Bad news for James Inhofe the new Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton. Increasing numbers of Republicans no longer go along with their party's leaders rejection of climate science.
Poll: Half of Republicans back limits on carbonBy DINA CAPPIELLO
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Republicans take control of Congress next month, top on their agenda will be undoing environmental regulations they claim will harm the economy, chief among them President Barack Obama's plans to limit heat-trapping carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants.
The results of a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and Yale University show their priorities may be misplaced.
Six in 10 Americans, including half of all Republicans, said they support regulation of carbon dioxide pollution, although they weren't asked how. Nearly half of Republicans said the U.S. should lead the global fight to curb climate change, even if it means taking action when other countries do not. And majorities across party lines said environmental protections "improve economic growth and provide new jobs" in the long run, a popular Obama administration talking point.
"This poll proves that Republicans here in Washington are disconnected from average Republicans across the country," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the current chairwoman of the Senate environment panel. "Anyone with a pulse and a heartbeat — with the exception of Republicans in Congress — knows that climate change is upon us, and we must step up and reduce dangerous carbon pollution."Republicans in congress are far more concerned with pleasing their big donors than wheat the majority of Americans want.