The liberal Left has all but monopolized the debate on environmental issues. We’re too often told that only liberals care about climate change, and that conservatives, libertarians, or anyone right-of-center is by default a shameless capitalist indifferent to environmental causes.
This is dangerous rhetoric. It emboldens collectivists, normalizes governmental overreach, and, perhaps most crucially, sends us down a rabbit hole of ineffective and expensive government policies.
For instance, politicians such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are calling for a “Green New Deal,” which would supposedly eliminate America’s carbon footprint by 2030. It seeks to “upgrade” every single one of the millions of houses in America, completely overhaul our country’s infrastructure, and somehow simultaneously guarantee universal healthcare, access to healthy food, and job security — without any serious consideration for cost.
In other words, it’s a wild pipe dream that prioritizes virtue-signaling over pragmatic reality.
However, the Right has just as much stake in the environmental debate as anyone else. And small-government principles and environmentalism are not mutually exclusive. We don’t need Green New Deals, flawed subsidy schemes, or government mandates to force us to take care of the environment around us. Besides, top-down, government-mandated, centralized measures to tackle such issues are rarely, if ever, successful. Look at the worldwide subsidy regime for renewable energy — a combined $2 trillion has been spent in the last 10 years, with barely a dent in global emission rates and carbon-heavy energy sources to show for it.
Nonetheless, free market capitalists must remember that the environment is something we, too, ought to remain committed to protecting. Ultimately, we are the harbingers of the planet for future generations, and have a moral imperative to keep it clean, thriving, and in harmony with human development. As almost everything in society, it starts with the individual, and, rather than trickling down from an ineffective and stagnant bureaucracy, conservative proposals can be common-sensical, effective, and efficient.
To start, we must deregulate and promote the nuclear energy industry to harness the greatest source of clean energy available. There’s simply no better way to combat climate change in an efficient manner.
We should also launch both public and private educational initiatives to empower people to live environmentally conscious lives. We can protect our seas and national parks through designated land and maritime protection schemes. And we ought to remove burdensome barriers preventing the private sector from pursuing green business alternatives.
We should reassert the paramount importance of property rights, because returning mandates to local leaders and conservationists empowers them to take the steps they deem necessary to protect their public lands and local ecosystems. We must give the free market a stake in developing the technology and capabilities needed to save the environment.
These are straightforward ideas that are not only common sense, they are also practical, effective, and realistic. They will contribute to a cleaner, healthier climate, as well as work with the free market and harness human innovation, rather than hamper it.
It is time for those who believe in liberty and individualism to take charge of the climate debate. It is time for us to emphasize our commitment to the environment, and to show that libertarian and conservative principles are fully capable of being climate-compatible.
We need not comply with flawed top-down directives but rather prioritize individual education and the beauty of the market. We need to change the narrative. If the Right doesn’t offer its own solution to protecting our environment, we’re doomed to watch helplessly as “Green New Deal” style socialism wins the day.
Christopher Barnard is the Head of Events & Campaigning at Students for Liberty UK, and a student at the University of Kent.
