Huntsman changes tune on climate change

By: Rebecca Kaplan
Topics: Campaign 2012

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has been an outlier in the Republican field for his fierce defense of scientists who say humans are responsible for climate change. But at a policy briefing in Washington on Tuesday, he appeared to modify that position, saying the scientific community owes the public more research.

"The scientific community owes us more in terms of a better description or explanation about what might lie beneath all of this," Huntsman told a group of bloggers at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. "There's not enough information right now to be able to formulate policies in terms of addressing it overall, primarily because it's a global issue. We can enact policies here, but...I wouldn't want to hinder job creators when our economy is flat, when you've got other nations that are major emitters."

Huntsman told a reporter in the audience Tuesday that he is being consistent on the issue. "I defer to those who do it for a living," he said. "Because there are questions on the validity of the science. ... I think the onus is on the scientific community to help clarify the situation, that's all."

But in late August, Huntsman was extremely critical of his party's stance on global warming and climate change in an interview on ABC's "This Week," where he called it a "losing position."

"The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party, the anti-science party, we have a huge problem. We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012," Huntsman said then. "When we take a position that isn't willing to embrace evolution, when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the National Academy of Sciences has said about what is causing climate change and man's contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science, and, therefore, in a losing position."

He also kicked off started a firestorm on the social nework Twitter in August when he wrote, "To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy."

Rebecca Kaplan
Rebecca Kaplan covers the 2012 presidential campaign for CBS News and National Journal.
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by stevenwaters December 7, 2011 1:25 PM EST: I think it is a big stretch to say he has "changed his tune" or stance regarding climate change. Huntsman has on several occasions even on national television stated his stance on this issue. I think he is clarifying his opinion which is that that 97-97% of the scientific community agree that humans have influenced climate change however there is still some disagreement among the scientific community.; Reply to this comment


by satin_lingerie December 7, 2011 11:58 AM EST: Global Warming is real. It is scientifically proven no mater how much big oil and big coal companies pay politicians to say nonsense to the contrary.; Reply to this comment


by tsigili December 7, 2011 9:06 AM EST: Everyone kicks the planet, in the end, for gains, themselves.

Good thing they have found somewhere else we might go, because humans have every intention of killing this planet, in the near future.; Reply to this comment


by 92F150 December 6, 2011 10:38 PM EST: He's thinking, "Well, at least I tried. But that didn't work." It was probably his own staff that made him change his tune. Like many good politicians, he's saying what the constiuency wants to hear, not what they ought to hear.; Reply to this comment


by noloyalisti December 6, 2011 4:37 PM EST: His Republicon Corporation Masters got to him and threatened him and his family and friends unless he got in line with their deadly propaganda.; Reply to this comment


by elliesamericana December 6, 2011 4:34 PM EST: The one repbuglicon candidate that I thought had a grain of sense. He was dead last, but at least he used to adhere to logic, something his party has left behind. We can only hope none of these "candidates" win the Presidency. Respectfully, retired US Army Medical Officer.; Reply to this comment


by ricooooo December 6, 2011 4:03 PM EST: Jon Huntsman at the Heritage Foundation just sold out to the Koch brothers. And here I thought he was the only Republican candidate with ANY integrity....guess I was wrong. Sighhhhh Not one candidate I can vote for....; Reply to this comment