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What The Candidates Say About Climate Change

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A 2015 NASA global data set combines historical measurements with data from climate simulations using the best available computer models to provide forecasts of how global temperature (shown here) and precipitation might change up to 2100 under different greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. (NASA)
A 2015 NASA global data set combines historical measurements with data from climate simulations using the best available computer models to provide forecasts of how global temperature (shown here) and precipitation might change up to 2100 under different greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. (NASA)

Two studies published Monday connect increasingly routine tidal flooding in many East Coast communities to climate change caused by human-produced greenhouse gases.

This morning on the Fox Business Network, Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said “I've talked about climate change. I think there is such a thing,” making him stand out among rivals who question climate change science.

Mashable science editor Andrew Freedman speaks with Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson about various candidates' positions on climate change.

  • Donald Trump: “I am not a believer and unless somebody can prove something to me … I believe there’s weather, I believe there’s change and I believe it goes up and it goes down and it goes up again and it changes depending on years and centuries.”
  • Marco Rubio: “We are not going to destroy our economy, we are not going to make America a harder place to create jobs in order to pursue policies that will do absolutely nothing, nothing, to change our climate, to change our weather, because America is a lot of things. The greatest country in the world? Absolutely. But America is not a planet and we are not even the largest carbon producer anymore, China is.”
  • Ted Cruz: “Satellite data shows there has been no significant recorded warming. None.” “[Climate change] is being driven by politicians who want more control over our lives.”
  • John Kasich: “I do not know how much that individuals affect the climate but here’s what I do know: I know that we need to develop all of the renewables and we need to do it in an orderly way, and we need to have wind and we need to have solar.”
  • Ben Carson: “Whether we are experiencing global warming or a coming ice age, which was predicted the 1970s, we as responsible human beings must be concerned about our surroundings and what we will pass on to future generations. However, to use climate change as an excuse not to develop our God-given resources makes little sense.”
  • Bernie Sanders: “We need to be bold and decisive. We can create millions of jobs. We must, for the sake of our kids and grandchildren, transform our energy system away from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.”
  • Hillary Clinton: “The reality of climate change is unforgiving no matter what the deniers say.” “We’ll stop the giveaways to big oil companies and extend, instead, tax incentives for clean energy, while making them more cost-effective for both taxpayers and producers.”
  • 2015 NPR chart shows where candidates stand on climate change

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This segment aired on February 23, 2016.

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