Former Republican Governor; former Senate candidate (MA)
Protect environment with competition, not regulation
Is the climate changing? Probably. Is man contributing to that change? Probably. The question is whether politicians' efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the private sector are effective. Governors Johnson and Weld believe that the federal
government should prevent future harm by focusing on regulations that protect us from harm, rather than needlessly costing American jobs and freedom to pursue a political agenda. Protect the Environment. Promote Competition. Incentivize Innovation.
Source: 2016 vice-presidential campaign website, JohnsonWeld.com
, Aug 8, 2016
1996 River Protection Act: 9,000 miles of land use rules
In Massachusetts's political lore, Bob Durand, a longtime environmental lobbyist, will be forever linked to Weld. In August, 1996, the two of them dove together into the Charles River, in Boston, to celebrate the passage of the Rivers Protection Act,
which placed restrictions on the use of land alongside some nine thousand miles of rivers across the state. Durand, a Democratic state senator at the time, had authored the bill, and Weld, then the governor, had signed it.
Source: New Yorker magazine on 2016 vice-presidential hopefuls
, Jun 4, 2016
Favored EPA's electric car mandate and stricter smog limits
Weld was a supporter of stricter environmental regulations being promulgated by the EPA. In 1997 he joined Governor Whitman of New Jersey in pushing the EPA to establish "stricter limits on smog."
In 1994 Weld led his administration in pushing for the EPA to require an electric car mandate. The New York Times reported: In Massachusetts, the Environmental Affairs Secretary,
Bill Weld truly mixes fiscal conservatism with social liberalism. Does the strange combination of thorough economic conservatism and social liberalism make Weld a libertarian?
Not unless libertarians also support expansive environmental regulations, gun control, and affirmative action.
Source: W. James Antle III in Spectator Magazine
, Aug 25, 2005
