12 Of 15 Washington GOP Candidates Polled Said Nothing On Climate: Silence - It's The New Denial
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A survey conducted by the Spokane chapter of the climate action group 350 asked the candidates for local, state and national office a series of questions about global warming, including whether they even accept it is happening. Twelve of the 15 GOP candidates didn’t answer.
This is the new mode of denialism, as outright denialism becomes less politically tenable. In place of yesterday’s confident denialism, there is cowardly evasion. In place of yesterday’s scoffing dismissal of the science, a cagey silence has descended. In place of yesterday’s snowball-on-the-Senate-floor nonsense, there is the timid attempt to “yes, but” the issue. That’s what Cathy McMorris Rodgers does when she “yes, buts” whether climate change is driving explosive wildfires – yes, climate change is real, she says, but it’s nothing more than a political talking point to suggest this real climate change is having a real impact on real forests.
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McMorris Rodgers did not answer 350 Spokane’s survey, naturally. Neither did Loren Culp, the GOP’s surrender candidate for governor. Neither did incumbent County Commissioners Josh Kerns and Mary Kuney, or incumbent legislators Bob McCaslin, Mike Padden, Mike Volz, Joel Kretz or Jenny Graham.
Of the local GOP slate, the only answers came from legislative candidates Rob Chase, a former county treasurer who has recently espoused an openness to the unhinged QAnon theories and believes Covid-19 is no worse than the flu; Bob Apple, a former city councilman whose views are similarly situated out of sight from the mainstream; and Laura Carder, a member of the John Birch Society. Each asserted they did not believe global warming was mostly caused by human activity. Give them credit for not hiding.
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https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/oct/21/shawn-vestal-silence-becomes-the-new-style-of-deni/
