Joe is totally going to reach across the aisle with totally bipartisan legislation to solve a mostly fictional problem, you guys!
How Joe Biden can get conservatives to act on climate change
Life has etched President-elect Joe Biden with empathy — empathy that gives him a shot at bringing America together, especially on climate change.
Young conservatives of faith in congregations across America are ready to join with their progressive contemporaries in summoning the will to act. Talented staffs in EcoRight organizations are ready to step forward with solutions that fit with conservative values. Brave, card-carrying Republicans have spoken out even when speaking out was considered a heresy.
The president-elect should reach out to these people. They’re Americans who know that we’re in this together. They’re Americans who wish for our country to lead the world to solutions. They’re patriots who want the new administration to succeed.
Yeah, there are some on the Right who are Conservatives that believe this is mostly/solely caused by Mankind, who, from everything I’ve seen, are just barely Republicans, with their belief in the power of the government to solve things and wanted taxes. Anyhow, what could China Joe do?
With a Supreme Court that may be skeptical of regulatory action on climate, we need legislation — sweeping legislation at the scale of the problem and legislation that’s bipartisan and therefore durable. Having waited too long to act, the policy that we devise must be stable. It mustn’t be done and undone, enacted and repealed. It’s too late in the game for policy instability.
There’s a process for that, called “amending the Constitution.” Legislation can be undone. That’s the way the system works. Climate cultists don’t seem to like that much, eh?
The president-elect will find bipartisan support for spending on clean energy, giving us the opportunity to “build back better.†That spending will be worthwhile, but we must keep an eye on the worldwide nature of the challenge.
Direct investments and tax expenditures will successfully drive innovation in America, but those innovations might not be affordable in the developing world. We can change those economic realities with a carbon tax that’s border adjustable.
Once you drag in the far, far left “build back better”, no thanks! But, if they are willing to build lots of next generation nuclear power plants, I’d be on board.
By collecting an American carbon tax on imports coming from countries without an equivalent pricing-in of climate damage caused by the burning of fossil fuels, we’d make it in our trading partners’ interest to follow our lead.
The president-elect will find a cadre of conservatives ready to embrace a border-adjustable carbon tax, especially if it’s also revenue neutral. Inasmuch as Janet Yellen, nominated to be Treasury secretary, and Kerry have favored carbon pricing, it’s exciting to think that now could be the time to come together.
Joe and the Democrats would be OK if we did this on Chinese imports, right? But, wait, think about this. What’s really being said is that the U.S. will need to institute it’s own carbon tax, then tax those nation’s imports who aren’t doing things themselves.
The president-elect will look for a way to reward the progressive wing of his party. One way to do that is to strike a powerful blow at income inequality while solving for climate change.
By using the revenue from a carbon tax to pay for the elimination of the payroll (FICA) tax on low- and modest-income earners, he could raise take-home pay while simultaneously addressing climate change.
Wait, I thought we were “reaching across the aisle”? No? Looks more like this is all about rewarding his nutbar base. Of course, this opinion piece is by “Bob Inglis, a Republican, served South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 1999 and 2005 to 2011. He directs republicEn.org, a community of conservatives reaching conservatives on climate change.” Yeah, he’s one of the loony tune Republican climate cultists who is in favor of lots of big government and a big carbon tax.
Read: Here’s How China Joe Can Get Conservatives On Board With Solving Climate Crisis (scam) Or Something »