Senator Ted Cruz just made a surprising swerve to the left in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Cruz is generally considered one of the most conservative of the dozen or so conservative candidates vying for the nomination. Yet during an exchange last week with commentator Glenn Beck, Beck asked him about global warming, and Cruz said this:
“Climate change is not science. It’s religion.”
Cruz went on:
Look at the language where they call you a ‘denier.’ Denier is not the language of science. . . The essence of the scientific method is to start with a hypothesis, then look to the evidence to disprove the hypothesis; you’re not trying to prove it, you’re trying to disprove it. Any good scientist is a skeptic; if he’s not, he or she should not be a scientist.
Cruz not only drew a sharp distinction between science and religion but he strongly intimated that science is more accurate and reliable. This concession puts him at odds with such a large segment of the Republican base that it’s unlikely any other candidate will follow his example.