Re: Green Conservatism

Andrew Sullivan notes, in The Daily Dish:

A new enviro-blog - from the center-right. Encouraging. Their mission statement:

More and more conservatives realize that the right solution for our biggest challenges - dependence on foreign oil, staying competitive in a challenging global economy, proper stewardship of creation, kick-starting America's rural/farm economy, acting smartly to address climate changes - can be found in creating new markets that serve both our environmental and economic needs. Conservatives get it: Markets and profits, not more government subsidies. Less moolah for mullahs. “Fear not” as opposed to fear-mongering.

That's what Terra Rossa is all about. It’s a forum where “red staters” agree on the power of the marketplace to meet our economic, national security and environmental goals. It’s where conservatives discuss the power of carbon markets to solve our biggest problems while avoiding government's worst ideas. It’s where free-market Republicans can help plow the ground for a new energy future to take seed and grow.

Terra Rossa?

Too little.  Too late.  Facile and lacking depth.

Apparently unbeknownst to conservatives, neither these issues nor their solutions have suddenly come to light.  Conservatives let all these problems fester for seven years since defeating Al Gore in 2000 when he was talking about all this.  The notion of “creating markets” for, for example, carbon trading, was long ago elaborated by progressives.  For progressives, it was a cheered but non original idea when Barack Obama elaborated his energy policy and included carbon trading.

More deeply flawed is the notion that one can “create markets” using the free market without government subsidies and intervention by blaming “government's bad ideas”.  Where do those “government” ideas come from?  They come from laws enacted by elected representatives -- not some abstract evil, stupid “government”.

How could anyone believe that johnny-come-lately “conservatives”, who resisted taking action until global warming was a possibly irreversible crisis?  who derided and insulted John Kerry for proposing energy independence and job creation by supporting the Apollo project in 2004?  who hate subsidies but don't realize that you use have to use the levers of government to create these markets?

I mean, how well has the free market done in reducing global warming while America dithered the last seven years?  The answer would be, “not”.  The free market has created this problem by “externalizing” many costs, including global warming.  Government is needed to make large difference quickly.

How is a carbon trading scheme or a carbon tax to come about unless “government” (that is, we the people, through our tool the goverment) creates and allocates the market, àlà the radio spectrum?  How do you create the hybrid car or big-box-store roof-based solar market and get it going without government mandates (Renewable Portfolio Standards they are called and already enacted by many progressive states) and subsidies to get the market to enough scale fast enough for investors to invest and engineers to get up the efficiency curve and production to get large enough to get economies of scale.

And this perfectly illustrates why conservatives can't run the country well.  They let problems fester.  Then don't understand why government doesn't work when run by government haters.

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