“Let the seas rise. Let the wind blow.” That’s top Republican commentator Erick Erickson’s position on climate change. I would say he’s a “conservative” commentator, but there’s absolutely nothing conservative about wanting to gas up your SUV cheaply now and while leaving the pollution bill for future generations to pay. It’s pure selfishness – “I’ve got mine so screw you” presented as profound political philosophy.
Erickson may just be one blogger, but here he gets to the core motivations of today’s Congressional Republican leadership – America isn’t worth investing in. Energy? Just give me what’s cheapest today – if we need alternatives tomorrow, someone else can spend the money on it. Education? If my family needs that, I can pay to send my children to private school, but I won’t volunteer a dime in additional taxes to improve our community. The environment? I can buy home air filters and bottled water – if you can’t, too bad for you & yours.
“We are all going to die,” Erickson cynically concludes. “Just not today.” And by then, it’ll be up to our children and grandchildren to build massive hurricane barriers outside every East Coast city to keep out the rising seas and monster storms as the bill comes due for all that cheap coal, oil and fracked gas.
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