The squish in question is Jay Faison, writing at Politico
A GOP Approach to Tackling Climate Change
I’m a Republican, and I want to champion Republican answers to a challenge we aren’t yet known for embracing.
But first, as a happy — if worried — conservative and a lifelong entrepreneur, I’m ready for the Obama administration to pack its bags. I believe in school choice, tort reform, balanced budgets and small government. I believe we need a health care policy that doesn’t cost businesses like mine millions of dollars. I support a free enterprise system unshackled from bad regulation and big labor unions — which were the right thing for American workers in 1890.
If you’re that much of a Conservative, you don’t have to tell us, you’re really a Squish
For all those reasons and more, I’m a committed GOP donor, having contributed to campaigns and super PACs supporting Mitch McConnell, Jeb Bush and Rob Portman, to name a few. But I also believe that my party needs a fresh approach on one of the most important issues of our age.
Yup, a Squish.
Energy policy should be a powerful tool in the coming Republican resurgence, but for too long we’ve ceded the issue to the Democrats. It’s time to develop a conservative national energy agenda that grows the economy, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, protects jobs over lizards and reduces greenhouse gas emissions that are warming our planet.
Here’s the question: why does it have to deal with “climate change”? Sure, the policies that he proposes are actually more in line with mine, but, I don’t propose them as sops to the Cult of Climastrology, but simply as wise energy policies. What Jay is doing is buying into the “consensus” of anthropogenic Hotcoldwetdry, along the nominal lines of taking the issue away from far left fascistic Progressives.
I want to capitalize on this momentum, so I’ve committed $175 million of my personal funds through a new charitable foundation and a separate political action fund. The foundation will engage in targeted advocacy at both the state and national levels, make the public case through cutting-edge media platforms and give grants for innovative, conservative policy work. The political action fund will champion Republican candidates and legislation that support market-based solutions for clean energy and climate issues.
He’s very upset that people are comparing him to uber-leftie Tom Steyer, but, he’s essentially doing the same thing.
- First, we need to prevent and reform regulations that obstruct the promise and development of distributed solar power, especially on rooftops.
- Second, conservatives should encourage and fund innovation and research and development in both the private and public sectors.
- Third, conservatives should embrace and promote energy efficiency in their own lives and businesses.
You should read the rest of each of those paragraphs for more detail, but, let me note that Conservatives tend to be much better at energy efficiency in our own lives than Warmists, because we like to not waste money. Of course, I have to ask if Jay has done the same in his own life?
People too often forget today that the Republican Party has long been the voice of smart environmental policy. Teddy Roosevelt, our original conservationist, protected our national treasures for future generations. Richard M. Nixon signed the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Ronald Reagan forged an international agreement to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals. George H.W. Bush enacted a trading program that lowered sulfur dioxide, the primary ingredient in acid rain, by 80 percent.
Environmentalism is good policy. “Climate change” is a manufactured political issue based on junk science.
