http://www.humanevents.com/rightangle/index.php?p=21960 The Greening of Gingrich by Amanda B. Carpenter In a heavily hyped debate â one that environmentalist Democrats hoped would be a âsmack downâ on Republicans -- former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich disappointed them and conservatives alike when he declared that human activity was causing the Earth to warm. The concession was made in a debate on global warming with Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.) today on Capitol Hill that was sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the RAND Corporation. In his first portion of allotted time Gingrich said there were two undisputed areas of scientific consensus on global warming: that the earth is getting hotter and the warming had been caused by human activity. At one point, Kerry asked Gingrich what he would say to conservatives like Sen. James Inhofe (R.-Okla.) who do not believe global warming is caused by human activity. Gingrich said, "The evidence is sufficient that we should move to the most effective possible steps to reduce carbon." âWe should be moving to develop all kinds of new green technology,â Gingrich said. He challenged Kerry to find market-based solutions to reduce carbon emission instead of increasing environmental regulations. âRegulation and litigation are the least effective ways of getting solutions,â the former Speaker said. âReshaping markets with incentives are the fastest way.â Kerry argued that environment laws drafted with help from the United Nations have been successful. Kerry said the laws were âneeded to create the leverage and the market so they would go out and invest in the technology because they donât invest without it.â Government regulation, he said âis the only way to invite people to make that investment.â âWe are not arguing bureaucracy and regulation. We are arguing whether putting a price on carbon is bureaucracy.â Kerry said it was not. âThis is not bureaucracy. You set the standard the market will set the price,â he said. âWe all live in a world where we donât pay for the cost. We donât pay for the loss of fish, we donât pay for the lost of these species. None of that is priced into the goods today.â Before launching into his initial speech, Gingrich endorsed the book Kerry had co-authored with his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry "This Moment on Earth.". âThis is excellent, this is a very good book,â he said. âI would commend this book to anyone who wants to see local leadership make a difference.â Gingrich said he didnât agree with âabout 60% of itâ but would urge others to âread it because itâs an example of individual local leadership against the odds.â Gingrichâs concession was expected in many news circles as part of his long-shot strategy to run for President in 2008. He has said since last year that he would make a decision to run or not sometime in the fall of this year. He is planning to release a new book, "Contract with the Earth" this November that he co-wrote with conservationist Terry Maples. Yesterday, in his weekly email newsletter âWinning the Futureâ Gingrich said that September 27 would be âSolutions Day.â This is to honor the 13th anniversary of his 1994 âContract with America.â Last week, Gingrich called the Spanish language a âghetto language.â Immediately after the mishap, he recorded an extensive apology, in Spanish, directed to the Hispanic community that made available on YouTube. Last month, he revealed to Focus on the Familyâs James Dobson that he had an extramarital affair. In January, Gingrich appeared at a hearing conducted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to talk about how to stabilize Iraq.
This is another example of why people who remember him as Speaker can't imagine Gingrich as president. Clinton beat him like a borrowed mule, now he doesn't even have the stones to stand up to kerry. Most likely, he saw the light on GW after getting some big lobbying contract for one of the many pork extravganzas congress is planning to "solve" this problem.
Conoco Philips became the first large oil co to call for carbon emission caps (today in the WSJ). These guys will be falling over themselves to get on board. One CEO was quoted as saying, "If you aren't at the table when GW legislation is being written, you will be on the menu".