Common ground on climate change? Some in GOP say yes
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Shortly after President Donald Trump took office, the White House website removed all references to climate change.
Days later, Trump signed orders aimed at continuing construction on the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines.
These moves were in line with his campaign rhetoric. So while they weren't surprising, they have created a great deal of tension between scientists, energy producers and the government. That tension was the topic of a "Climate One" discussion between three Republicans that recently aired on MPR News.
While energy producers and Republicans tend to fight measures involving pollution regulations and carbon taxes, scientists and Democrats fight to speed up the transition to clean energy and dispute corporate tax cuts for the companies who comply with regulations, they said.
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"It's left and right that have to give up on this thing and come together," said Bob Inglis, a former South Carolina congressman. "The left has to say, listen, environmental justice later. The right has to say, really we can trust our fellow citizens to come up with a solution that works. If we can't, the experiment in self-government has failed and we need to call up the queen and ask her back."
Inglis is the executive director of RepublicEn, a group of Republicans working to find a solution to climate change, a mission he says is getting more difficult as the president leads an angry populous in opposition.
Jeremy Carl, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, doesn't think Trump is quite that firm in his resistance.
"He's a dealmaker at the end of the day. And I think if somebody puts a good deal on the table I think it's surprising what we can get done," Carl said, adding that he's more skeptical of Democrats' ability to compromise when it comes to environmental issues.
To reach any agreement, future legislation needs to be focused on what's going to work in the world we live in currently — both for business and the environment — rather than just what might pass Congress, said John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil Company.
That means Republicans understanding and accepting the effects of regulations on the economy, and Democrats being pragmatic about working with businesses toward a solution, he said.
To listen to the discussion, click the audio player above.
