Republicans Endorse Carbon Tax For Climate Change? Wow

Traditionally, the Republican party has taken a public stance as climate deniers.  Not so much as complete climate change deniers, just that climate change could possibly be happening but do not know the source or the rate of occurrence is the routine stance.  Recently, Republican Congressman Lindsey Graham endorsed a carbon tax as stated in the excerpt from 'Politico Energy' below:

BABY STEPS FOR CLIMATE HAWKS: Sens. Lindsey Graham and Sheldon Whitehouse are working together on a carbon tax bill, the South Carolina Republican told a conference in Connecticut on Tuesday, according to Time . "I believe that the greenhouse effect is real, that CO2 emissions generated by man is creating our greenhouse gas effect that traps heat, and the planet is warming," said Graham. "A price on carbon-that's the way to go in my view." He pledged to discuss the idea with the White House. Whitehouse, in response, tweeted: "Lots of work to do, but this is a good step."

These are inspiring words from Senator Lindsey Graham.  Politicians might act like a 'pendulum' when discussing climate change.  I am alright with that intermittent commitment to climate change to appease their constituents.  Why?



Because I believe that scientists need to do a better job of contributing to the reality of climate change to the public.  Also, we live in a democracy.  If the public would like to spend their tax-payer money on 'so-called' higher priorities then so be it.  Although, with the severity of the recent storms of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, the writing is on the wall.


A few months ago, I wrote a short blog post about Congress reviewing President Trump's FY 2018 budget.  Specifically, I mentioned the instance where a Republican Congressman tried to remove the words "climate change" completely out of the Department of Defenses budget.  Fortunately, by a wide margin, the remaining Republicans and Democrats voted against the amendment.  That was another 'baby step'.



Each of these announcements are 'baby steps' toward the eventual "public acceptance" and "persuasion" by the important politicians -- i.e. Republicans (mainly) who typically deny climate change in "public"(i.e. in front of the cameras) to please their constituents while accepting climate change as real in private.  These acts show that now, more than ever, each scientist needs to do their part to join the conversation and educate or discuss the adverse effects of climate change along with the need to change our habits toward sustainable living.



Collectively, politicians and educators can change the system.  Lets join together and make some change for the better.  Recently, Democrats have asked the EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to clarify his intentions of holding a 'climate debate' which is illegal according to government protocols.  You can read about the inquiry in a recent post I wrote.  This is good news.  The Congress is starting to collectively come down on the misguided direction that President Trump's administration is taking us in trying to reverse environmental regulations set by the previous administration.  Environmental regulations that even big corporations have accepted and made changes to their infrastructure to accommodate (some have) a renewable energy future.



Instead of arguing in the aftermath of devastating Hurricanes like Harvey about the responsibility of chemical spills and fires along with resources, lets invest in resources and regulations which keep us safe and lead to a more sustainable environment (using renewable energy).  The excerpt above seems to indicate that we are headed in the right direction at the moment.