Virginia: Puzzling stuff from Bob McDonnell

Climate change confronts McDonnell at McCain rally

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell said Saturday he believes the globe is warming but wouldn't fix blame on manmade carbon emissions as its cause.

McDonnell said after a veterans rally with Sen. John McCain that he remains firmly opposed to energy reform legislation intended to slow global warming by reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

"I think it's a real concern, and we need to find ways to be able to reduce (carbon dioxide) emissions," McDonnell said in advocating development of technology to eliminate pollutants from coal-fired energy plants.

When asked to clarify whether he believes that global warming is scientific fact, however, he hedged.

"Well, there's some debate that various scientists are going on in that," he said. "I think the temperature of the earth, from the science I've seen, is going up."

Then, asked if he believed elevated levels of manmade carbon emissions in the atmosphere were to blame, he said, "Look, it's not going to affect my policy decisions. What the policy decision needs to be is to find ways that are creative to be able to reduce CO2."

"I am going to accept the science that's out there, and the science is that we need to do everything that we can to reduce CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, and that will help," he said.