The GOP platform on climate change

Can you guess where the following quotes come from?

"Human economic activity ... has also increased the amount of carbon in the atmosphere."  

"As part of a global climate change strategy, [we] support technology-driven, market-based solutions that will decrease emissions, reduce excess greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, increase energy efficiency ... " 

Why, those quotes are straight from the GOP Party 2008 platform.  Reading these quotes in context you will see what is proposed is a conservative approach to tackling climate change--but what is noteworthy here is that it does at least address climate change.  And can you guess who said the following?

"We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great ... I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears.  I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges. ... A cap-and-trade policy will send a signal that will be heard and welcomed all across the American economy.  And the highest rewards will go to those who make the smartest, safest, most responsible choices. ...  We have many advantages in the fight against global warming, but time is not one of them.  Instead of idly debating the precise extent of global warming, or the precise timeline of global warming, we need to deal with the central facts of rising temperatures, rising waters and all the endless troubles that global warming will bring." 

I'll give you a hint:  it was a 2008 presidential candidate.  Can you guess now?  No, it wasn't Barack Obama.  No, it wasn't Hillary Clinton, either.  In fact, the speaker in the above quote was John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate.

However, no concern about climate change is found in the GOP 2012 platform, or in Mitt Romney's energy plan.  And I mean literally zero discussion of climate change.  Nada.  Zilch.  Zippo.  As the amount of greenhouse gas in our atmosphere increased in the last four years, the Republican Party's concern about it decreased.  The Washington Post covers this shift towards extreme climate change denial in more detail.  In 2008, the party was at least taking part in some kind of rational debate about how to solve the problem.  But this year, the Washington Post concludes, "not so much".