Some Republicans in the US Congress are trying to get President Donald Trump to change his tune on climate change as they try to shift the party's messaging away from denying human activity is chiefly responsible for rising temperatures.
More rank-and-file Republicans say they want to find solutions to cutting greenhouse gases and adapting to the effects of warming temperatures. But Trump's skepticism of climate science is becoming an obstacle to unifying on "energy innovation" climate message they think will be more compelling to voters than Democratic proposals such as the Green New Deal.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said he wanted Trump to closely review the science, "admit climate change is real" and come up with solutions. Failure to agree that climate change is a problem will make it harder for Republicans to make their case to voters why innovation from the private sector is the best response to climate change, he said.
"We will win the solutions debate, but the only way you are going to win that debate is to admit you have got a problem," Graham said today during the launch of a new Republican caucus that will promote conservation and resolving environmental problems. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Cory Gardner (R-Colorado), who sits on the panel, are also members of the caucus.
Trump has long claimed climate change is a hoax, and his administration has been working to dismantle initiatives to reduce emissions. As recently as January, Trump mocked the idea of global warming because there was a cold snap.
"I believe there's a change in weather, and I think it changes both ways," he said in June.
But Trump's view is unpopular with voters. In a national poll of 1,008 adults, 62pc disapproved of how Trump is handling climate change, according to a poll that the Washington Post and ABC News released on 7 July. Trump gave a 45-minute speech on "environmental leadership" this week where he mentioned US reductions in carbon emissions but otherwise did not discuss climate change.
Republicans lawmakers have rallied around the idea that innovation — in areas such as carbon capture, nuclear energy and gas production — are the easiest way to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Democratic candidates who want to challenge Trump in 2020 instead say they want tighter regulations on greenhouse gases and increased deployment of renewable energy.
US oil and gas companies have been supporters of the idea that innovation, in the form of shale drilling technology that boosted production of cleaner-burning natural gas, is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gases. ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Total and other major producers also say they support a revenue-neutral carbon tax to address climate change.
