A reader zooms out:
I totally agree with you that it’s scandalous how the GOP has gone insane on climate change, but unfortunately they’re not the only conservative party that has done so. Especially in the so-called Anglosphere, other ruling conservative parties have more or less gone the same way. The current Tory-led coalition in the UK has appointed “climate skeptic” Owen Paterson as Environment
Minister, and he’s slashed climate change spending by 41% in 2014 as compared to 2013.
In Canada, the conservative Harper government is increasingly addicted to revenues from tar sand oil exploitation, professes to believe in climate change but in reality has done absolutely nothing to limit carbon dioxide emissions. See Grist from late 2013 here.
And in Australia, in less than a year since being elected to the majority in September 2013, conservative Tony Abbott has made aggressive moves to dismantle Australia’s carbon tax and slash spending on climate change programs enacted by the government he defeated.
It is worth noting that all these conservatives don’t go in for the complete climate denial engaged in by Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, et al, but they are just as committed to dismantling even tentative efforts to address the issue.
The Dish 