Climate Change: The Republicans' Hope

During the presidential campaign, Mitt Romney does not dare utter the words “climate change.” Romney, who never seems to venture so far as to even mention this term, prefers to state during meetings that in order for America to conquer its energy independence, we need to exploit fossil fuels like petrol, gas and coal to their fullest extent. He does not think twice about shooting a poisoned arrow at President Obama who, according to Romney, opposes reviving the U.S. economy through a booming energy industry with techniques such as hydraulic fracturing.

Romney’s position is at the heart of the Republican Party, and it brings together the profound skepticism of the conservatives and the members of the tea party who doubt the possibility of global warming. The scientific proof is brushed aside with no exceptions. There are a large number of people who do not believe this theory and only seem to want to put a wrench in the gears of the economy. They are even calling for the abolition of the Environment Protection Agency.

But not all Republicans are singing this tune. Former Republican nominee to the House of Representatives for South Carolina Bob Inglis believes that global warming is a genuine problem and can be fought through private initiatives. His courageous convictions, however, cost him his tenure in Congress. He was edged out by a tea party representative. The head of the Energy and Enterprise Initiative at George Mason University said on National Public Radio: “We think free enterprise has the answer to energy and climate.”

Inglis is proposing to erase any tax credits or subsidies for manufacturers of solar panels and solar cars and for the giants in the petrol and gas industries as well. To him it is necessary to impose a carbon tax on fossil fuels. For Ingles, society is already paying the hidden costs of the status quo: Greenhouse gas emissions and pollution are deteriorating the health of the people, and those who emit them are not footing this undesirable bill.