In a stunning move, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed the re-election of Barack Obama almost solely because of the issue of climate change. In a piece on the Bloomberg news web site, he said that the destruction caused by hurricane Sandy had led him to his decision. He wrote:
“The floods and fires that swept through our city left a path of destruction that will require years of recovery and rebuilding work. And in the short term, our subway system remains partially shut down, and many city residents and businesses still have no power. In just 14 months, two hurricanes have forced us to evacuate neighborhoods — something our city government had never done before. If this is a trend, it is simply not sustainable.”
“Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be — given this week’s devastation — should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.”
Bloomberg very directly castigates Romney for reversing his position on the topic, saying that his previous stances about climate change were driven by free-market, centrist ideas. He digs up a quote from when Romney was governor of Massachusetts, and signed on to a regional cap-and-trade plan to reduce carbon emissions. ” “The benefits (of that plan) will be long- lasting and enormous — benefits to our health, our economy, our quality of life, our very landscape. These are actions we can and must take now, if we are to have ‘no regrets’ when we transfer our temporary stewardship of this Earth to the next generation,”Romney wrote.
Bloomberg says that Romney ” couldn’t have been more right” — but then notes that he reversed his position. Then he calls Romney “a good and decent man” who has reversed his positions on many issues on which he was right the first time.
Although denied by many Republicans, the idea that the climate has been changing because of human behavior, including the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, is widely accepted by scientists.
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