Taking politics out of climate change
Many liberals haven’t recognized the importance of getting conservatives on board, says Josiah Neeley, energy policy director for R Street Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that supports research and legislation aimed at promoting free markets and limited government on a wide array of issues.
“Over the last couple years—up until election day eve really—I think there was a kind of attitude on the left that, ‘Well, we’re going to win anyway. We really don’t need conservative buy-in or support for this stuff,’ ” he says. A lack of bipartisan support leads to short-term initiatives that are enacted by one administration and rescinded when the opposing party comes into power, he adds. Several Obama administration initiatives, including the Clean Power Plan, are currently in jeopardy because they didn’t go through Congress and never garnered conservative buy-in. Creating sustainable solutions that can last through both Republican and Democrat-controlled administrations requires a willingness from both sides to work together. “My impression is that there’s been more of a realization of that over the last few months,” he says.
