Climate Denial Crock of the Week

Special Washington Post webcast features John Kerry and Mitt Romney on climate change challenges. Action starts at 14:00.

Deseret News (Utah):

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney reaffirmed his support for a carbon tax, calling it the “No. 1 thing” that will help curb global emissions and rising temperatures, an idea that is slow to gain traction in the Republican Party. 

Romney spoke during a Washington Post webinar on Thursday morning, taking the stage after President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, to talk about ways to curb climate change. 

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall also spoke earlier in the week, touting steps taken to combat air pollution and ways she hopes to juggle population growth and water conservation.

While Romney acknowledged a carbon tax likely wouldn’t get majority support among Senate Republicans, he placed the blame on Democrats for not passing some kind of tax through reconciliation while they enjoyed control over the U.S. House, Senate and White House.

(Editors Note: Fuck all the way off, Mitt, history will record your cowardice on climate, when you knew better)

Deseret News continued:

“They could have done it. It was an opportunity that was missed and we’ll be very sorry about that for a long time,” Romney told Washington Post political reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell, suggesting the Democrats were concerned they might lose support among their own ranks during negotiations. 

Romney said the carbon tax is sometimes framed as just a way for the government to make money, an assertion he pushed back on Tuesday, calling the policy a “massive incentive for the private sector to innovate.” 

A carbon tax is typically defined as a government fee that companies must pay for each ton of greenhouse gas they emit. A number of carbon tax or cap-and-trade bills have been introduced at the federal level in recent years, but support has been hard to come by in the Republican Party, especially among free-market conservatives.

Join Washington Post Live for a conversation with special climate envoy John Kerry about the Biden administration’s climate policies at home and abroad. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) will later discuss U.S. investments in clean energy innovation and the prospects for bipartisan cooperation in the next Congress. This event is as part of a new, special week-long series, “This is Climate.”