To understand how dangerously extreme the Republican Party has become on climate change, compare its stance to that of ExxonMobil.

This past September, the U.S. Air Force introduced a cache of 20 new B61-12 nuclear bombs to the Luftwaffe’s Büchel Air Base in western Germany. The upgrade, part of the NATO program on nuclear “sharing,” replaced a higher-yield version of the venerable B61 with a less destructive weapon, but it nonetheless sparked protest by opposition parties in Germany.

It’s hard to reach the right conclusion when you start with false premises. That’s why one of the most critical elements of public policy debate involves ensuring that those taking part in the debate base their recommendations on sound premises.

Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush actively promoted measures to combat climate change, with Reagan in 1987 overruling objections within his own Cabinet to a major proposed treaty to protect the ozone layer, according to recently declassified records posted today by the George Washington University-based National Security Archive.