I’ve covered this kind of thing again and again and again: so-called Republicans/Conservatives advocating for Doing Something about anthropogenic climate change in a manner than is the same as the Warmists but uses different language. Here we have Jacob Abel, a youngster attending Seton Hall in NJ but sorta from the Charlotte, NC area, publishing an opinion piece in the Charlotte Observer (a very leftist newspaper)
A conservative, millennial approach to climate change
One year ago, the U.S. announced its intention to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, taking the champion of the free-market out of the global communities solution to addressing climate change.
The Trump Administration has taken an eraser to the words “climate change†from federal agency strategic plans, including the one guiding the Federal Emergency Management Agency over the next four years.
As a Republican it pains me to say that the current administration is going in the wrong direction, even when we as a party and a nation hold all the right cards to leading the fight against climate change.
Right there, you should be getting the idea that this is all about government solutions. And, let’s not forget that the majority of 1st world nations who signed on to Paris aren’t even close to upholding their pledges, and if we the government are supposed to Do Something, that’s the opposite of free market.
Some of these issues were on the table at the UN over the winter, when I had an opportunity to travel there with a delegation from Seton Hall University for annual United Nations Association Members day. One point that struck me was the resounding youth support for big government and multi-trillion dollar solutions to climate change. This is where the youth in the conservative movement can play a real impact on the climate solutions debate. Our generations clearly support policies that combat climate change, but we can also ensure advancements in technology don’t leave millions of people behind. Organizations such as RepublicEN, which advocates for free-market based solutions to climate change have the right idea: put a price on carbon, ensure the revenues remain neutral (i.e. don’t grow the government but instead are used to offset a tax cut or provide a dividend to citizens) and watch innovation soar. Utilizing both the technologies of the past and innovations of the future is the best way forward.
If you’re going through the United Nations, and you’re advocating for a price on “carbon”, an unscientific, utterly political term for carbon dioxide, then you are not advocating for free market solutions. You are advocating for government controlled solutions, as it is government putting a price on “carbon.” The government that is mandating this. The government that is deciding who pays, and whether people get money back. The government that is artificially raising the cost of living.
However, solutions for climate change can be brought about through free market solutions and through the innovations of concerned individuals.
Except, this is rare, because there really is little demand for it. If there was money in it, companies would be doing this left and right, instead of mostly only doing it because of government tax breaks and even outright subsidies and loans, ones which are often never paid back.
As far as Abel goes, is he actually a Republican? His Facebook doesn’t give many clues, other than he liked the GOP and Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), and a few other right leaners. He also follows a lot of left leaners. But, he’s also taken a long fossil fueled trip to Israel, and takes fossil fueled trips to NJ from NC. Regardless, I do not want to make this about him, but about the silly notion that carbon fees/taxes, cap and trade, or any of the myriad programs are anything but anti-free market. And the group republicEN pushes for government solutions, rather than making changes in their own lives. Go figure.
