It isn’t easy being green. Especially if you’re a Republican vying for the popular vote, according to a list on Grist.
The environmental website targets the top ten “brownwashing” Republicans – a term coined by one of the site’s readers, which refers to a political action of saying something environmentally friendly at one point, only to distance oneself from the former position at a later, more crucial moment. For instance, when running for something.
Three Great Lakes politicians made the list. In fact, these politicos dominate the top five. Ouch.
Three Great Lakes politicians make Grist's top ten list of "brownwashing" Republicans.
Coming in at number five and somewhere in between John McCain and his former running mate, Sarah Palin, is Mark Kirk, a U.S. senator from Illinois. Grist says that Kirk supported the Waxman-Markey climate and clean energy bill while a member of the House, only to turn his back on it three months later in an effort to win his Senate seat.
Number three is Fred Upton, a U.S. Representative from Michigan. “I strongly believe that everything must be on the table as we seek to reduce carbon emissions,” Grist quotes Upton as saying in April of 2009. By December 2010, he apparently changed his tune: “… This presumes that carbon is a problem in need of regulation. We are not convinced.”
The number two spot goes to Tim Pawlenty, a former governor of Minnesota. Grist says Pawlenty is the only politician on the list who ditches the jargon and flat out admits: “As to climate change, or more specifically cap-and-trade, I’ve just come out and admitted it – look, it was a mistake, it was stupid.”
Is Grist too harsh or too partisan? Or is it simply calling out these politicians on their inconsistencies? Did they miss someone? And where is the list of “brownwashing” Democrats?