On CLs and Climate Change

Conservative Libertarians are a relatively principled group, but when confronted with facts which contradict their beliefs in extremely limited government and individualism, they tend to retreat into denialism. And so, if you talk about the booming Chinese economy, they will tell you that its implosion is imminent, because, according to their logic, it just has to be. The CL response to the pandemic, which can only be resolved through collective action, is to file lawsuits alleging the unconstitutionality of lockdowns (Reactionaries seek the same end by demonstrating with guns.) With climate change, of course, the easiest approach is to deny that it exists, and so they do.

The thing about climate change is that you cannot avoid the costs; you either pay the price in prevention, or in the cleanup afterwards. The ongoing wildfires are a classic example of that phenomenon. CLs really should be getting behind a carbon tax, because it is the most individual and market-friendly mitigation measure that is available to us. Will they? As of now, they would rather just deny.