Poor Carly Fiorina. To make conservative ideologues happy, she has to abandon science and her previous positions on the key issues of global warming and clean energy (see “The dumbing down of Carly Fiorina” and links below).
But to win election statewide, she has to appeal to the majority of California voters, who understand that clean energy is the key to the state’s long-term economic and job growth — and that unrestricted emissions of greenhouse gases will devastate California more than most states.
And so in her first debate with climate and clean energy champion Barbara Boxer, she simply couldn’t give a straightforward answer to the simple question of whether she supported the Big-Oil-funded Prop 23 effort to gut California’s landmark climate and clean energy laws.
Let’s go to the videotape (watch to the end):
Ouch.
You know that you have screwed up as a conservative politician when the center-right Politico says so:
Fiorina’s major stumble came on the issue of Proposition 23, which would suspend AB 32. She said the focus should be on federal climate legislation and that she had not yet taken a position on the proposition.
“If you can’t take a stand on Prop. 23, I don’t know what you will take a stand on,” Boxer responded.
Talking to reporters after the debate, Fiorina sidestepped the issue, saying she would “probably” take a position on Prop. 23 before November, though it’s not her main priority. She insisted the real referendum on energy legislation “is on the ballot “” and her name is Sen. Barbara Boxer.”
You’ll note that Fiorina immediately jumps to the old right-wing talking point created by Frank Luntz for conservatives who want to sound like they care about global warming and clean energy without actually having to do anything: We need to fund energy R&D (see Bush climate speech follows Luntz playbook: “Technology, technology, blah, blah, blah”).
As for her claim that AB32 is a job-killer, not only do 118 economists disagree, but so did Fiorina and rational Republicans just two years ago (see Flashback: Carly Fiorina said cap-and-trade “will both create jobs and lower the cost of energy”):
Sad, really.
Related Posts:
- Stopping Proposition 23: Five things you can do to fight global warming and advance clean energy
- After Inhofe’s endorsement, Carly Fiorina challenges climate science “” unlike the company she once ran!
- Steven Chu on climate change: “Wake up,” America, “we’re looking at a scenario where there’s no more agriculture in California.”
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Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
:)
I think the human race is hosed. Just watched The Age of Stupid.
Boxer nailed her with that rebuttal, but I would have liked her to directly refute Fiorina’s BS about cap and trade bills being job killers. She did make a good point about not wanting green tech jobs going to China and other countries, but it would have been nice if she’d mentioned the job growth created by green tech in California (though maybe she did at another point in the debate, since I missed it).
I’m glad Politico brought attention to Fiorina’s screw-up, too. Boxer was exactly right – I don’t know how you can possibly not have a position on Prop 23. The only way is if you’re a politician who’s trying to appeal to everybody by offending nobody – the tightrope Fiorina is forced to walk.
This isn’t about politics any more… it’s about survival.
God help us all.
This is part of the fossil end-game. They are fighting against climate solutions because the solution is to no longer define hydrocarbons as fuels. As mined matter “commodities” they are not true energy resources to Mother Earth (or science), in fact the opposite (sequestered carbon materials that provides our climate). And boy is she angry at the fraud of our civilization.
The T Party agenda is backed by tens of trillions of dollars of vested/invested interests that are now national/international security threats. To observe them at work (recent Mother Jones, New Yorker, Think Progress, Greenpeace, etc.) is astounding, but nothing new.
Perhaps it represents political regression before some kind of transition. Meanwhile, the planet is only beginning to heat up and millions suffer.
Fiorina certainly looks like a [snip] to us, but apparently she’s polling close to Boxer. If Fiorina wins, it will be just as bad a feeling as I got when Bush won. God won’t help us, nor will the government, and change will have to come from the ground up.
It’s frightening that all of the Republican candidates have been terrorized into denying global warming in some fashion. Many of them know better.
Is this the doing of the Tea Partyers? Or do the lies based on the East Anglia thefts have traction with the public still? Or is this some powerful people behind the scenes pulling everyone’s chains?
What’s going on? As the climate gets worse, the Republicans flee from any sensible action. Like the stampede of lemmings to the sea.
Purple Ozone at 7 -
What concerns me more is the Democratic party’s half-hearted response to the GOP denialism, making it appear inept/timid/corrupt in the view of centre & democratic voters, particularly the street activists whose enthusiasm is critical to the outcome of the November elections.
If both Congress & Senate were to change hands, the resulting circus would further blight the chance of a democratic presidency in 2012.
So if the Whitehouse cannot see that the inherited policy of a ‘brinkmanship of inaction’ with China, which continues to preclude the president’s vital leadership on the climate issue at home, is now intensely damaging to the nation’s, the party’s and his own prospects, then it is time he was told so bluntly, in public.
(I’ve no doubt he’s already been told so in private, given the many published coded messages on this issue by scientists, military, allied governments, etc).
So who has the standing to describe that inherited Bush-era policy and demand its review ? Gore could, but has yet to criticize any current policy AFAIK, though its hard to see what he has to lose. Colin Powell could do a highly credible bipartisan speech on it, but has thus far been quiet since leaving office. Hansen just wouldn’t get a hearing, having already de facto rejected the UNFCCC basis for a treaty.
Getting that blunt message delivered effectively might seem a distant hope, but without it prospects appear increasingly grim as 2, 6 or 10 years may be wasted by denialism regaining control. Only the president providing staunch leadership on climate could now redeem the position. Therefore I’d suggest that getting the message to the Whitehouse via a messenger that can’t be ignored is now the critical priority for those in a position to help do so.
Regards,
Lewis
Boxer believes that, ‘terrorists should be given the constitutional rights of US citizens…’ says Fiorina.
WTF. No wonder HP tanked! Fiorina is clearly not in touch with reality!
PurpleOzone:
there has to be powerful forces working in the background to continue public confusion and derail any attempts at hole-proof legislation to counter the effects of the carbon culture. How else to explain the MSM puppets jerking to the pull of the ‘gate strings and the timing of the CRU hack brouhaha?
California gave your nation hope and it is the likes of Fiorina who are behaving in an anti-American way. If she wins then the rest of the world should try to isolate the US as clearly there is going to be no leadership from that quarter despite all the efforts of Joe et. al.
Of course certain Middle East entities are not going to help the process and Bush clearly new this and Obama will probably be risking his own and his families safety if he goes against such forces too hard – hence his limp wristed approach. I only wish I am wrong on this score but I remember where I was the last time a US president, who had done just that, was eliminated.
Want to know about Fiorina? Check with any former employee of HP. She was a micro-manager that did not take advice from anyone else. The merger she managed nearly killed the company. As I recall the stock went from about 50 to 14, which certainly hurt everyone holding stock and especially those nearing retirement.
As to the so-called major stumble I felt her entire evening of remarks were very telling. This woman has no clue of reality or what this states requires to begin recovery.