The Oregon GOP message is about process, not goal.
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| Climate: Future at stake |
The hardest things to notice are what isn't being said: They aren't denying climate change.
It's a victory.
Oregon is in the national news. Oregon House Democrats passed a bill, HB 2020, that would address climate with a cap on carbon use, combined with a market based system for allocating it. Cap, trade, rebate.
This is consistent with a broader understanding of the best way for government to deal with "negative externalities" of certain behaviors: people pay for the social costs they create. Insofar as carbon use in Oregon creates a social cost (contribution to climate change) then raising the cost would cause people to use less.
This has the advantage of being non-coercive and market based, but the disadvantage of being complicated.
This is consistent with a broader understanding of the best way for government to deal with "negative externalities" of certain behaviors: people pay for the social costs they create. Insofar as carbon use in Oregon creates a social cost (contribution to climate change) then raising the cost would cause people to use less.
This has the advantage of being non-coercive and market based, but the disadvantage of being complicated.
This blog noted two days ago that Democratic voters nationally think climate change is:
***real,
***human caused, and
***important.
Current GOP leadership orthodoxy under Trump is that climate change:
***probably isn't real, or if real,
***it isn't human caused, and even if so,
***the issue isn't a negative, and even if that,
***then it isn't a big deal.
As this blog also noted two days ago, nationally the GOP voters agree, with only 25% thinking climate change is important and only 32% thinking government should do anything about it.
The Oregon senators who have left the state are not joining in that message. It may be an underlying premise, but their opposition is frames as a matter of procedural and political fairness.
Here is how the top GOP senator, Herman Baertschiger, said it. I have added with bold the points of objection.
***real,
***human caused, and
***important.
Current GOP leadership orthodoxy under Trump is that climate change:
***probably isn't real, or if real,
***it isn't human caused, and even if so,
***the issue isn't a negative, and even if that,
***then it isn't a big deal.
As this blog also noted two days ago, nationally the GOP voters agree, with only 25% thinking climate change is important and only 32% thinking government should do anything about it.
The Oregon senators who have left the state are not joining in that message. It may be an underlying premise, but their opposition is frames as a matter of procedural and political fairness.
Here is how the top GOP senator, Herman Baertschiger, said it. I have added with bold the points of objection.
“All we want is for the people of Oregon to vote on this horrible bill. My caucus and I have been threatened by the Governor, Senate President, and Majority Leader with fines and arrests because they do not agree with our stance to protect rural Oregonians from cap and trade. Walking out is part of the conversation because the Governor is not willing to move on her position on the bill, and she is only representing Portland and the environmental community, not rural Oregonians. Oregon is a dictatorship, not by one person, but by one party.”
In a second official statement he put it this way, this time adding the charge that GOP communities were being extorted:
“We have endured threats of arrest, fines, and pulling community project funds from the Governor, Senate President and Majority Leader. We will not stand by and be bullied by the majority party any longer. Oregonians deserve better. It’s time for the majority party to consider all Oregonians – not just the ones in Portland.”
Former GOP state senator Alan DeBoer did not deny or minimize climate change in a recent op-ed statement. He said that Republicans wanted to "come up with good practical solutions" and he, too, focused on procedure, saying the GOP and the people they represent weren't listened to. He said the bill should not be rushed, that it shouldn't be termed an emergency, that we could and should implement it in stages so we can see if it works, that the government would have trouble administering it, that the administration would involve employees subject to costly PERS.
It was a criticism of politics and government competency, not of the underlying issue.
Meanwhile, Governor Kate Brown is doing media events with teen agers, attempting to make the point that we are dealing with their futures.
Maybe this is just GOP eyewash and posturing--a calculated talking point toward a future election of more Republicans. Maybe they don't think CO2 and climate are important, but have chosen what they think is lower hanging political fruit.
But if it is just cynical calculation, it makes the case even more strongly. They are reluctant to be on the side of diminishing climate as an issue, and it is better to try another point of objection. That means the climate constituency has grown stronger.
It is a victory for climate activists.
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| DeBoer |
It was a criticism of politics and government competency, not of the underlying issue.
Meanwhile, Governor Kate Brown is doing media events with teen agers, attempting to make the point that we are dealing with their futures.
Maybe this is just GOP eyewash and posturing--a calculated talking point toward a future election of more Republicans. Maybe they don't think CO2 and climate are important, but have chosen what they think is lower hanging political fruit.
But if it is just cynical calculation, it makes the case even more strongly. They are reluctant to be on the side of diminishing climate as an issue, and it is better to try another point of objection. That means the climate constituency has grown stronger.
It is a victory for climate activists.
7 comments:
Dinosaur: "What's that light?"
Other dinosaurs continue eating...
As if rural Oregon wont be impacted by this threat? Their walkout tended to marginalize the issue. Their objection is part of their denial. It is a crisis and needs to be immediately addressed, although i am not certain the largest state corps will welcome the opportunity to buy their way out of compliance, which favors them and discriminates against small businesses.
It's funny as hell when progressive attempt to interpret what conservatives think. I'm a conservative, and I can tell you without qualification that conservatives in-general don't believe in climate change caused by mankind. The climate does change, but it changes naturally. If every human being were wiped-off the face of the Earth today, then the climate would be unchanged tomorrow, or next year. Humans don't affect it. That's the official conservative position, contrary to what Mr. Sage believes. Don't misinterpret that for pollution. We don't like pollution, and the environment should be kept as clean as possible. Nevertheless, adding 50-cents to a gallon of gas isn't going to change the climate. That's farcical.
Why does the left continue to prop-up Alan DeBoer as a voice for the right? He's not one of ours. DeBoer is a RINO, and he's much more liberal that he is conservative. Most conservatives I know dislike Alan DeBoer, and they want nothing to do with him. DeBoer should re-register as a democrat.
As for the remaining GOP state senators, not all are conservatives. Many are RINOs controlled by the Chamber of Commerce and special interest groups. Some, like Sen. Dennis Linthicum, are true conservatives.
If Mr. Sage were truly concerned with climate change, then he'd downsize from his huge mansion to a one-bedroom apartment with a smaller environmental footprint. Did you know that Jeff Golden and Catherine Shaw both live in million dollar houses in Ashland? That's the life of a fake environmentalist.
I read today that the Obama family is in Italy vacationing with entertainer George Clooney.
https://pagesix.com/2019/06/24/the-clooneys-hang-with-the-obamas-in-lake-como/
The Obamas’ European getaway began in the South of France. According to People, the family dined with Prince Albert II in Monte Carlo on the top floor of Hotel de Paris. The family also spent time in Èze on the French Riviera with Bono and The Edge. How quaint!
Here's the facts. The average Joe from Oregon won't be able to purchase enough gasoline in order to drive to Portland, because it will be too expensive with HB 2020, while the self-appointed progressive elite fly in their jet airplanes all over the world. They tell us to tighten our belts, while they splurge and live like kings.
If there were truly climate change caused by man, then why don't the elite lead by example, and sacrifice for the cause? You know the answer. Climate change is a scam intended to enrich a lot of cronies in the "renewable energy" industry. When I see George Clooney and Obama taking the bus, then I'll consider doing it as well.
The walk out senators risking arrest are the heroes here, trying to save the Oregon economy from political flubber and cold fushion quackery. Climate change is real. The proposed solutions at an Oregon state level are absurd.
Dear Anonymous: So you are somehow more knowledgable and experienced in climate science than 99% of climate scientists? Have you actually done field work, research, and written conclusions on your data?
Tompranillo.....Science isn't about group think, and the scientists you name have been bought by grants in order to come-up with a pre-determined conclusion. All "climate change" is is a computer model, which has proven to be inaccurate. First, the left claimed that the Earth was cooling, then they said it was warming, although, for the past few years, it's been cooling again. I'm not a sheep like you are, I can think for myself, and I'm not going to follow "scientists" whose opinions have been bought. The fact is that there are plenty of scientists who claim that "climate change" is a fraud. It is a fraud. And finally, your 99% of scientists claim is bogus and untrue. Lefties have to lie in order to promote their agenda. The "godfather" of SOCAN, Alan Journet, doesn't have an "earth science" degree either. His specialty is "birds", yet you listen to him as if he's an authority on climate change.
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