Home >For Citizens >Election Guide >Climate Change

Voter's Survival Kit: Climate Change, So What's the Plan


There are many different ways to think about this issue. Here are outlines of three alternative plans on the best way to address the problem of climate change.

 

CHOICES IN BRIEF

Cut greenhouse emissions and change
our energy use as quickly as possible to prevent the worst
consequences of global warming

Adapt to the inevitable changes global
warming will cause

Use the free market to lead the way in the
search for solutions


What’s most needed now is strong government action both here and abroad to dramatically cut the production of greenhouse gases, shift to new energy sources and prevent as much of the damage global warming would otherwise cause as possible.

Given how far global warming has already advanced, and given the cost and disruption involved in shifting away from fossil fuels, the wisest course is to figure out how the United States can adapt to the tough problems climate change will inevitably cause.

The best thing we can do to address the challenges of global warming is to make sure the private sector has the information, freedom and incentives that will best allow businesses to respond to it. We can’t let bureaucracy and politics get in the way of innovation. There’s money to be made in “going green,” and with the right help creative entrepreneurs will seize the opportunity.


CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CHOICES IN DETAIL

Cut greenhouse emissions and change
our energy use as quickly as possible to prevent the worst
consequences of global warming

Adapt to the inevitable changes global
warming will cause

Use the free market to lead the way in the
search for solutions


What should be done?


Increase conservation and fuel efficiency by:
  • Substantially raising fuel-economy standards for new cars and giving tax incentives to drivers who choose fuel-efficient hybrids and smaller cars.
  • Raising the gas tax to encourage people to move to more fuel-efficient cars and reduce their driving to essential travel. Use the revenues to fund research and development of alternative energy.
  • Enacting a “carbon tax” on industrial emissions to encourage businesses to reduce their greenhouse gases.
  • Passing construction codes in places that require new buildings to be more energy-efficient.
  • Investing in energy-saving public transportation and rebuilding the country’s rail system for commercial shipping.
    • Change our energy sources by:
  • Stop building coal-fired power plants, which put out a lot of greenhouse gases, and aggressively shift to cleaner energy sources that are already available, like natural gas and nuclear power.
  • Investing in research on solar, wind and other technologies that “capture” greenhouse gases from smokestacks and “store” them so that they are relatively harmless to the environment.

    Take a leading role in international efforts by:

  • Signing the Kyoto Treaty and joining other international efforts to reduce greenhouse gases through policies that put limits on what any country can produce in the way of carbon emissions.
  • Providing aid to developing countries in the form of know-how and resources that help them industrialize with clean energy.
    • Adapt society to harsher weather conditions by:
  • Enacting new building codes to make our cities more weather- and flood-proof.
  • Providing subsidies and tax breaks to farmers to help them switch to different crops and methods that can better survive climate disruptions.
  • Developing new dams, seawalls and flood control systems to minimize the impact of higher water levels on cities likely to be affected.
    • Discourage people from living in areas that are likely to be hard-hit by floods and wildfires by:
  • Ending federal flood insurance, which encourages building in coastal areas.
  • Providing tax incentives that encourage people who live in coastal and other flood-prone areas to move to less vulnerable regions.
  • Giving government the power to bar development on extremely vulnerable coastland and riverbanks. These areas could be better used for parkland.
    • Increase federal funding for:
  • Scientific research into such areas as: how to develop local food crops that can adapt to harsh weather conditions, controlling tropical diseases and pests, andhigh-level monitoring systems including satellites to help track weather patterns, crop failures, pest contagions, etc.
  • Financial and technical aid for developing nations to adapt to these extreme conditions which are likely to be more devastating in their regions.

    • Cut back on regulation and red tape that might inhibit businesses from responding to new opportunities in alternative energy by:

  • Easing government regulations so that businesses can bring new, “green” technologies to market more quickly.
  • Simplifying and expediting procedures for building nuclear power plants so environmental advocacy groups can’t hold up development for years.
  • Granting tax incentives to power companies to upgrade their plants to use new, cleaner technology.
  • Creating incentives or tax breaks for businesses that “go green.”
  • Offering competitive “innovation” prizes for needed technology, such as ways to capture greenhouse emissions, store nuclear waste and develop better battery technology.


    • Arguments For This Approach


  • There is no time to lose. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to change. We need to start moving away from our dependence on fossil fuels as quickly as feasible.
  • Alternative forms of energy are the wave of the future. The U.S. will lose out environmentally and economically by clinging to the technologies of the past. Other countries have done more to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and their economies have not suffered dramatically.

  • This approach applies the country’s resources toward the most important issue – how to handle emergencies that will likely result from global warming.
  • This focuses on what we can do in our own country rather than trying to get other countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
  • This approach uses government to protect health and safety, not to legislate what drivers and businesses do.
  • Surveys of business leaders show that most recognize that there’s money to be made in“green technology.” China and India will be in the market for energy-efficient technology, so the free enterprise system will be poised to respond.
  • Relying on business solutions will avoid highly expensive government programs and the intrusive regulations and policies that restrict the freedom of businesses and consumers.
  • Science comes up with solutions, but business is really the engine that brings technological change out of the laboratory and into daily life.


    • Arguments Against This Approach


  • The U.S. has a huge investment in its highways, trucking systems, private auto travel and coal-powered electricity. It will take decades to rebuild and retool our systems.
  • Putting taxes on larger cars like SUVs and on gasoline will penalize people who need bigger vehicles and have to drive long distances.
  • Businesses will pass their higher energy costs onto customers, leading to higher costs for nearly everything.

  • This approach does almost nothing to curb the release of greenhouse gases, which means that climate change could get even worse. We could damage the Earth irretrievably.
  • The government would be telling people where they can and can’t live, not to mention what kinds of buildings they can live in. It would lead to a lot more regulation and red tape.

  • The free market can’t solve all our problems. After all, it was big businesses, in the form of energy and automobile companies (among others), that delayed action on the global warming issue for decades.
  • By the time business has a strong enough profit motive to change the way it consumes energy, it will be too late to reverse global warming and avoid its most disastrous impacts.
  • More and more business leaders themselves are calling for government action to require greater conservation and cleaner energy. Government action creates a level playing field so businesses that want to invest in cleaner energy won’t be at a disadvantage.



    •