Krugman engages in some climate doomerism. He notes that the most promising approach to climate change is the increasingly cheap access to carbon zero energy like solar and wind. He also notes that externalizing the cost of climate change via a carbon tax of some kind is politically toxic. The solution, therefore, is simply to subsidize various green energy technologies with tax credits. Buy a hybrid or EV and get a tax credit. Put solar on your roof, get a tax credit.
However, the Republicans want to repeal all that, because they are awful people. Sure, there's the fealty they owe to a few deep pocketed fossil fuel types, but honestly, it really seems to be because Cleek's Law demands that they do it.
I disagree with Krugman on two point. First, I think plenty of people and places will continue to adopt renewables, because they have gotten so cheap. Second, the rest of the world will still move in the renewables direction. We aren't going to be taking solar panels off of roofs the way Reagan did. The real issue right now is China's existing carbon emissions and India's potential ones. That has nothing to do with us, and oddly, a small retreat from solar and wind might actually make it cheaper for a country like India.
Still, as with everything, Trump and his minions' malevolence is really breathtaking.
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