Global warming skepticism rising within GOP

Washington ? It wasn’t long ago that Marco Rubio and Tim Pawlenty — two rising Republican stars — supported legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions. But in recent weeks, both have begun to express doubts about whether cars, factories and power plants have anything to do with global warming.

The shift by Rubio and Pawlenty — as well as other prominent Republicans — reflects the rising power of climate change skeptics in the GOP, where global warming is becoming a litmus test for conservatives.

Rubio, former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, is running for the U.S. Senate. Pawlenty, Minnesota’s governor, is eyeing a 2012 presidential bid.

For Republicans, “the new political expediency is to be a global warming skeptic,” said Marc Morano, executive editor of the skeptic clearinghouse Web site ClimateDepot.com and a former aide to outspoken skeptic Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla.

Fuel for the resurgence of attacks on global warming came in December, when leaked e-mails from a British university showed top climate scientists from around the world apparently discussing skirting public information laws and other practices of questionable ethics — an incident that has become known as Climategate.

Then came revelations of flaws in a key United Nations report, including a claim — not supported by scientific evidence — that Himalayan glaciers could disappear because of warming by 2035.

Fearing the public is losing confidence in the science, researchers are fighting back by engaging their critics more directly, acknowledging errors and perception problems and encouraging the release of more raw data.

And while the issue has made for fiery campaign rhetoric, it hasn’t appeared to sway the close to a dozen Republicans in the Senate who still appear open to emissions restrictions, largely because of the prospect of new jobs and reduced dependence on foreign oil that could come from the development of alternative energy sources.

Global warming skepticism rising within GOP

Washington ? It wasn’t long ago that Marco Rubio and Tim Pawlenty — two rising Republican stars — supported legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions. But in recent weeks, both have begun to express doubts about whether cars, factories and power plants have anything to do with global warming.

The shift by Rubio and Pawlenty — as well as other prominent Republicans — reflects the rising power of climate change skeptics in the GOP, where global warming is becoming a litmus test for conservatives.

Rubio, former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, is running for the U.S. Senate. Pawlenty, Minnesota’s governor, is eyeing a 2012 presidential bid.

For Republicans, “the new political expediency is to be a global warming skeptic,” said Marc Morano, executive editor of the skeptic clearinghouse Web site ClimateDepot.com and a former aide to outspoken skeptic Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla.

Fuel for the resurgence of attacks on global warming came in December, when leaked e-mails from a British university showed top climate scientists from around the world apparently discussing skirting public information laws and other practices of questionable ethics — an incident that has become known as Climategate.

Then came revelations of flaws in a key United Nations report, including a claim — not supported by scientific evidence — that Himalayan glaciers could disappear because of warming by 2035.

Fearing the public is losing confidence in the science, researchers are fighting back by engaging their critics more directly, acknowledging errors and perception problems and encouraging the release of more raw data.

And while the issue has made for fiery campaign rhetoric, it hasn’t appeared to sway the close to a dozen Republicans in the Senate who still appear open to emissions restrictions, largely because of the prospect of new jobs and reduced dependence on foreign oil that could come from the development of alternative energy sources.