re: Conservative Environmentalism

You are getting good feedback and interesting responses.

The main thing to me is having a level head and being a team player to solving the problems, instead of an us against you approach.

Instead of campaigning on having a war with the fossil fuel industry, the left side should work as a team with the right side and set realistic goals. Instead of the oil companies being treated as an enemy, they should be treated as an asset. They have the money to invest but will only do so if something is in it for them. An administration vowing to desstroy the industry will not lead to new investment, rather they will milk what they have. The government could give major tax breaks and substantial incentives to the oil companies to develop sustainable forms of energy. The oil company can turn into an energy company and offer several fuel alternatives in addition to fossil fuels which would diversify the company.

Then you have idealistic views which are not practical, like the transition to EV as fast as possible. First you need the infrastructure to handle this demand. I guess the "Infrastructure bill" is suppossed to solve that, but when there is so much pork in it that has nothing to do with concrete structure development its just going to be half assed. Then is there enough lithium in the world to build all these batteries? What environmental impacts of mining lithium is involved? What happens to the battery when the car gets junked?

If we were in dire need to transition to renewable energy like the left claims, the only achievable solution is to build a multitude of nuclear plants. They can be highly regulated, etc yet still be profitable. It amazes me that this is not a solution/part of the solution given the crisis they claim we are in.

Also, take a look at history. Every decade has some perceived crisis that becomes narrative then fizzles out. When I was a kid the crisis was we are going to run out of oil by 2060. Now there is 100's of years of oil left at a minimum. Then you had all the drama about the ozone layer disappearing and the hole is so big and growing and the world is going to end. I have not heard about that topic in at least 10 years, probably more. This stuff affects the credibility of future scientists and politicians pushing the next crisis.

Next, if the people campaigning or just having political views on global warming, then they would stop using fossil fuels from clothing/household items to private airplanes and downsizing their 7500 square foot house to an average NYC sized apartment. You think they are going to give all that up? They expect the average American to do it, but hell will freeze over before they do.

I worked in the oil industry. It is highly regulated and the conservatives who work out there do more than their part to prevent environmental incidents. They may not agree in all cases, but they respect the regulations. The stress they are under could rarely if ever be handled by a liberal. They would have panic attacks daily.

While most conservatives believe MAN MADE climate change is BS, I imagine most conservatives hate pollution. I would hope we can curtail that while still allowing for production.

We cant allow greenies to stop everything that MIGHT cause a problem. That is what has happened with the wildfires and the lack of water resources out west. The greenies sued to keep reservoirs from being built because some snail or spider would be affected. Now millions of humans dont have a reliable source of water. They dont allow for timber management or controlled burns and then when a fire starts they cants stop it quickly.

But of course the largest polluters on the planet are exempted from whatever standards are mandated on the US. China, India, and Africa have zero environmental controls.

The biggest differences between environmentally concerned conservatives and progressives, as I see them from my admittedly conservative vantage point:

1. Conservatives tend to resist massive programs delegating enormous power to regulatory bodies. The recent decision from the Supreme Court trimming back EPA authority is an example of the regulatory overreach conservatives resist.

2. Conservatives are skeptical of the notion that climate change represents an existential threat to humans such that virtually any re-ordering of the economy is justified--even if performed by unelected bureaucrats--no matter the harm to our nation's economic or defense interests.

3. On energy, conservatives favor an all of the above approach, which should most certainly include nuclear power. Even some on the enviro-left are starting to accept that emissions-free nuclear power has to be part of the answer.

4. At least for many conservatives, we consider ourselves "conservationists" of outdoor spaces and resources, while also valuing the needs of humans to use those resources. At least from our perspective, the enviro-left sacralizes "the Earth" and places the protection of "the Earth" over the ability of humans to prosper.

Both Thomas Massie and Rand Paul are huge environmentalists in their personal lives.

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Still puzzling to me though that we are so polarized on environmental and climate issues.

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Why does this puzzle you? One side makes things up and over exaggerates everything in order to push its agenda... The other side is passive in its activism...

We can all pretty much agree that we do not want dirty air, water, or land... Where we will always disagree is what measures we need to implement in order to get there AND what we will have to give up in order to get there...

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Climate issues are different bag and usually revolve around sweeping attempts to "fix" problems poorly understood or explained by one economic scheme or another. These usually involve the curtailing of freedoms in an attempt to fix some nebulous future problem.

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this is my main problem with environmentalism. i am the recycling nazi in our family, i drive a semi hybrid suv, i'm saving towards a tesla, i am the unofficial adopt-a-park cleanup guy for our local neighborhood park, i've been a part of numerous cleanup efforts in the community. i consider myself much more green than most republicans.

i am all about renewable energy and doing away with fossil fuels when it can be done in a way that does not significantly impact our way of life.

We are not to the point where the spigot can be cut and it not affect our way of life.

taxing people at different rates for their energy production or use is just a wealth redistribution scheme, plain and simple.

to paraphrase Musk, "Green energy is standing on the shoulders of the giants who changed the world with the industrial revolution and ICE. I want to end reliance on the ICE, but not because the government made us, but because we were the superior option."