, restricting any mandatory requirements to only a few large industries and the state itself. The plan includes no enforcement mechanism for requiring attainment of the goals."
[...]
In addition to rejecting more stringent proposals, Romney made a special effort to convey that he personally had doubts about alarmist global warming theory, going so far as to attach a letter to the plan's final version suggesting he remains unconvinced that man-made greenhouse gases are an environmental problem.
"Romney said he was unsure whether climate change is occurring and whether human activity is causing it," reported the May 7 Environment & Energy Daily.
Romney characterized his support of the plan as an "insurance policy" focusing on voluntary initiatives in the private sector and mandatory reductions primarily directed at state agencies themselves.
"If climate change is happening, the actions we take will help," Romney wrote. "If climate change is largely caused by human action, this will really help. If we learn decades from now that climate change isn't happening, these actions will still help our economy, our quality of life, and the quality of our environment."
^{(Massachusetts Gov. Romney Unveils Climate Protection Plan, Heartland Institute, July 1, 2004)}

This kind of stuff is feel-good-ism that could betoken either co-opting the leftist agenda or caving into it... as always, the details matter.

So I found Romney’s skepticism encouraging:

“In addition to rejecting more stringent proposals, Romney made a special effort to convey that he personally had doubts about alarmist global warming theory, going so far as to attach a letter to the plan’s final version suggesting he remains unconvinced that man-made greenhouse gases are an environmental problem.

“Romney said he was unsure whether climate change is occurring and whether human activity is causing it,” reported the May 7 Environment & Energy Daily.

Romney characterized his support of the plan as an “insurance policy” focusing on voluntary initiatives in the private sector and mandatory reductions primarily directed at state agencies themselves.

“If climate change is happening, the actions we take will help,” Romney wrote. “If climate change is largely caused by human action, this will really help. If we learn decades from now that climate change isn’t happening, these actions will still help our economy, our quality of life, and the quality of our environment.”

I am going to be looking at Romney’s energy policy with a close eye. This is an area where even a ‘conservative’ could get tripped up and end up giving an issue to the libs, or if he goes RINO on this issue like McCain has, ends up signing up for the bogus ‘cap-n-trade’ idea. IMHO that is even worse than a flat-out carbon tax.

As for Mass. plan, here’s another quote, worried the proposals are just camels nose under the tent ...

Marlo Lewis, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says, “All such schemes are Trojan horses for Kyoto-type policies. Credits awarded for ‘early’ reductions are assets that mature and attain full market value only under a mandatory emissions reduction target or ‘cap.’ Consequently, every credit holder acquires an incentive to lobby for emission caps.”

Sounds conservative to me.

_____________________

Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement on the current environmental debate.

Saying that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was right on this issue, he continued:

"Unfortunately, some in the Republican Party are embracing the radical environmental ideas of the liberal left. As governor, I found that thoughtful environmentalism need not be anti-growth and anti-jobs."

"But Kyoto-style sweeping mandates, imposed unilaterally in the United States, would kill jobs, depress growth and shift manufacturing to the dirtiest developing nations."
"Republicans should never abandon pro-growth conservative principles in an effort to embrace the ideas of Al Gore. Instead of sweeping mandates, we must use America's power of innovation to develop alternative sources of energy and new technologies that use energy more efficiently."

Governor Romney opposed mandatory, Kyoto-like “global warming” regulations in Massachusetts, opting instead for voluntary, pro-growth measures to improve the environment and reduce carbon emissions.
(Romney Unveils Climate Protection Plan for Massachusetts, May 6, 2004)

____________________________

"Unfortunately, some in the Republican Party are embracing the radical environmental ideas of the liberal left. As governor, I found that thoughtful environmentalism need not be anti-growth and anti-jobs."

"Republicans should never abandon pro-growth conservative principles in an effort to embrace the ideas of Al Gore. Instead of sweeping mandates, we must use America's power of innovation to develop alternative sources of energy and new technologies that use energy more efficiently."

As always, smart, savvy and conservative.