Rugged individualism isn’t a solution for either a recession or climate change, but the GOP views them differently; the party will occasionally support strong government action to address the former, but not the latter. Why the difference?
Two reasons. First, recessions end, while the measures necessary to combat climate change may not. Second, the fiscal measures used by Democrats to deal with recessions do not typically attack Republican core values. Yes, they drive up the deficit, but the GOP barely pretends to care about spending anymore.