Cap-and-tirade: A look at Jon Huntsman's environmental policy record

Here is Part 1 of the series "Cap-and-tirade: a look at 2012 GOP candidates' environmental policy record". Today we look at Jon Huntsman, a promising up-and-comer who has, to this point, flown under the radar, but promises to be an apt opponent to Mitt Romney as well as a worthy spokesman for Rembrandt tooth whitening products.

It turns out that I'm a little late to the game when it comes to analyzing candidates' environmental records; other people have done it before I got to it, and I'm traveling for the next few days, so I figured I would just borrow from the analysis of Andrew Shenkel from the Mother Nature Network. The analysis is quite thorough, but I'll hit the main points here for expediency.

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In his analysis, Shenkel describes Huntsman as the greenest of the bunch. Like Mitt Romney, he is a believer in the science of climate change; he spent quite a bit of effort in the late 2000's promoting cap-and-trade and, as governor of Utah, helped found the Western Climate Initiative, a cap-and-trade plan for the Western U.S. 

He has since backed off of his support for cap-and-trade, however. Some would attribute this to his time spent as ambassador to China; while I have no solid information to back this up, it's likely that he recognized the uselessness of pursuing cap-and-trade without China, which would put the U.S. at a distinct disadvantage in an economic melee that we had little advantage in to begin with.

Huntsman is also a critic of energy subsidies - including those for ethanol. In fact, he opted out of campaigning in ethanol-soaked Iowa to focus his efforts and resources on other states who are less enlightened on the virtues of corn and its by-products.

He's not totally green, however. He's the son of a billionaire inventor who created the clam-shell container that houses the world's Big Macs. (As an aside, isn't it amazing what you can get rich for? And what was his elevator pitch to the McDonald's headquarters? "Have you ever found yourself struggling with the traditional trappings of a hamburger? Have you ever wondered, 'Is there a more effective way to house my hamburger for the five-minute span between my order and the time I eat it?' I know I have!" But I digress.) This packaging has likely caused hippies everywhere to hug their trees a little tighter.

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I like Jon Huntsman; based on what I know so far, he'll likely get my vote if it comes down to it. We'll have see how far he makes it on the campaign trail, however; he may be a little too moderate and reasonable to survive today's political climate, and the fact that he worked for the Obama Administration will certainly be brought up repeatedly on the campaign trail. Plus, one has to question how well he (and Mitt Romney) will represent the average American; the whole uber-wealthy-moderate-Mormon-Republican thing probably doesn't have a huge constituency, but again, I like him. He's smart, reasonable, accomplished, and just looks to be a nice guy.