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Republicans Set to Debate Who Likes Reagan More Print E-mail
Written by Dave Loos   
Wednesday, 30 January 2008

No, that's not a photo of Mitt Romney, minus makeup and hair dye, cavorting with the Gipper on a boat. That's Romney's father, former Michigan Governor George Romney, in an undated photo with Ronald Reagan.

George's son will debate an ever-shrinking field of Republican candidates at the Ronald Reagan Library this evening in California, the last GOP debate before Super Tuesday next week. We're not sure who will be moderating, but since it's on CNN, we're guessing Anderson Cooper and/or Wolf Blitzer will be prominently involved.

In between fighting each other off to grab hold of Reagan's coattails, it would be nice to see Romney, McCain, Huckabee and Paul address a few environmental issues before the night is out. Here are two questions we'd like to hear:

1. California is involved in several pending legal battles with the U.S. EPA, including a petition filed yesterday that asks EPA officials to clamp down on carbon dioxide emissions from construction and farm machinery, mining equipment and recreational vehicles. At the heart of this and other legal disputes between California and federal officials is last year's Supreme Court ruling that EPA must regulate CO2 and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act -- a decision strongly opposed by the Bush administration. Do you agree with this decision? Why?

2. In a related legal battle, more than 10 states have joined California in a lawsuit against the EPA, after the agency rejected California's attempt to implement stricter auto emissions standards than the US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) statute, which mandates a 35-mile-per-gallon fleet average by 2020. Should California and other states be allowed to circumvent federal rules and implement more stringent emissions standards?

EnviroWonk may be experimenting with some live blogging during tonight's debate. Stay tuned ...

Comments
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Karl   | 24.61.46.xxx | 2008-01-30 19:41:27
Good questions. While you're at it, how about asking about their views on increasing the gasoline tax? No one seems to have the guts to propose something that might really have some impact on behavior. I'd prefer a dollar, but am willing to start with $0.50. This would 1) increase the price of gasoline to cover the actual cost of protecting the oil fields around the world; 2) provide revenue that could be earmarked for sustainable fuels; and 3) might actually encourage people to drive less or at least demand a high mileage car. What do you think?
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