McCain: The Only Viable Green President?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Environment, McCain, Science, Technology
One might even wonder if a McCain presidency, combined with a Democratic Congress, offers the best chance for a bipartisan-yet-still-decent emissions-reduction bill to get enacted and stay enacted. (Think Schwarzenegger and health care in California.) I’m skeptical, but it’s not an outlandish argument.
I think we’re all very well aware that the Dems will retain Congress and Senate. They’ll actually probably make gains, but enough new seats to push through their agendas? Maybe not.
If that’s the case, and it’s certainly not crazy given the current dissatisfaction with Congress, how will you get Republicans to support broad, sweeping pro-environment legislation? Can a Dem do that? Can Hillary do that?
What’s more, McCain has called Global Warming one of the gravest threats we face, and it’s nice to see a Republican actually paying attention to the obvious logic that doing nothing could result in the absolute worst result. Because if we’re wrong about global warming, well, we could be a global recession, but we would have also spent a ton of money developing green technology and getting off of fossil fuels. Not the worst thing in the world.
In any event, read more.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Environment, McCain, Science, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 15th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
This is a great point. The reality about our government, is that sweeping major legislation gets through Congress not because a President convinces an opposing party to cooperate, but Because a president can maintain discipline and restrain the extreme of their own party. A president can primarily get major bills passed that the party would normally oppose. That is why Bush was able to force a major expensive new entitlement progarm through (prescription benefits) and massively increase deficits, why Clinton was able to get welfare reform and NAFTA passed, why Reagan could advance Perestroika, why Nixon could impose price controls and open China. The examples go on and on …
January 15th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Environmentalism and Republicanism are not mutually exclusive. McCain has always proven this. I think he is in lockstep with the rest of the country in a time when the poor health of our world is tangible.
http://greenpieceblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/mccain-and-environment.html
January 15th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Except that, in the meantime, millions of people will continue to suffer the crippling effects of poverty - including disease, malnutrition, and natural disasters ect - who wouldn’t have suffered otherwise if the third world was allowed to develop economically. But then again, we already have a well developed infrastructure, its really the rest of the world who will suffer, much more than Americans. Not the worst thing in the world.
January 15th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
But they’re not wrong about global warming so can we quit encouraging the loons?
January 16th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Really, Justin. To even acknowledge the question is to attack core dogma of the Progressive Church. I can’t believe you would be so callous to attack some of your reader’s religious beliefs. Shame.
For the record - I am undecided on whether causality between global warming and human effect / CO2 production has been firmly established. Not saying it isn’t - just saying it is not established. And to save some time here - yes I am aware that - FILL IN THE BLANK - scientists think there is a causal connection and - FILL IN THE BLANK WITH A SMALLER NUMBER - scientists think that causality is not established. Scientific truth is not determined by a show of hands - or by refusing to consider alternative explanations and theories.
January 16th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
The big lie surfaces once again. It is not a vote establishing consensus, it is that the overwhelming majority of climatologists are convinced by the evidence. Most of those who are put forward by the “skeptics” aren’t climatologists. The problem with what mw puts forward is that the only thing that would persuade him is for everything that the models predict to have happened. By then of course it’s too late.
CO2 is a greenhouse gas. This is an undisputed fact except among those who are really loons. The physics are there and have been recognized for a century. We have increased the amount of that gas in the atmosphere. Why wouldn’t there be a warming effect? Where is the hypothesis that stands up to inspection to disprove that there would be one? Because it’s not that alternative explanations aren’t being considered, it’s that they don’t stand up to that consideration. They fail on examination by scientists who aren’t enamored of the idea of discrediting the idea of AGW.
As far as claims of being undecided by someone who refers to “core dogma of the Progressive Church”, now THAT’S something I’m skeptical about.
January 17th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Not that it matters, but just out of curiosity - were you being intentionally or unintentionally hilarious when you wrote this?
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:08 am
[...] with a Democratic Congress to explore a similar theme as the question Justin posed “McCain: The Only Viable Green President?“. Jason is a senior at the University of Wisconsin majoring in history and journalism. He has [...]
January 23rd, 2008 at 8:59 am
It should come as no suprise that being the Progressive that I am — I now work in the “renewable energy” sector. With that said, and the fact that I will get paid more if Global Warming 1) exists, 2) is man-made, and 3) can be man-stopped;
THIS ARGUMENT IS DONE, OVER, COMPLETE. GLOBAL WARMING EXISTS, IT IS MAN-MADE AND WE CAN STOP IT!!!! mw, you are f*cking forbidden from saying another word about it. There is a lot of grant money out there and capital in general that goes away without the threat of global warming. JUST SHUT THE F*&^% UP - sshhhhh.
Now, please buy as many small-cap alternative energy stocks as you possibly can. And vote Democrat. It all helps the Dos Family. Thank you.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Hey Jim S, Justin, Al Gore ect…
What do you guys propose we do about the phenomenon of GlobalGrowing?
It just goes to show how much any of us really know about mother nature.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Dos - lol. The most convincing argument I have seen yet. Tell me which ones to buy and I’m in! Once I am financially invested in Global Warming, I’ll definitely STFU and profit right along with DOS’s. Thanks for the laugh.