The Washington Post reports that “House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) plans to unveil a strategy Thursday outlining how Republicans would address climate change, energy and environmental issues if their party gains control of the House in the midterm elections.” The plan is anticipated to focus on “streamlining the permitting process for large infrastructure projects, increasing domestic fossil fuel production and boosting exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas.” It is not clear to me (or the Washington Post) how increasing domestic fossil fuel production will address climate change or the environment. Still, it has been awhile since the GOP has felt the need to offer a policy platform. A very recent PEW poll found significant support for climate change policy. In particular, it found internal policy divisions among Republicans:
- “66% of self-described moderate and liberal Republicans favor taking steps toward [carbon neutrality].”
- “67% of conservative Republicans say it should be expanding production of oil, coal and natural gas.”
In all PEW summarized the data on Republican views, “On balance, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents give greater priority to expanding the production of oil, coal and natural gas than to developing alternative energy sources, and they overwhelmingly believe that fossil fuels should remain a part of the energy picture in the U.S.”