Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Warmist Kevin Drum on conservatives who label "virtually any serious green policy as a price hike for consumers and a regulatory burden for business"; they "have an unusual advantage when they say this: it's actually true"

Good News on Climate Change....And Not So Good News | Mother Jones
Unfortunately, I remain skeptical. In a vacuum, supporting green policies has always been a popular position. And it's always been true that there are good ways to talk about climate change and bad ways. I'm not sure anything big has changed here.

The problem is that you don't always get to talk about political issues the way you want to. Your opponents get to talk about them too. And they won't be shy about labeling virtually any serious green policy as a price hike for consumers and a regulatory burden for business. What's more, conservatives have an unusual advantage when they say this: it's actually true. Things like carbon taxes and cap-and-trade policies really will increase the price of energy for consumers. That's the whole point. Conversely, if you limit yourself to generally popular issues like CAFE standards and building more solar plants in the desert, voters will support it, but only because the price hike is small enough (and hidden enough) that it has only a modest impact on climate change in the first place.

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