Mike Huckabee on climate change

Mike Huckabee for President : I believe that we must be good stewards of our environment and support many paths to reducing our emission of greenhouse gases, such as more nuclear power and alternative sources of clean energy. As part of our overall effort, I also support a cap and trade system, which has worked well for reduction of sulphur dioxide emissions. However, I do not agree with those who want all allowances to be auctioned off because I believe that will create too great a burden on businesses. The alternative to cap and trade is a carbon tax, which I don’t support.

CBS News : Katie Couric Asks The Candidates In “Primary Questions:" Is The Global Warming Threat Overblown?

Huckabee: I don’t know. I mean, the honest answer for me, scientifically, is “I don’t know.” But here’s one thing I do know, that we ought to not let this become this big political football and point of argument. We all ought to agree that we live on this planet as guests. I think Republicans have made a big mistake by not being more on the forefront of conservationism.

I consider myself a conservationist. I think we ought to have some cap and trade. It worked with acid rain. I think it could work with CO2 emissions. I think we ought to be out there talking about ways to reduce energy consumption and waste. And we ought to declare that we will be oil free of energy consumption in this country within a decade, bold as that is.

Frankly, it’s a matter of national security to get to the point where we’re not dependent upon oil coming from countries who, frankly, aren’t very friendly to us.