John McCain Acknowledges Climate Change; Right-Wing Flips Out

John McCain chose this week to tackle the important issue of climate change, with a speech and a new TV ad. I think that while it's nice to see that he agrees on the seriousness of the problem, his proposed solutions are standard conservative fare (regulation = evil!, more nuclear power!).

Sen. Obama hit back, noting the hypocrisy of McCain's rhetoric versus his action. "It is truly breathtaking for John McCain to talk about combating climate change while voting against virtually every recent effort to actually invest in clean energy... In stark contrast, I've called for a national standard to ensure that we're using more renewable energy, an expansion of our green energy sector that would create millions of green jobs, and a bipartisan plan to double our fuel efficiency standards. That is why the American people will have a clear choice in November when I am the nominee - between a candidate who opposes real solutions to our energy crisis, and leadership that will solve it once and for all," he said.

But that is tiddlywinks compared to the vitriol McCain received from conservatives. By discussing the issue at all (ignoring, again, that his 'solutions' were all GOP-approved), he committed a major sin of base conservatism... thou shalt not acknowledge the reality of human-caused climate change.

Here's some of the reactions-

Corporate apologist extraordinare Larry Kudlow writes "I’ve got to bone up and really learn the details about all this. But I truly have to ask: Is this candle worth the game? O my gosh!" Michelle Malkin protege Allah Pundit opines, "Why on earth is he campaigning on this issue in the first place? His ad budget’s going to be tighter than Obama’s, needless to say, and this isn’t something voters care enough about vis-a-vis the economy and Iraq to warrant the expense. If anything, it’s going to lose him votes by alienating the base." World-renowned scientist Rush Limbaugh snarks "It doesn't matter who you vote for President. You're going to get a liberal Democratic approach to something that doesn't exist." The National Review's Roy Spencer calls McCain "Another Al Gore" (eek!). And his colleague Mark Levin huffs that "Do the McCain Team eco-friendly polo shirts carry the union label? They wouldn't want to leave out too many of the lib constituencies."

oMg climate change libs treehug algore lolz!!1!

Let's face it...the Fox News-ification of American political debate continues to ensure that we will never, ever solve this crisis. Because the minority on this issue is very good at attempting to blur the lines, and ensure that we'll be "debating" it forever, rather than working together to find common purpose and solutions.

Prove me wrong Earth, prove me wrong!