Paul Krugman in NYT: “But why have Republicans become the party of climate doom? Money is an important part of the answer: In the current cycle Republicans have received 97 percent of political contributions from the coal industry, 88 percent from oil and gas. And this doesn’t even count the wing nut welfare offered by institutions supported by the Koch brothers and other fossil-fuel moguls.
“However, I don’t believe that it’s just about the money. My sense is that right-wingers believe, probably correctly, that there’s a sort of halo effect surrounding any form of public action. Once you accept that we need policies to protect the environment, you’re more likely to accept the idea that we should have policies to ensure access to health care, child care, and more. So the government must be prevented from doing anything good, lest it legitimize a broader progressive agenda. …
“The only way that either American democracy or a livable planet can survive is if the Republican Party as it now exists is effectively dismantled and replaced with something better — maybe with a party that has the same name, but completely different values. This may sound like an impossible dream. But it’s the only hope we have.”
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I think there is a lot less to this than meets the eye, and a lot more. There is a *lot* of virtue signaling on both sides, or at least, duck-speaking the slogans that show group membership, and badmouthing of the other side. But in terms of action, the only action that has been taken is various subsidies to try to get industry to develop alternative technologies, and nothing that would seriously overhaul our economy (i.e., cost a lot more). The Republicans quietly bought in to the first and the Democrats have quietly bought in to the second.
In a way, it parallels most pro-life activities; as long as Roe v. Wade stands, they are likely to be able to vote on their principles rather than their interests. I’ve not yet seen a *real* plan to seriously blunt global warming, not one with the price tags still on. And it’s easy to talk about a Green New Deal if there’s absolutely no risk that it will be enacted.
Of course it doesn’t help that people who work in industries that disproportionately consume energy tend to already be Republicans.