So recently, Iโve watched a few videos from the Heartland Institute conference on โRestoring the Scientific Methodโโand it has been a fascinatingย experience.
I point you, for instance, to this session on public policy, and especially the Q&A starting at minute 56. (Also watch Marc Morano from minute 38 to minute 56, the dude is nothing if not entertaining.) Once the audience questions start coming for the panel, I was rather surprised to hear that most were basically aboutโฆuh, communism. And in response, the panelistsโand especially Christopher Hornerโwere quite affirmative that the real reason that we, the โleft,โ want to restrict greenhouse gas emissions is that we want to hobble economies, redistribute wealth, and restrict individualย freedoms.
โYou can believe this is about the climate, and many people do,โ said Horner. โBut itโs not a reasonable belief.โ Horner went on to argue that โitโs probably about what theyโve claimed they really want.โ For many โluminariesโ of the environment movement, Horner continued, โeconomic growth is not the cure, itโs the disease.โ
Now, Morano and Horner have various pieces of โevidenceโ that they use to support their assessmentโincluding out of context quotations. But I, too, have heard some environmentalists attack growth, and say that it is the realย problem.
However, I do not believe in any sense that this is the mainstream view of those who want a cap-and-trade bill, whether they are President Obama, or Democratic senators, or the many corporations who supported such legislationโlike GE and Duke Energy. Without economic growth, these companies could not maintain rising share prices, nor could they keep reporting rising earnings and annual dividend increases for theirย stockholders.
I can also speak for myself. If thereโs anything I donโt like, itโs extremesโincluding on the left. I very much want companies to thrive and succeedโwho else is going to create jobs?โbut to me, that doesnโt mean they shouldnโt be regulated. I actually do believe that they should be regulated as little as is possibleโso long as it is enough to preserve public health and the environment. ย
Moreover, itโs not surprising that I think this wayโpeople of my generation in the U.S. donโt even have any direct experience with communism. It hasnโt been a significant force on the U.S. left for quite a long time. Itโs something weโve read about, certainly, but not something with which weย associate.
So exactly what environmental left are Heartland acolytes talking about here? As far as I can tell, theyโre simplyย shadowboxing.
Iโve often written about how those on my side do not understand the motivations of climate skeptics. They arenโt just driven by a quest for the corporate dole, for instanceโtheyโre strong individualists who fear government control over choices and freedoms. I believe that ideology is therefore more powerful in driving climate skepticism than isย money.
But itโs quite apparent that anti-environmentalists, like Horner, donโt understand us, either. We didnโt cook the science, and we donโt hate jobs, either. We just think that, because global warming is real, and because there are solutions to the problem will ultimately also help the economy, itโs a very good idea to kill two birds with oneย stone.
But now, having now cleared up the record, Iโm quite sure that we wonโt see this error any more in theย future.
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