Marco Rubio and John Kasich revealed they have opposing views on climate change during the CNN Republican debate, with Kasich saying humans do contribute to climate change, and Rubio refusing to directly answer the question.
Rubio began by saying that "the climate is changing, and one of the reasons why the climate is changing is because the climate has always been changing. There has never been a time when the climate has not changed." He said policymakers have to determine if "the climate is changing because of something we are doing," but "as far as a law that we can pass in Washington to change the weather, there's no such thing." He claimed "Americans are going to pay the price" for laws that "will do nothing for the environment and will hurt our economy," and said it's pointless to even try to do anything to combat climate change because "China is still going to be polluting."
When pressed by moderator Jake Tapper, Rubio would not say explicitly if he agreed with the scientific consensus that climate change is manmade, but Kasich said he does, and in Ohio, emissions have been reduced by 30 percent. Kasich also said he believes in looking at "all the sources of energy," including natural gas, nuclear power, solar energy, and wind energy, adding that "renewables matter" and there can be "strong environmental policy at the same time as strong economic growth."
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