Excitable John Kasich Wants Free Market Solutions For ‘Climate Change’ Or Something

Remember, we’re supposed to take this guy seriously. As a big time member of #NeverTrump with massive amounts of #TrumpDerangementSyndrome, other Never Trumpers will listen to this nutter

Kasich: Forget the Green New Deal. We need climate solutions from free-market moderates.

There’s a lot of talk these days about the Green New Deal, a progressive Democratic response to the challenge of climate change. While it is intended to improve our environment, many Republicans and even some Democrats fear that it would stifle economic growth and kill jobs, set off a massive redistribution of wealth, and dangerously centralize federal government power.

But for all those problems, 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 agencies — including the  Defense Department — and 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.

Not all our political leaders have come on board with that consensus, but denial is no longer enough. The time has come for people who understand the need to be good stewards of our economy as well as our environment to put forward a responsible program.

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.

And his ideas?

That’s just one example of a national climate change response that could win support from elected leaders with a broad range of political convictions. They can start with a carbon tax or a cap and trade program, which is a market-based trading system to incentivize carbon reduction. These approaches have already shown they can work.

Neither program is free market, as they are established by the government. There is no choice when implemented.

We also need to continue research supporting Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, the automotive fuel-efficiency requirements that have significantly reduced greenhouse gas pollution in recent years. We should not eliminate or weaken these mandates. CAFE requirements need to stay.

They aren’t going anywhere, Trump just rolled back the massive change made under Obama. And they aren’t free market, either.

And by “invest,” I mean spend a lot of money, not a measly few pennies, on the research and innovation that can make a giant difference in the lives of our people. Strategic investments are needed in technologies that will drive advances in energy derived from renewables — solar and wind — as well as natural gas, a resource we have in abundance. And don’t dismiss nuclear energy, using small-scale modular technologies now being developed.

Not free market.

The United States has no business withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which the president has threatened. If that international accord is as flawed as the White House insists, we should work to fix it. The American people, our industries, our economic and strategic interests — all need to be at the table. The United States must lead with the accord, not abandon it. There’s too much at stake.

Not free market, and most certainly coercive and takes away personal choice.

The Green New Deal might not be the answer. But it’s asking the right question. It’s time for free-market moderates on both sides of the aisle to come up with answers of their own.

What’s the question, how to empower government and take more money and freedom from citizens?