The GOP's Answer To Catastrophic Climate Breakdown? Why, Trolling Liberals, Of Course, Huhhuhhuhhuh

[hatrack]

EDIT

So this, then, is the Republican Party response to climate change. In the executive branch, we have an administration that pulled out of the Paris climate accord, put a coal lobbyist in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency, tried to bury government studies showing the threats we face, is rolling back every climate regulation it can find, and of course is led by a man who regularly says climate change is an elaborate hoax. And in the legislative branch, the GOP's leadership is focused on trolling Democrats.

Now here’s one of the most disheartening parts. There are some Republicans who do seem to have a sincere desire to do something about the climate. For instance, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) has a proposal for what he calls “a New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy,” which is focused on spurring innovation in 10 areas, including electric vehicles, solar power and natural gas. You might not like all of it and you might think that it’s inadequate given the scale of the problem, but it’s about what you’d expect from a Republican arguing in good faith. At least it’s something.

The truth, though, is that Alexander's proposal is no more likely to get a genuine examination in the Republican-controlled Senate than the Green New Deal itself is. While there are some Republicans who want to do something about climate change, the party as a whole is just not interested. Why is that? For starters, Republican politicians are well aware of the steady diet of climate change denialism their voters have been fed for years. For instance, if you tuned in to the president’s favorite TV show on a recent episode, you’d have heard a Fox News personality telling you:

A lot of times these studies are done by people with agendas, these enviro-terrorists, these eco-terrorists, they want to sell you a narrative. So they peer review it and say it’s a study, they don’t apply the scientific method.

Even the Republicans who might feel uneasy that there is an enormous propaganda apparatus built to keep their voters as stupid and ignorant as possible on this issue (and many others) can’t ignore its power. And in the Trump era in particular (though it goes back further), Republicans have elevated trolling the libs to a foundational value. So if liberals want to address climate change, that in itself is not just a reason not to do it but a reason why we must not do it. There will always be more margin for a Republican politician to shout “Drill baby drill!” or wax rhapsodic about “beautiful clean coal” than to seriously consider steps to lower carbon emissions, because nothing gets the crowd cheering more than something they know will drive liberals nuts.

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/27/gops-answer-catastrophic-climate-change-trolling-libs/?utm_term=.8b1a604625dd

[NNadir]

1. Apparently Lamar Alexander thinks natural gas is clean. Like many on the left...

...he also thinks that electricity comes from a wall socket connected to a wind turbine in North Dakota or a solar cell in Arizona.

It doesn't.

The proportion of electricity that comes from the combustion of dangerous fossil fuels, of which "clean" natural gas is a subset at 550 gCO2/kwh, is rising, not falling.

[Beartracks]

2. Love how Fox always says, "They have an agenda!" but their viewers never...

... never consider that Fox might be saying that because Fox itself might have an agenda.



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[mountain grammy]

3. The destruction from recent storms has yet to be assessed.

The damages from last year's hurricaines are still being repaired. People can't recover from one disaster before another hits. That's going to be our new normal.. How sad, this denial. How incredibly sad, stupid and devastating. I think the future of mankind is very grim.