Florida’s leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, have both criticized federal action to combat climate change, with Rubio warning it would “destroy” the US economy and Bush predicting “someone in a garage somewhere” will solve the problem instead.



Responding to a rare question about climate change in Thursday’s Republican debate in Des Moines, Iowa, Rubio denied that he ever supported a “cap and trade” system to lower emissions, despite his having called it “inevitable” in 2008.

“I have never supported cap-and-trade and I never thought it was a good idea,” the Florida senator said. “And I do not believe it’s a good idea now. I do not believe that we have to destroy our economy in order to protect our environment.

“And especially what these programs are asking us to pass … will do nothing to help the environment, but will be devastating for our economy. When I am president of the United States of America, there will never be any ‘cap and trade’ in the United States.”

On the campaign trail in Iowa this week, Rubio said policies being implemented by Barack Obama will harm the economy and cost “hundreds of thousands of jobs”.

Obama’s initial cap and trade plan was blocked by Congress. Instead, the Environmental Protection Agency will impose greenhouse gas limits on power plants, allowing a form of emissions trading between the states.

Obama’s administration has pledged to cut US greenhouse emissions from all sectors by up to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025. Research released this week by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) and the University of Colorado Boulder found that the US could slash emissions much further, cutting them by up to 78% below 1990 levels within 15 years, while meeting increased demand.

The market will work faster. There’s someone in a garage somewhere … that’s going to have a clue, to have an answer Jeb Bush

These cuts, the Nature Climate Change study states, could be achieved “without an increase in the levelized cost of electricity”. It would be undertaken via a shift to a national energy system using existing renewable sources such as solar and wind and deploying the latest electricity storage technology.

Bush, once governor of Florida, has said he supports federal government support for “basic research” into low-carbon energy but, like Rubio, places his faith in the free market to deal with rising temperatures and the extreme weather events, drought and sea level rise they bring.

“What we shouldn’t try to do is pick winners and losers through the federal government,” he said at a gathering in New Hampshire on Saturday, in a newly emerged video.

“The market will work faster. There’s someone in a garage somewhere, parochially I hope it’s in Miami, that’s going to have a clue, to have an answer to this.

“There are people well-intended on climate change but they need to be careful to not paint the apocalypse. Because we are not there. But we should be adapting.”

Jeb Bush speaks in New Hampshire.

Bush said he doubted sea level predictions for south Florida but, if they did come true, he has told his wife that they should move house.

Last week, a group of 15 mayors in Florida, including Tomas Regalado, the mayor of Miami, wrote to Rubio to call upon him to “acknowledge the reality and urgency of climate change and to address the upcoming crisis it presents our communities”.

The letter states that sea levels rose by around 8in off the coast of south Florida during the 20th century and that a further rise of 1ft by 2050 will wipe out about $4bn of Florida real estate.

Florida is considered particularly vulnerable to sea level rises as it is low-lying and sits in parts on a base of limestone, which causes excess water to seep underground and inundate areas. Salt water intrusion is also a concern for the Everglades and the many species that rely upon the wetland ecosystem.

The League of Conservation Voters, which is backing Hillary Clinton, said Rubio had a “weak relationship with the facts” on the economic impact of tackling climate change.

“In 2016, the American people are making it increasingly clear they have little tolerance for candidates who willfully ignore the facts of climate change,” said Seth Stein, a spokesman for the lobby group.

Rubio’s views on climate action have gotten more dangerous as the threat to his home town has gotten more severe Adam Beitman, Sierra Club spokesman

“The other news networks should follow Fox News’ lead, and finally ask the Republican candidates a question on climate change.”

Adam Beitman, a spokesman for environment group the Sierra Club, said: “Rubio’s views on climate action have gotten more dangerous as the threat to his home town has gotten more severe and the Koch brothers’ influence on his positions has gotten more pronounced.”



Beitman said Bush’s comments showed that Republicans were paying “lip service” to action on climate change while opposing serious solutions to it.



“When your plan is to wait around and hope that someone in their garage fixes the climate crisis, it’s clear you’re not taking the issue seriously at all – especially while seas are rising around your home state.”



Last year was the hottest year on record, according to Noaa and Nasa, beating the record set in 2014 by a “wide margin”. Of the 15 hottest years in the 150-year-old temperature record, 13 have occurred since 2000.