It appears to me that the mainstream of the GOP has shifted its position on climate change. Instead of looking loony by denying it altogether, the new position is, just deal with the heat by cranking up your A/C! Sure, it may cost you a few more dollars, and life may be a bit uncomfortable for a while, but it’s better than paying $5 for gas, right? And in the long run, we have plenty of resources and time to figure things out, so there’s no reason to panic.
Well, yeah. Except that some people don’t have A/C, and many people can’t afford to pay higher electric bills. Not to mention the additional deaths and property damage from hurricanes and wildfires, the lost agricultural productivity, the lost property value as insurance on the coast becomes increasingly unavailable, the forced migration of millions in the West whose environment is no longer habitable due to a lack of water and unbearable heat, and, of course, millions of additional climate refugees at the border.
Maybe cheap gas isn’t such a good deal, after all. What the right considers acceptable collateral damage is a lot more than that.