Alright, despite being a Republican, I’ll admit it. Human activity is contributing to global warming. Co2 is a greenhouse gas. It is why Venus, a planet whose atmosphere is 99.9% carbon dioxide, is the hottest planet in the solar system despite being second from the sun. To say that co2 is naturally occurring and therefore not dangerous is ignorant. After all, gamma rays are also naturally occurring, but it’s still a very bad idea to stand at ground zero during a nuclear explosion. Anyone who has ever sat in their garage with the door closed and the car running would tell you, co2 is a pollutant. But you’re not likely to hear from such persons, because they are dead.
For those of you who are celebrating that a Republican finally admits global warming is taking place due to human activity, don’t get too excited. My next sentence after admitting climate change exists, is to ask, so what? This is not bravado, or the willful ignorance in believing a problem will just disappear if we don’t think about it. Instead, it is called reality.
The reality is our cars run on fossil fuels. The reality is electric cars like TESLA produce as much co2 as gasoline models because they need to be charged. The reality is there is no other viable alternative fuel technology for transportation. The reality is, at our current stage of technology, the emission of co2 is the result of human progress. No amount of screaming into microphones by Hildebeast, or speeches from Obama on #GolfCart1, will change it.
Since there is no alternative energy technology currently in existence, the question for each of us is whether we are willing to substantially alter our lives and bankrupt our nation until an alternative technology emerges.
Are you willing to refrain from driving your children to soccer practice? Are you willing to buy a smaller car that’s less safe for your family in case of an accident? Are you willing to give up on using air conditioning? Are you willing to pay three times what you currently do on gas because politicians think the solution to every problem is higher taxes? Are you seriously willing to pay for backpacks to be put on cows because politicians think the solution to global warming is to capture cow farts? Are you willing to give up on using toilet paper? Before you laugh, Americans consume 15 million trees annually just to wipe our asses. While that’s a shitty deal, it is far more appealing to me then supporting a plan to make pinecones great again.
These are the real life consequences for ordinary Americans from the supposed solutions our DC overlords are eager to impose upon us. For my part, I have no problem saying my answer to all of the above questions is a resounding no. I am not willing to reduce the quality of life for my family or the opportunities afforded to my children just because politicians believe they can regulate away human progress.
This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t plant trees, or governments shouldn’t be investing in infrastructure with future concerns from climate change in mind. It only means that currently, while many of us are concerned about climate change, there is nothing we can do. And, I speak for most Americans when I say; I am currently not willing to substantially alter my lifestyle. Perhaps one day that will change. However, that’s a little thing we call freedom.
It is not the job of our government to impose regulations or taxes in order to alter the behavior of its citizens in a manner officials perceive as desirable. The fact that democrats will try to use admissions like the one above to do just that, shows this was never a debate about science. Instead, it boils down to the age old question, how much power should the government have. When it comes to maintaining the quality of our lives from governmental intrusion, Americans will fight hard to preserve it. Like climate change, that’s a fact.