Former Senator Chuck Hagel served in the Senate as a Republican, but you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise this week: Most of the attacks on his potential nomination as Secretary of Defense have come from conservatives troubled by his realist foreign policy views and past statements on Israel. This has led some liberals to rush to his defense. “He wanted the United States to exert influence internationally, but by working with other countries,” John Judis wrote. But Hagel’s belief in international cooperation had its limits. As a senator, he actively worked against one of the most important diplomatic efforts during his time in office: the Kyoto Protocol to limit climate change.
Hagel’s environmental record may, in fact, become his main sticking point with liberals. In 1997, Hagel coauthored the Byrd-Hagel resolution, which opposed the Kyoto Protocol. As late as 2005, he was raising questions about how much of climate change is attributable to human activity and opposed to the McCain-Lieberman cap and trade bill. His lifetime rating on the League of Conservation Voters National Environmental Scorecard is a paltry 5 percent.
See full Article: http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/111397/liberals-shouldnt-fear-chuck-hagels-environmental-record
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