Paul LePage, the governor of Maine, doesn't seem to get it when it comes to climate change. Despite Maine voters' clear support for reducing carbon pollution and acting to address climate change, LePage reliably blocks action and denies the gravity of the climate challenge.
LePage's latest dumbfounding bit of denial was to focus on what he believes is the positive side of climate change. Speaking at a conference, he said, "Everybody looks at the negative effects of global warming, but with the ice melting, the Northern Passage has opened up. So maybe, instead of being at the end of the pipeline, we're now at the beginning of a new pipeline."
While I am certainly a glass-half-full person, climate change is hardly an appropriate place for a nonchalant focus on one person's perception of a silver lining. In Maine, warmer waters, ocean acidification and extreme weather are threatening clam populations and sea birds. Sea level rise and extreme weather events threaten the state's coastline. LePage's certainty on the upside of global warming is also interesting considering his previous comments that climate change is a "hoax" and a "scam" with the science unsettled. If the impacts of a warming world are so apparent in one instance, why not in the others?
I can only hope that LePage's clumsy climate comments are a sign that he is joining the vast majority of Americans in accepting the truth of climate change science. Certainly many in his own political party, including 61 percent of non-Tea Party Republicans, accept the science. Perhaps LePage's shift from denier to opportunist is a sign that he's understanding his constituents' views better. After all, polling conducted for the NRDC Action Fund found that 83 percent of Mainers wanted a reduction in industrial carbon pollution.
We will soon have a chance to see what Mainers think of LePage's views (and actions) when it comes to addressing climate change and promoting (or obstructing) clean energy. LePage is up for reelection in November 2014 and will face off against Rep. Mike Michaud, a strong supporter of clean energy and climate action. In contrast to his opponent, Michaud says, "Any potential benefit of allowing climate change to continue unaddressed is far outweighed by the danger of our failure to act."
Michaud has gotten the message that running clean works. Will LePage?