Shadegg: Global warming cause still up in air

The Republican Party still isn’t sure global warming is man-made, one
of the top Republican lawmakers on the House Select Committee on Energy
Independence and Global Warming said this Earth Day.

“I
don’t know that there is a party position on this issue,” Rep. John
Shadegg (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday during an appearance on the Fox
Business Network. “I think that there is some debate on whether global
warming is in fact being caused by man-made greenhouse gases.”

{mosads}Shadegg
is the second-ranking Republican lawmaker on the special House
committee, which was established to help curb carbon emissions and
global warming.

“Most Republicans would probably acknowledge
that global warming is occurring; they’re not certain the science yet
is there on the issue of whether it’s man-made,” Shadegg said.

The
Arizona lawmaker’s comments come after House Minority Leader John
Boehner (R-Ohio) said this past Sunday that the idea that carbon
dioxide is affecting the global climate is “comical.”

For his part, Shadegg argued that the government should pursue green energy in addition to increased oil and gas exploration.

“If
you start with those things that would give you a dual benefit,”
Shadegg explained, “that way if it later turns out it’s not man-made
greenhouse gases that are causing global warming — if it’s sun spots
or something else — we’ve still gained a benefit by reducing our
reliance on all energy, and foreign energy in particular.”

Shadegg
said he preferred a straightforward carbon tax to the cap-and-trade
system favored by the Obama administration, and accused congressional
Democrats of arranging political favors to win the necessary votes on
the cap-and-trade legislation.