Climate change becomes a U.S. Republican issue too

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. fight against climate change isn't just for Democrats any more.

Democrats used to own the environmental issue, grabbing votes from party loyalists and independent voters when they stressed their plans to curb global warming.

This could be the year Republicans, the party of President George W. Bush, use climate change as a rallying cry at election time.

It could also differentiate Republican presidential contenders from Bush administration policies that have left the United States isolated among the world's biggest developed countries.

Climate change can draw support from outside the party ranks, former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said. Republicans could use the help after losing control of both houses of Congress in 2006.

"Republicans lost in 2006 because independents abandoned our party," Mehlman said at a political discussion several weeks before the February 5 "Super Tuesday" vote.

"How do we earn the confidence back of independents? This (climate change) is an issue on which not only you can do it, but it's an issue on which you can do it consistent with conservative values," Mehlman said.

Economic conservatives, traditionally Republicans, view technological solutions as a way to create wealth and jobs. Some corporate leaders have backed a federal limit on carbon emissions to prevent a patchwork of state laws.