Huntsman, J

---mnn<h4><div class="field-title">Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman </div>

    </h4>
    <div>Now Ambassador to China, Republican Jon Huntsman previously

served as governor of Utah and was once called a promising potential

presidential candidate for 2012 by John McCain. Huntsman bucked the

party line on global warming by first admitting that it exists and then

by actually doing something about it — he signed up his state as a

member of the <a href="http://www.westernclimateinitiative.org/" target="_blank">Western Climate Initiative</a>, a regional cap-and-trade agreement between seven western states and four Canadian provinces.</div>===

superpac % mostly from dad

---

primary: did ok in NH but polled at 1-2% in NC and bailled.

180 (on 180 ?) 12/6/11: at heritage <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/06/huntsman-reverses-stance-n_1132156.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/06/huntsman-reverses-stance-n_1132156.html</a>

Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor and current Republican presidential candidate, earned accolades from environmental advocates earlier this year for denouncing his fellow presidential contenders -- chiefly Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann -- for their regressive views on matters of science, including human-induced global warming.

"When you make comments that fly in the face of what 98 out of 100 climate scientists have said, when you call into question the science of evolution -- " said Huntsman <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/08/republicans-climate-change_n_954016.html" target="_hplink">during an early September debate</a>. "All I'm saying is that in order for the Republican party to win, we can't run from science."

Now it appears that Huntsman, a former U.S. ambassador to China who has been trailing badly in the polls, is recalibrating his own thoughts on the science behind global warming.

GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/06/huntsman-reverses-stance-n_1132156.html" target="hplink">expressed skepticism</a> about the science on climate change, so now all GOP candidates are on the record as doubting either that the planet is clearly warming, or that people are responsible for most of the warming.

Of all the GOP candidates, Huntsman had been the most supportive of action on climate change: in 2007, as governor of Utah, he <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/a-gingrich-candidacy-is-so-feared-hes-managed-to-boost-huntsman/2011/12/06/gIQAMoTAaO_blog.html" target="_hplink">signed up his state</a> for a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions.

There has been an<a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2101393_2101395,00.html" target="hplink"> increase in climate skepticism</a> in the past year and a growing reluctance to say anything about climate, especially among Republicans. The turning point--argued the National Journal's cover story, "<a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/heads-in-the-sand-20111201" target="hplink">Heads in the Sand</a>"--was the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0121/Supreme-Court-Campaign-finance-limits-violate-free-speech" target="hplink">2010 Supreme Court decision</a> that lifted restrictions on campaign spending and boosted so-called <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/is-stephen-colberts-super-pac-innovative-or-dangerous/2011/09/13/gIQAPrQtxM_blog.html" target="hplink">super political action committees</a> (super PACs) that can take unlimited funds.

The <a href="http://www.greatenergychallengeblog.com/blog/2011/12/06/the-strange-state-of-climate-change-denial/" target="_hplink">deniers haven't won yet</a>, though, argued Bill Chameides of Duke University. Most Americans accept the basics of climate change, more investment went into green energy than fossil fuels in 2010, and some of the biggest energy companies--such as ExxonMobil--affirm that climate change is real.

...

Now it appears that Huntsman, a former U.S. ambassador to China who has been trailing badly in the polls, is recalibrating his own thoughts on the science behind global warming.

At an event hosted by the conservative <a href="http://blog.heritage.org/2011/12/06/live-at-noon-former-governor-and-ambassador-jon-huntsman/" target="_hplink">Heritage Foundation</a> on Tuesday, Huntsman was asked whether he believed that human beings are "significantly or primarily contributing to the earth's warming climate," and if so, what policies he would put in place to address the issue.

"The scientific community owes us more in terms of a better description or explanation about what might lie beneath all of this," Huntsman responded, "but there's not enough information right now to be able to formulate policies in terms of addressing it overall -- primarily because it's a global issue. We can enact policies here, but I wouldn't want to unilaterally disarm as a country. I wouldn't want to hinder job creators during a time when our economy is flat."

Tim Miller, a spokesman for Huntsman, said in an email, "Governor Huntsman's comments today are consistent with his view that he trusts the body of science on global warming, but there's not global consensus and we can't disarm or hurt our job creators since this is a global problem."...

----------

time 8/11

That's the message that former Utah governor and current Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman stressed when he recently addressed the Republicans for Environmental Protection. (Yeah, those guys.) "We will be judged by how well we were stewards of those [natural] resources," Huntsman said. "Conservation is conservative. I'm not ashamed to be a conservationist."

Read more: <a href="http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2086421,00.html#ixzz1Tz8zjWSV" style=" color: #003399;">http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2086421,00.html#ixzz1Tz8zjWSV</a>

</div>

----

grist

8.  Jon Huntsman

Presidential candidate, former governor of Utah

Before: "[W]e must put a value on carbon," <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNpkUa8B-RM">he said</a> in October 2008. "Until we put a value on carbon, we're never going to be able to get serious about dealing with climate change longer term. Now, putting a value on carbon either suggests that you go to a carbon tax or you get a cap-and-trade system underway."

After: "Cap-and-trade ideas aren't working," <a href="http://www.grist.org/election-2012/2011-05-12-jon-huntsman-now-disses-cap-and-trade-like-other-republicans">he said</a> in May 2011. "Much of this discussion happened before the bottom fell out of the economy, and until it comes back, this isn't the moment."

Read <a href="http://www.grist.org/election-2012/2011-05-12-jon-huntsman-now-disses-cap-and-trade-like-other-republicans">more about Huntman and climate</a>.

===

Jon Huntsman  [late addition]

Former Utah governor and ambassador to China

Huntsman appears to take climate change seriously, making him perhaps the greenest GOP presidential contender -- at least so far.

On climate science: Unlike his rivals, Huntsman has consistently spoken out about the threat of climate change and has not been inclined to waffle over whether it is primarily human-caused. In an October 2008 gubernatorial debate in Utah, Huntsman said, "carbon emission ... is a problem because it leads to polluted skies and air-quality problems and climate change."

On climate policy: At that same 2008 debate, Huntsman said, "we must put a value on carbon. Until we put a value on carbon, we're never going to be able to get serious about dealing with climate change longer term. Now, putting a value on carbon either suggests that you go to a carbon tax or you get a cap-and-trade system underway." He also argued that climate and clean-energy policy would boost Utah's economy: "a very important engine of growth for us over the years will be the new innovations and technologies and capital equipment surrounding a new energy economy, a green energy economy -- things like carbon capture and sequestration."

In 2007, Huntsman brought Utah into the Western Climate Initiative, and in 2008, he set a goal for the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 2005 levels by 2020. In January 2009, he said he found it "enormously frustrating" that Republicans had not been working toward a national climate policy. As ambassador to China, Huntsman tried to promote joint American-Chinese climate solutions.