The effort to encourage, cajole, or downright force people to take actions to protect our environment are laudable. It is probably an area where, had it been handled correctly, we could have stood on common ground. Where the effort started meeting resistance was when it was accompanied by ridiculous claims and scare tactics.
The whole "climate change" movement was seriously undermined by the obvious mishandling of the money thrown at the perceived problem. Had the
free market seen a desire for solar and wind generated electricity and electric cars, it would have done what it always does-produce the product. By the
government subsidizing those manufacturers, it has created a mess, as usual. A lot of taxpayer money went down the tubes as companies took the subsidies and then went belly up.
There is no way to measure how this would have played out had it been handled differently. You have to give both sides a little credit. The climate change proponents are genuinely concerned. The skeptics have been soured by the manipulation of data, the hypocrisy of some of the players (Al Gore), the poor management of taxpayer money.
We need a do over.
