Meghan McCain Climate Change: Why the GOP Must Admit that Climate Change Is Real

As folks on the East Coast are still trying to make sense of the mess Hurricane Sandy left behind, the five-day forecast here in Phoenix shows high temperatures in the 90-degree range. This is not the fall from my childhood memory — a portrait of falling leaves which as an adult became an excuse to go boot-shopping.

Would that image of fall still exist if Al Gore had taken the oath of and office he rightfully won back in 2000? A true pioneer in the climate change at the country’s helm would have been instrumental in the conversation that many are still not having.

Given the extreme weather changes and the destruction Sandy left behind just days prior to a presidential election, President Barack Obama has been both praised and criticized for his efforts in the disaster area. The hurricane has also triggered some new endorsements for Obama and some prominent conservative talking heads are calling for their peers to change their stance.

For the first time (maybe ever) both sides of the aisle have acknowledged a need to wake up and smell the melting ice caps. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has worn independent and Republican hats in his career, endorsed President Obama, citing the importance of climate change in his reason.

Even Meghan McCain, daughter of 2008 GOP residential candidate Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) is urging the Republican Party to accept what has become reality for so many in recent years. As the eastern seaboard braced for the superstorm’s impact on October 30, Ms. McCain Tweeted, “So are we still going to go with climate change not being real fellow republicans [sic]?”

Maybe the urging of some of their own will change the party’s overall direction on the issue. But to whoever declares victory on Tuesday, let’s be very clear. Climate change is not an issue of partisan politics. Climate change can no longer be denied, dismissed or ignored.