We are farther from a price on carbon than we have been in a decade. The Democratic president has chosen to govern like a conservative Republican of the 1990's. We voted for the next FDR, and we got President Obamney. The Republicans are falling all over themselves to get us back to 1900. What is the political path to climate action that will prevent cataclysmic changes?
One thing to do is to protest and make the climate the only issue you care about. That is underway. Get to DC for the September 3 rally and if you can, go up and block the White House from August 20 - September 3 to stop the Tar Sands Greenhouse Gas Acceleration Project. There are plenty of other people to worry about short-term things like jobs and health care, which most of us care about very much. We stand for Gaia - for a planet that can support human life and the lives of other animals that we have come to like in our short existances. If we don't stop climate change, who gives a damn about your job or career?
Another thing we could consider would be to support a candidate other than President Obama. That technique failed miserably in 1980 when Ted Kennedy ran against Carter. It also failed in 2000, when people in Florida voted for Ralph Nader because they thought Clinton was too conservative and that Gore was "the same" as Bush. There are far too many willfully ignorant people in this country (think about how many people voted for a Republican in the 2008 election despite 8 years of Bush/Cheney) to govern from the progressive side. As frustrated as you might be with how conservative he has been, if you don't throw everything you have to re-elect Barack Obama, you will put extra nails in Gaia's coffin.
Another technique you could take would be to jump into the Republican debate and force the American Right to have a debate about the climate this year. Here's my take on the effects of the various Republican candidates (if I left them out, it's because I don't take them seriously).
Ron Paul
Dr. Paul could be helping women in Haiti or the Democratic Republic of Congo or Houston. Instead, he entered Congress, where he thinks pushing libertarian ideas will have more impact on people's lives than by directly helping people with the skills given to him by our fantastic system of education. A charismatic and engaging Medical Doctor with the worst God-complex you've ever seen. He saw an enigmatic Austrian Economist (von Mises) talk one time about the Gold Standard and how modern economies based on fiat currencies are bound to fail because early experiments with Fiat Currency failed. (Yes- I did read his book "End the Fed"). Then, he decided he knew more than thousands of economists who spent their graduate careers reading economic philosophy and publishing peer reviewed papers instead of becoming an OB/Gyn. He named his kid Rand after the Utopian Libertarian writer of the same name. He is an honest idealogue (e.g. he refuses the pension that congresspeople are supposed to get) who is the most interesting person in the Republican field.
Then you think about what his administration would look like. Devastating cuts to all the things that the government does to help people - bad. Immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, efforts to end all subsidies for environmental destruction/exploitation - good. Privatization efforts for all National Parks and other Public Spaces (Turning Rocky Mountain National Park to Pike's Peak) - disgusting.
If you have a blind faith in free markets to solve all problems, you don't understand the tragedy of the commons, which is the problem that Climate Huggers must solve. While we can work with libertarians on some issues (endless wars, decriminalizing marijuana), libertarians just don't get it re: externalities. The free market is basically the human manifestation of natural selection.
I don't want a society based on subhuman evolutionary competition. I know what kind of life wild animals have. I see the carcasses and starving babies. Our goal is to protect civilization, which, despite all its faults, is a lot more pleasant than animal societies that live the way libertarians want us to live. I love to watch birds, but I don't want to behave like them.
Rick Parry (That's Parry with an A for America and Iowa)
Dumber than Dubya. Rick Parry has already threatened the life of the Federal Reserve chairman for causing runaway inflation, despite the fact that we don't have anything like runaway inflation. He's running on Job Creation, but if you don't want to have a career earning minimum wage, then you don't want Rick Parry as president. See Paul Krugman for a devastating take-down of Parry's supposed economic miracle in Texas. As others have pointed out, Parry tries to parrot Ron Paul's arguments about the currency, but he doesn't understand the currency/gold bug ideas well enough to get them right. I thought this guy might win for about 10 minutes, but he's really not smart enough to win against a good politician like Barack Obama in a national election.
Michelle Bachmann
A 5" Deck Screw in every corner of Gaia's Coffin. Michelle Bachmann openly mocks the president for using a teleprompter and then constantly makes errors in speaking because she doesn't have the self-discipline or organizational skill to prepare remarks in advance. This behavior is emblematic for her. She is a very proud ignoramus who has made up her mind without any evidence about almost every issue. She lies about how many kids she has, family reunions,and apparently a lot of other things. She is a cynical politician who hides behind her "strong" Christian faith to disguise a callous political philosophy based on fighting gay marriage and criminalizing abortion and cutting anything that helps poor people get out of poverty or reach their full potential (i.e. education, food stamps, medicaid, health care). Bachmann is the most dangerous person in the field who now pledges to bring back $2 gas by opening up every cranny to oil drilling. But all she does is go out an win elections, so watch out.
Mitt Romney
At least he has shown a willingness to change his mind about things. Unfortunately, he is often doing that in the wrong direction these days. I don't think he can win the nomination because he is too much like Obama. They passed the same health care plan. They are both moderate Republicans in governing philosophy. He probably would have the best shot of actually beating Obama because the other candidates are so crazy that they could not win the independents. Hopefully, a lot of the crazy right would stay out of it during a Romney run.This election would be Bush v Gore again. Obamneycare would be the central election issue and the climate would be ignored.
Pawlenty- I am glad Pawlenty is out. He had no shot. A total Climate Weasel. As Krugman said, he is Sarah Palin in a suit.
Herman Cain
Who is Herman Cain? I know nothing about this person and I'll take him seriously if he is still in the race in 2012. He's apparently a ballistics expert, and that seems to accurately reflect the rhetoric I've heard from him. Until 2012, I'll just say that an African American will have difficulty reaching the Republican base.
John Huntsman
Huntsman is the only climate-friendly Republican candidate. If you were hedging your bets on climate change issues, you would start campaigning for this guy to stay in the field as long as possible. We'll see whether he sticks to his guns in this election or decides that the science has become questionable (like Romney did).
He was raised Mormon, but his 7 kids went to Catholic Schools, his wife is Episcopalian, and he has an adopted daughter of Indian descent. I don't think he thinks the earth is 5000 years old or thinks that prayer is the way to solve our nation's problems.
The problem with Huntsman is that he's too reasonable to win the nomination. Republicans want someone who will bring back the glory days of 1900. They want someone with "Common Sense," not someone who is way smarter than the average person and thoughtful and will make the best decision for the country. An actual problem is that he is one of these "the tax burden is too high" guys despite the fact that the US has low taxes and that the super rich pay really low taxes, and our economy still stinks. So how do they make these arguments? At least he refused to sign the "no tax" pledge. I don't think a reasonable person can win the Republican nomination. It would be nice to see Obama run against Huntsman for the presidency, since we could debate whether the solution is Cap and Trade or a Carbon Tax and Rebate program.
So - should we care about which Republican wins - very much so and the one we support should be John Huntsman. But, we should not support him openly, since that would crush his candidacy among the Republicans.
After these considerations, I endorse Rick Parry for the Republican nomination for the president of the United States. He is stupid and his technique of dealing with climate change will be to pray about while opening up Yellowstone National Park for unlimited oil drilling, but he would make a tremendous nominee for president from the Republican field.
One thing to do is to protest and make the climate the only issue you care about. That is underway. Get to DC for the September 3 rally and if you can, go up and block the White House from August 20 - September 3 to stop the Tar Sands Greenhouse Gas Acceleration Project. There are plenty of other people to worry about short-term things like jobs and health care, which most of us care about very much. We stand for Gaia - for a planet that can support human life and the lives of other animals that we have come to like in our short existances. If we don't stop climate change, who gives a damn about your job or career?
Another thing we could consider would be to support a candidate other than President Obama. That technique failed miserably in 1980 when Ted Kennedy ran against Carter. It also failed in 2000, when people in Florida voted for Ralph Nader because they thought Clinton was too conservative and that Gore was "the same" as Bush. There are far too many willfully ignorant people in this country (think about how many people voted for a Republican in the 2008 election despite 8 years of Bush/Cheney) to govern from the progressive side. As frustrated as you might be with how conservative he has been, if you don't throw everything you have to re-elect Barack Obama, you will put extra nails in Gaia's coffin.
Another technique you could take would be to jump into the Republican debate and force the American Right to have a debate about the climate this year. Here's my take on the effects of the various Republican candidates (if I left them out, it's because I don't take them seriously).
Ron Paul
Dr. Paul could be helping women in Haiti or the Democratic Republic of Congo or Houston. Instead, he entered Congress, where he thinks pushing libertarian ideas will have more impact on people's lives than by directly helping people with the skills given to him by our fantastic system of education. A charismatic and engaging Medical Doctor with the worst God-complex you've ever seen. He saw an enigmatic Austrian Economist (von Mises) talk one time about the Gold Standard and how modern economies based on fiat currencies are bound to fail because early experiments with Fiat Currency failed. (Yes- I did read his book "End the Fed"). Then, he decided he knew more than thousands of economists who spent their graduate careers reading economic philosophy and publishing peer reviewed papers instead of becoming an OB/Gyn. He named his kid Rand after the Utopian Libertarian writer of the same name. He is an honest idealogue (e.g. he refuses the pension that congresspeople are supposed to get) who is the most interesting person in the Republican field.
Then you think about what his administration would look like. Devastating cuts to all the things that the government does to help people - bad. Immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, efforts to end all subsidies for environmental destruction/exploitation - good. Privatization efforts for all National Parks and other Public Spaces (Turning Rocky Mountain National Park to Pike's Peak) - disgusting.
If you have a blind faith in free markets to solve all problems, you don't understand the tragedy of the commons, which is the problem that Climate Huggers must solve. While we can work with libertarians on some issues (endless wars, decriminalizing marijuana), libertarians just don't get it re: externalities. The free market is basically the human manifestation of natural selection.
I don't want a society based on subhuman evolutionary competition. I know what kind of life wild animals have. I see the carcasses and starving babies. Our goal is to protect civilization, which, despite all its faults, is a lot more pleasant than animal societies that live the way libertarians want us to live. I love to watch birds, but I don't want to behave like them.
Rick Parry (That's Parry with an A for America and Iowa)
Dumber than Dubya. Rick Parry has already threatened the life of the Federal Reserve chairman for causing runaway inflation, despite the fact that we don't have anything like runaway inflation. He's running on Job Creation, but if you don't want to have a career earning minimum wage, then you don't want Rick Parry as president. See Paul Krugman for a devastating take-down of Parry's supposed economic miracle in Texas. As others have pointed out, Parry tries to parrot Ron Paul's arguments about the currency, but he doesn't understand the currency/gold bug ideas well enough to get them right. I thought this guy might win for about 10 minutes, but he's really not smart enough to win against a good politician like Barack Obama in a national election.
Michelle Bachmann
A 5" Deck Screw in every corner of Gaia's Coffin. Michelle Bachmann openly mocks the president for using a teleprompter and then constantly makes errors in speaking because she doesn't have the self-discipline or organizational skill to prepare remarks in advance. This behavior is emblematic for her. She is a very proud ignoramus who has made up her mind without any evidence about almost every issue. She lies about how many kids she has, family reunions,and apparently a lot of other things. She is a cynical politician who hides behind her "strong" Christian faith to disguise a callous political philosophy based on fighting gay marriage and criminalizing abortion and cutting anything that helps poor people get out of poverty or reach their full potential (i.e. education, food stamps, medicaid, health care). Bachmann is the most dangerous person in the field who now pledges to bring back $2 gas by opening up every cranny to oil drilling. But all she does is go out an win elections, so watch out.
Mitt Romney
At least he has shown a willingness to change his mind about things. Unfortunately, he is often doing that in the wrong direction these days. I don't think he can win the nomination because he is too much like Obama. They passed the same health care plan. They are both moderate Republicans in governing philosophy. He probably would have the best shot of actually beating Obama because the other candidates are so crazy that they could not win the independents. Hopefully, a lot of the crazy right would stay out of it during a Romney run.This election would be Bush v Gore again. Obamneycare would be the central election issue and the climate would be ignored.
Pawlenty- I am glad Pawlenty is out. He had no shot. A total Climate Weasel. As Krugman said, he is Sarah Palin in a suit.
Herman Cain
Who is Herman Cain? I know nothing about this person and I'll take him seriously if he is still in the race in 2012. He's apparently a ballistics expert, and that seems to accurately reflect the rhetoric I've heard from him. Until 2012, I'll just say that an African American will have difficulty reaching the Republican base.
John Huntsman
Huntsman is the only climate-friendly Republican candidate. If you were hedging your bets on climate change issues, you would start campaigning for this guy to stay in the field as long as possible. We'll see whether he sticks to his guns in this election or decides that the science has become questionable (like Romney did).
He was raised Mormon, but his 7 kids went to Catholic Schools, his wife is Episcopalian, and he has an adopted daughter of Indian descent. I don't think he thinks the earth is 5000 years old or thinks that prayer is the way to solve our nation's problems.
The problem with Huntsman is that he's too reasonable to win the nomination. Republicans want someone who will bring back the glory days of 1900. They want someone with "Common Sense," not someone who is way smarter than the average person and thoughtful and will make the best decision for the country. An actual problem is that he is one of these "the tax burden is too high" guys despite the fact that the US has low taxes and that the super rich pay really low taxes, and our economy still stinks. So how do they make these arguments? At least he refused to sign the "no tax" pledge. I don't think a reasonable person can win the Republican nomination. It would be nice to see Obama run against Huntsman for the presidency, since we could debate whether the solution is Cap and Trade or a Carbon Tax and Rebate program.
So - should we care about which Republican wins - very much so and the one we support should be John Huntsman. But, we should not support him openly, since that would crush his candidacy among the Republicans.
After these considerations, I endorse Rick Parry for the Republican nomination for the president of the United States. He is stupid and his technique of dealing with climate change will be to pray about while opening up Yellowstone National Park for unlimited oil drilling, but he would make a tremendous nominee for president from the Republican field.
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