Good interview with Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) in Foreign Policy in Focus this week. Gilchrest, chair of the House Climate Change Caucus and co-sponsor of the Climate Stewardship Act, was not appointed to the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming last month because he refused to deny that humans are causing climate change.
A few excerpts from the interview:
Gilchrest: There’s no question that we’re at a time when we need strong, bold initiatives. This is not something where we have decades to deal with it. When you create legislation, it’s around for a long time before it’s changed. So going into this thing we’ve got to be bold. I think the percentage below 1990 levels by 2050 — whether it’s 80% or 70% or even 60% is not as critical as getting something done that is relatively bold. If you get a good economy-wide cap and trade program in place you get at the source of carbon, which is oil. It’s not: “do we need a CAFE [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] standard that’s this or that.” Then you really get into the minutiae of things and it becomes much more difficult.
Gilchrest: Using China and India as an excuse is a backward concept. China and India have both recognized the science of global warming. There’s no dispute within the Indian government or the Chinese government that human activity is causing the climate to change. And they are actually taking steps to improve their production of greenhouse gases. There are a number of places in India that are a part of the Chicago Climate Exchange. So these two countries recognize it. They’re in a struggle about how to maintain and improve their economies because they don’t yet have the technology to deal with all these greenhouse gas issues.
