Happy Monday! Two op-eds in prominent papers from vocal conservatives in the climate fight have the EcoRight starting off the week smiling ear to ear.
In the Washington Post, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chair and ranking member, Alaska’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski and West Virginia’s Sen. Joe Manchin respectively, wrote It’s time to act on climate changeresponsibly. “Alaska and West Virginia know that resource development and environmental stewardship must move in tandem, which is why we are committed to putting forward bipartisan solutions to help address climate change,” they wrote. “Congress is in the middle of a debate about the appropriate way to tackle climate change. This is often portrayed as an issue with just two sides those who support drastic, unattainable measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and those who want to do nothing. We believe the time for sensationalism is over. And we are seeking ideas that will bring people together, rather than drive them apart.”
The USA Today published former Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s piece, Forget the Green New Deal. We need climate solutions from free-market moderates. “The Green New Deal is serving an important purpose by provoking a more vigorous level of public debate. We’ve finally reached a tipping point. Scientists, business leaders, 13 federal government agenciesincluding the Defense Departmentand most of our allies around the world are convinced that climate change is happening and that strong, concerted actions are needed to minimize its effects,” Kasich wrote. “I am convinced that conservatives and moderates, including many Democrats, can agree on a commonsense set of policies. They would be based on responsible economic principles of free-market capitalism and personal choice, not coercion. They would actually reduce regulation and lighten the heavy hand of government, while stimulating job growth and the economy, encouraging innovation, benefiting working-class Americans and most important protecting and improving the environment we share with the world.”
Check out both pieces in their entirety.