McDonnell addresses climate change at McCain event

VIRGINIA BEACH -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell said yesterday that he believes the globe is warming but wouldn't fix blame on man-made carbon emissions as its cause.

McDonnell said after a veterans rally with Sen. John McCain that he remains firmly opposed to 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, he hedged.

"Well, there's some debate [among] various scientists," he said. "I think the temperature of the Earth, from the science I've seen, is going up."

Then, asked if he believed that elevated levels of man-made 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."

The issue flared Friday after former Vice President Al Gore held a fundraiser for Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds. Virginia Republicans said it proved Deeds supports cap-and-trade legislation that they claim will raise energy costs and worsen unemployment.

Virginia Democrats fired back by calling McDonnell, a former state attorney general, and the GOP ticket he heads "the most backward, anti-science" ever in Virginia.

McCain, who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, said at the veterans rally that President Barack Obama's administration was "missing in action" in advocating the use of nuclear power. But he said reducing atmospheric carbon should be a goal no matter whether people accept or reject climate change.

In another development, Deeds picked up the endorsement of The Washington Post. The paper praised the Bath County state senator's willingness to raise taxes for roads, saying his "transportation realism" and McDonnell's "bogus roads plan" present a stark choice for voters.