Romney has been taking a beating for his Detroit speech, and there are things in there to make conservatives cringe (Ramesh addressed this earlier in response to Ross). But, on the whole, it’s a pretty conservative speech — against unfunded mandates, especially higher CAFE standards and McCain-Lieberman-style carbon schemes; for lower and simpler taxes; against excessive regulatory burdens; against excessive lawsuits; for transforming workforce training programs into “personal accounts.” The call for higher research spending has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, including us. But there is a case to be made that greater (though intelligently crafted) spending on energy research is the best response to climate change, preferable to sticking our heads in the sand or imposing economically punishing constraints on ourselves. Jim Manzi made this case in NR, and posted on Romney’s Detroit speech here.