Posted on 04/10/2007 1:19:25 PM PDT by xjcsa
In a heavily hyped debate one that environmentalist Democrats hoped would be a smack down 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."
We should be moving to develop all kinds of new green technology, Gingrich said. He challenged Kerry to find market-based solutions to reduce carbon emission instead of increasing environmental regulations.
Regulation and litigation are the least effective ways of getting solutions, the former Speaker said. Reshaping markets with incentives are the fastest way.
Kerry argued that environment laws drafted with help from the United Nations have been successful.
Kerry said the laws were needed to create the leverage and the market so they would go out and invest in the technology because they dont invest without it. Government regulation, he said is the only way to invite people to make that investment.
We are not arguing bureaucracy and regulation. We are arguing whether putting a price on carbon is bureaucracy.
Kerry said it was not. This is not bureaucracy. You set the standard the market will set the price, he said. We all live in a world where we dont pay for the cost. We dont pay for the loss of fish, we dont pay for the lost of these species. None of that is priced into the goods today.
Before launching into his initial speech, Gingrich endorsed the book Kerry had co-authored with his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry "This Moment on Earth.".
This is excellent, this is a very good book, he said. I would commend this book to anyone who wants to see local leadership make a difference. Gingrich said he didnt agree with about 60% of it but would urge others to read it because its an example of individual local leadership against the odds.
Gingrichs 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 Winning the Future Gingrich said that September 27 would be Solutions Day. This is to honor the 13th anniversary of his 1994 Contract with America.
Last week, Gingrich called the Spanish language a ghetto language. 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 Familys James Dobson that he had an extramarital affair on Dobsons radio show.
In January, Gingrich appeared at a hearing conducted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to talk about how to stabilize Iraq.
Not to mention both wives were seriously ill when he dumped them.
I saw most of this debate Tuesday morning on C-SPAN. It was nauseating...
He is a good conservative writer, he just doesn't believe what he writes.
- Carbon Credits For Sale - Cheap -
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Thanks Aunt B, not like I was going to vote for the man, but thought he might have been good in the cabinet. Now that the curtain is pulled back, I’d have to say no way. When a person has weak principles, a people need to ask, what else would he sell us out on? Can’t afford to find out!
*points to tagline*
IMHO, Newt has never been, and could never be, a serious candidate for President. He wants to be loved by everyone too much to stand up for conservative ideals. He also lacks the basic character that we should demand from our elected leaders.
Hopefully, this episode (combined with his Hillary love-fest on health care) will put the final nail in the coffin of the “Newt 2008” campaign.
He is, however, a great thinker and a fantastic source of ideas consistent with the conservative movement. He should stick to this role and quit deluding himself about running for president.
Thanks for the DH info, check outout my profile page!
Right after Hurricane Katrina, Newt was on Fox saying that we needed a "Marshall Plan for the Gulf Coast." To me, "Marshall Plan" means "big federal government programs and spending."
With people like Newt whining about the need for all of this spending, the panicky Congressional Republicans (absent a few logical folks) passed that huge Katrina Aid bill.
About 16 months later the stories came out about all of the waste, fraud, and corruption that had eaten up that money.
And there was Newt on Fox again, saying that "this is what you get when big government handles programs like this, and it should have been handled by the private sector."
There is no way to parse his comments as anything but a complete flip-flop, based, I suspect, on opportunism! How else would you explain this?
He has a bad habit of saying what he thinks Americans want to hear. He is inconsistent, weak, timid when confronted, and NOT a good candidate for the presidency.
So he baheaved exactly as I would have expected. What makes it worse is that he validated John F. Kerry!
Pffft! NOT presidentital material at all!
That’s it. He’s off the list.
please add me to the list
I still can’t understand the adulation this poser Gingrich receives from conservatives. Unless they have been living under a rock, we all now know that Gingrich let the Rapist walk, because Bubba & The Hildebeast had the goods on all of Newt’s skirt chasing on Capitol Hill.
At the time no-one could figure out why Newt was pushing the GOP to simply focus on the perjury charges, ignore all the moral issues that clearly were grounds for impeachment. Forget the rape allegations by Broaddrick, the masturbating in the sink of the oval office bathroom, all the tickle-the-weenie stuff in the oval office, his groping of women and on and on. Forget all the illegal chinese campaign donations and the subsequent sale of technology to China, against the Pentagon’s objections, because it was clear the technology could have military implications. Charlie Trie, John Huang, the whole stinking mess.
Forget the entire stench that is Bill Clinton and was his administration, just concentrate on a lie about fooling around with the adolescent blimp. That’s what Gingrich pushed on the GOP, the idiots listened, and now we know why Gingrich let Bubba slide.
Now he’s playing footsies with Kerry, when he’s not advising the GOP to not go after all the dirt in the PIAPS’ past.
This egomaniac still thinks he can run for President and is still owned by the Clintons. It’s time the conservative movement sent this loser packing and stop listening to the self-serving advise he’s so eager to spew.
Newt is becoming another wimp-out artist!!
When I make up my mind, it's made up, campg. You can have the responsibility of seeing where Newt goes. I don't care anymore. Too bad too, because I've supported him and liked him in the past. Should go back to acedemia and debate just how much government (US & UN) involvement is needed in the war on global warming.
I didn’t follow the Katrina boondoggle. If I’d seen Newt supporting such a “Marshall Plan” for the Gulf he would never have been on my list.
“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.”
—James Madison
I hope algore’s mansion is burning electricity and natural gas at record rates now!
Great graphic potlatch!
Sheryl Crowe is off on her “Global Warming Bus Tour” while April snow is falling in Texas where she is starting out from!
The photo ops and Google satellite photos of algore’s, Heinz-Kerry’s, and Hillary’s homes covered with April snow and ice will make great April Fool’s Day cards for decades!
Sad news, ‘?’ Hart, the creator of BC comic strip died. His caveman cartoon strip always had a religious under-theme to it.
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