Imagine that you are Chris Christie, and you are running for president. It won’t be enough for you to take down Trump and DeSantis; you need to prove to a large segment of GOP voters that a more Reaganesque approach to politics is both prudent, from a policy perspective, and an electoral winner. What would you say?
On climate change, an answer to a debate question would run something like this:
“I know there are plenty of people in our party–some of whom are on this stage–who either believe that climate change is a hoax, or that we shouldn’t do anything to try and stop it. I’m here to tell you that climate change is real, folks. Those images of hurricanes and wildfires and floods you see every day on TV aren’t fake. I should know. I was the governor of New Jersey during Superstorm Sandy, and I’ve seen the evidence first hand.
We can either ignore the problem and watch as hundreds of people die and countless billions of dollars in property is destroyed every year, and call that acceptable collateral damage, or we can take steps to mitigate the issue up front, and reduce the cost and misery in the long run. The question is how to do it.
The Democrats have done it with wasteful public spending and regulations. They would, wouldn’t they? A true Republican plan would give individual people and the private sector the freedom to find their own best solutions. That means a carbon tax.
I know we hate taxes, but a carbon tax would take the government mandates and spending out of the equation, and it would permit us to cut income tax as an offset. That is the tax that reduces incentives and makes us less productive. It would also give us the basis to impose tariffs on exports from countries that don’t have carbon taxes. That would raise other revenues that could be rebated to American consumers, and would protect us from the avalanche of Chinese goods that we have today.
It’s a win-win. Many Republican economists support it. I’m asking you to support it, too.”