Obama’s cap-and-trade legislation was killed by the combination of energy state Democrats, opportunistic Republicans, and the filibuster. AOC and her friends will face the same obstacles if the Democrats win the 2020 election. How can they be overcome?
Here are some suggestions:
- SKIP THE HAIR SWEATER: Jimmy Carter’s gloom and doom message about energy consumption only drove the American people to vote for Reagan. Climate change should be discussed as a challenge and an opportunity, not just a source of unavoidable future suffering.
- TALK LIKE AN ECONOMIST: Many GOP members will argue that the GND will impose costs that will wreck our economy. On the contrary: the costs are already being imposed by nature, and cannot be avoided, so the real question is whether they will be borne systematically, or randomly and after the damage is done. You can also emphasize the number of jobs that already exist in clean energy, and how many more could be created in the future.
- PROPOSE MARKET-FRIENDLY MEASURES TO ATTRACT REPUBLICANS: No elaboration is needed.
- TALK ABOUT TODAY, NOT TOMORROW: One of the problems with climate change is that most of its effects will be felt by posterity. Many Americans simply don’t care what happens after they are gone. Deal with that by showing recent footage of hurricanes, rising sea level, and wildfires. The first wave of problems is already here.
- DON’T BE AFRAID TO WAVE THE FLAG: Is it really safe to concede leadership in clean energy to the Chinese?
- BE OPTIMISTIC: If the message is that we’re all screwed in the long run, why not party today? The public needs to be told that viable solutions do exist, and everything we can do to help, even now, matters immensely.