There is some mild disagreement in the senior ranks of the Grand Old Party when it comes to the environment, especially climate change. Some of them even tacitly admit that there could be something to the decades of carefully collected data on global temperatures and the effect of greenhouse gases emitted by burning gigatons of fossil fuels on those trends. They even outed themselves in a new report released this month called “The Conservative Case for Carbon Dividends,” with an impressive subtitle about how a new climate strategy can help the economy and reduce regulation:
The report, which was published by the Climate Leadership Council, calls for a tax on carbon starting at $40 per ton and rising over time … For these conservatives, a carbon tax would be like insuring against the worst risks of climate change—and they see it as a more efficient solution than EPA regulations. They describe their plan as "win-win"—even if some of them still claim to quibble with the science.
The list of signees is impressive and include former Secretaries of State George Shultz and James Baker. Unfortunately, the current crop of Republicans who are actually in power are so are actively hostile to even considering the data and science that they’re even now conjuring up absurd global conspiracies and marshaling alternative facts to please their wealthy benefactors and mislead their constituents. The chairman of the House “Science” Committee is Lamar Alexander (R-TX), who has so far used his position to legally harass and personally bully scientists and agency heads that track climate change. Just this week he was holding hearings, “Make the EPA Great Again,” to stir up media coverage of the latest right-wing assault . Meanwhile, back in the joker’s lair, Trump has appointed climate change deniers, young earth creationists, and energy industry moguls to run those same organizations and just about everything else.
So, good luck on your effort, Mr. Baker and Mr. Schultz et al. But the people you need to convince are so far gone that nothing short of a direct order from their industry masters, and de facto future employers, will make any difference. We the People on the other hand, can make a difference, and we will start by firing some of your fellow Republicans at the earliest opportunity.