Public policy professor Barry Rabe penned a blog post for the Brookings Institution, titled "Some GOP candidates are warming to climate change", on October 29. In the piece, Rabe comments on “the wide range of positions on climate change,” of GOP candidates. Rabe acknowledges, however, that while Republican beliefs are shifting, that “any serious policy engagement likely remains isolated on the fringes of the [Republican] party,” as in the cases of Lindsey Graham and George Pataki.
“There appears less traction than a year or two ago for positioning that contends that global warming is not occurring or is only attributable to natural weather patterns,” says Rabe. He then asks his readers to imagine a debate between Republican frontrunners and candidates outspoken on their climate change views such as Ted Cruz and George Pataki.
Barry Rabe is the J. Ira and Nikki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy at the Ford School and the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Environmental Policy in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan.