“Bush 41 was the last president who refused to govern in a State of remorseless partisan war with his opponents”?
Are you serious, man? As usual, you make this sound as if both parties are to blame for the current hyperpartisanship we see. But Bill Clinton was a centrist Democrat who was absolutely vilified by the Republicans, and threatened with impeachment for what, compared to Trump, are laughable transgressions. Obama implemented a health care program that was essentially devised by Mitt Romney in Massachusetts, and was crucified for it... by Republicans. Not to mention the birther attacks, the racist memes, etc etc.
Stop, just stop, with the false equivalencies. The remorseless partisan war, the current power-grabbing and subversion of democracy we see now in NC and in Mich., the completely unwarranted obstruction of Merrick Garland, the proclamation by McConnell, from day one of Obama’s presidency, to fight every initiative he proposed... this, all of it, is on the Republicans.
23
Blaming Trump for every ill is just dumb. The abominable care act was not what was needed: universal single payer was. Obama let the banksters off. WJC got rid of the luxury tax and gutted essential parts of welfare. The tunnel deal was done in by Christie in a previous administration... Let NYS and NJ figure out how to build the tunnel for less $$. Why allow the unions to make things super expensive to build in NYC? Wny let landlords "steal" legally? - oh yes, Trump and Kushner... (the deduction loophole.) and De Blasio and Cuomo? and there's good old inflation Andy -- 19 billion to fix the subways in May; 40 billion in OCt. He learned fast.
Blame to go round and round... Charity begins at home as does introspection. Truth would be nice. (PS maybe we needed tariffs years ago already --why can't we make say generic drugs here?)
Here in Texas, when people build houses down on the gulf coast, ALL property owners must chip in to pay part of their insurance. Think of that! There is no reason for anyone to abstain from building their house right on the beach because they are not paying full price for their insurance. Why should we who live inland pay to help out millionaires?
9
Stephens thinks one should abolish FEMA, presumably to discourage over-construction coastal areas. What happens when the Mississippi floods?
3
Melania's Ugly red trees are possibly a
1. Reflection of burning forests,
2. The blood of journalists,
3. Her hidden anger at Trump.
4. Her wish to live on Mars.
5. Maybe she is just color blind?
6. Maybe she just has no taste!
Everyone agree they are Ugly!
11
GC writes: but on the weekends you can turn it all off and watch people tossing balls around. You go to a party and rather than depressing everybody with talk of the latest tweets, you can just say “Hey, how about those Giants?” Or Rams or Bears or whatever animal mascot you like.
Sorry, that rarely works if you're from Detroit.
2
BS writes: "the ecological devastation wrought by biofuels — which were seen as part of the climate-change cure just a few years ago. "
NO! Biofuels were touted as an alternative to Middle Eastern oil, not as a means of reducing carbon-based energy. Proponents of biofuels tried to make the argument that they were better for the environment than oil. Apparently Bret Stephens was taken in by this propaganda and equated "better for the environment" for "part of the climate change cure".
7
envelope stuffer, christmas tree decor---neither one of these people seem to know anything about climate change, or at the least the clear and present danger that it presents. Perhaps they know that the politicians that deny it are paid to do so--bought lock, stock, and barrel (apt because they also live in fear of the NRA) by the fossil fuel industry. And it extends to poisoning habitat and killing biodiversity, another emergency situation that without climate change would also call for immediate action. But they are connected; change in climate changes insect pollination timing--insects are disappearing. Glyphosates and other agri-chemicals add to this; evidence points to, there oughta be strict controls. Instead they are released into the environment without testing, much in the same way Agent Orange was in Vietnam or mustard gas in WWI--mentioned because they are made by the same companies, Monsanto and Bayer. The poisonous coal dust that lines the Flint River is owned by the Koch bros; indigenous people living around oil/chemical plants have had their health and well being from the pollution ignored for years.
The CO2 in the atmosphere along with other pollutants is leading to loss of biodiversity and extinction of species not seen since that recorded in the Burgess Shale. If the WAIS breaks off, a real possibility, you would see 4-6' sea level rise in Manhattan. This stuff is news every day, not just that the Dems and Reps don't plan to do anything about it.
5
Hello Gail and Brett,
American major infrastructure projects always cost a lot more than they should. Apparently, the Europeans manage to complete major public projects near budget. Do you suppose that Americans are just too corrupt to keep public costs reasonable?
That would be sad.
Andrew Biemiller
2
The third tunnel would be well under way is not for the magnificent Chris Christie. But hey, state government shut downs, bridge revenge, ice cream by the ton, and secluded family beach outing were priorities that needed attention first. And he gave them his full attention.
7
@Anna Yes. How can it be that Christie is not part of the current administration?
2
Why be skeptical about our ability to tackle climate change? One known remedy. Phase out oil by harnessing the sun with wide usage of solar panels as a good starting point to abate it. Solar panels are proliferating on roof tops in the South West.
They do take an initial rather hefty investment, but once done, households like mine, have NO electric bills, as we do our bit. Melania's red Christmas trees? It's 'her' taste or lack there of.
7
There's good taste, there's bad taste, and there's Trump taste. "Ostentatious," "gaudy," and "vulgar" don't quite capture the level of bad taste exhibited by the Trump clan. I'm surprised that each of the trees doesn't have a gold neon "T" on the top (in lieu of a cross).
Maybe Melania is bucking for a position designing hotels.
5
On not criticizing Melania:
I think she gets a pass for the same reason Barron gets a pass: She's an innocent, at least compared to her husband. HRC cannonballed into the deep end after snapping a jaunty salute, thus signaling she was ready for political waterpolo at its nastiest. Melania is so out of her depth as First Lady that you wonder sometimes whether she even remembers who she was before all this started. She means well, but as an adult immigrant the learning curve is just too steep to expect anything but a fiasco in the cultural matters the First Lady typically attends to.
2
There is a very good reason not to build Trump's wall. It will be a disaster for wildlife, including endangered species whose ranges include pieces of both Mexico and the U.S. Walling off one part of a breeding population -- not to mention walling off these creatures' hunting and feeding grounds -- could lead to extermination.
8
@Seabiscute---And, you didn't even mention that 1200 miles of that border is a river with International treaties. Oh, and part of the border runs through a National Park.
And, what's to stop the desperate immigrants from just getting into a boat? No border can be "sealed" as long as it abuts an ocean.
5
Re: the climate change nihilism you flirt with Bret, I'm drawn to an instructive fictional scenario. Let's say that the world's astronomers discover an asteroid the size of the one that formed the Chicxulub crater (wiping out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago). Its orbit will intersect earth's in 40 years. With each passing year, the precision of the trajectory becomes more precise. Would we really accept leadership that rejected a global effort to marshal all necessary resources (including some that might "create problems of their own") to blow that rock out of the sky? Some problems are complex, but given a willingness to take them on, even existential threats can be overcome. It just takes leadership.
11
Enough with the praise of Bush. So what if he was polite and wrote thank you notes? I expect NYT writers to know the history of Iran Contra and it’s destructive impact on our Constitution. Bush pardoned the criminals. And the first Gulf war just left a murderous dictator in charge, leading to the second Gulf war.
3
This is for Gail: you have taken up sports and I am doing the Times mini crosswords. My Dad did the "real" ones every morning while whistling and smoking, and he finished them in a jiffy. Now I realize that he was probably focusing on them as a distraction from, well, let us just say that all kinds of addictions were afoot and gaining while I was a teenager. Once or twice I tried to do one, but could not fill more than three lines. I blamed it on my aversion to smoking and whistling. I took up solving trigonometry problems instead alone in my room while eating Hershey kisses.
But now, with Trump in office, I am every day trying to beat my own time on the "minis". Last week when Cohen admitted lying to Mueller I finished in three minutes! Today, when I saw that line of red trees in the White House reminding me of some kind of boreal mass murder I finished in two.
2
Our bridges get failing grades from the US Army Corps of Engineers. Our electric grid is an outdated disaster waiting to happen. High-speed internet (never mind high speed rail) is still missing in many parts of our country. Lots of places are served by ancient sewer and water systems. Yet Bret Stephens doesn't believe big infrastructure projects have a long term benefit? Really? Do we need more bridge collapses or massive blackouts? How do we want to compete in a global economy on a dial-up connection? Honestly. I can only shake my head.
8
Should be obvious by now that these two are not part of the solution, but are part of the problem. NYT please hire people who are starving and desperate to be recognized - people who have invested their souls in speaking the truth! I want to hear from those who have a great understanding of the country and what millions upon millions of Americans are facing to survive.
I know you elitists don't get it - the country is dying, democracy is dying, governance is dead and if something drastic is not done soon, the end is far nearer than most people can imagine.
Let's all of us stay practical - that has worked so well over the last 40 years. (Sarcasm)
Good Luck America! - I can assure you I won't be joining you on the flipside.
3
I wanted to comment on those red trees but Bret outdid any of my thoughts, as Gail said, the best decorating critique ever. As for the rest of it, we're not in a good place where if Trump doesn't make a total disaster doing his job he gets credit for not screwing up, like a toddler walking through a store without bringing down the displays.
Speaking of infrastructure, on Market Watch this morning Nigel Wilson was explaining how government can make a profit with infrastructure spending, but it requires a long term view, which our politicians seem incapable of doing; none think past their next primary. And that may be even scarier than Trump strolling along the aisles of shiny objects.
7
Was the "end of the Noreiga regime in Panama," when we kidnapped the Panamian president? How statesmanlike!
And wonderful that distinction Bret sees between "remorseless partisanship" in political campaigns versus "governing." How easy it is to "forgive and forget," especially when it's always Democrats who are asked/told to do the forgiving and forgetting. (I read no further.)
On how "right" the media is: I remember Bush's acceptance speech at the Republican Convention. It was complete gobbledy gook. But the media, intent on recognizing Bush's brilliance and service to country, couldn't stop lavishing praise on his delivery. It was a perfect example of the "emperor wearing no clothes." And with the media, it is apparent in instance after instance, day after day, without end. Keep it up Bret!
4
“...You have to live in Trumpland all week, but on the weekends you can turn it all off and watch people tossing balls around...
Your bias is showing Gail – some of us would rather watch people swinging [bats] around, seven days a week...
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/george-carlin-monologue-1/n8596
With the biggest [bats] being swung around being – of course – the most interesting to watch...
Only 87 days till our Great American Spring arrives – and only 5 more after that till opening day...
Somewhere, George Will is frowning...
1
Hey everyone! In Australia we have neglected nuclear power as a (partial) solution to global warming and to poverty for (some) of our neighbours. But Bret & Gail, we have lots of geologically stable desert where we could safely bury nuclear waste for the rest of the world, for a small fee of course. And in spite of our churn of Prime Ministers recently, we are still a democracy and will remain one. So send us your nuclear waste!
2
Wait a minute. Why is Trump asking Congress to make the US taxpayers fund the wall? I thought Mexico was going to pay for it. I hope the Democrats insert into the Appropriations Bill the following statement, "No US taxpayer funds shall be used to build 'The Wall' between the United States and Mexico as Donald Trump has said he will make Mexico pay for it."
8
Melania is just being metaphorical. When you think of her hubby, you see red!
Russian red goes with his hair.
4
I thought sure that pithy Gail Collins would have a clever take on Bush and his wander hands and introducing himself as David Cop-a-feel. Can't depend on anything anymore.
2
Hey, you guys!? Can we talk about Trump's, first of a kind edible White House Christmans decorations? Melania said they would throw them out on Pennsylvania Ave for the homeless after New Years.
2
"Bush 41 was probably the last president who refused to govern in a state of remorseless partisan war with his opponents."
Oh yeah Bret, that remorselessly partisan Obama. His war was so total, he met with Republicans in Congress and listened to their aimless, moronic policy ideas for hours. So total, he nominated conservative Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. So total he kept Bob Gates as Secretary of Defense and awarded the Medal of Freedom to George H.W. Bush.
Or maybe you meant he governed "in" a state of partisan war, in that it was imposed on him by Republicans. But if that's what you meant I don't see how his refusing it or accepting it would have made any difference.
8
I'm dreaming of a Commie Christmas...
Seriously, were those red Christmas trees a deliberate shout-out to Putin? Oh well, at least they can leave them up for Valentine's Day.
5
I thought Bret Stephens's comment in respect of the latest 'trade' news -- "I guess I’m mildly cheered that [trump] has almost prevented a disaster he needlessly caused" -- might be the best ever.
Then I read the paragraph in which he excoriates Melania's style, as seen in her latest Christmas-In-The-White House freak show, by reference to its design and execution as seeming to be product of an outsourcing to a Derrick Zoolander-Imelda Marcos partnership.
Priceless, whether or not 'best ever.' (And I'm far more a Gail Collins fan!)
5
Sounds like Mr. Stephens is angling for a new career as a host on HGTV in case this journalism gig dries up.
3
Bret wants to do to Central America what the US did in Columbia, instead of simply legalizing the "victimless crime" drugs. This is a good example of the undiscerning, conventional thinking of several of the NY Times columnists. Is he against legalizing marijuana when his bosses are for legalizing it? Read this newspaper for news, not discernment. And, think for yourself.
2
Mr. Stephens...if you get tired of this NYT gig..think about a show on HDTV---it could be called "love it or blow it up." Your description of White House holiday decorations is worth a season in and of itself. As for Melania's taste and values---well, even my daughter, whose dislike of anything Trump is almost pathological, lets her slide with the caveat that she at least she kicked him out of her bedroom.
1
Do the red trees come alive at night? Daleks in disguise? Creepy.
2
Never thought that watching pro football and drinking beer would be a form of liberal protest but time makes fools of us all...
1
Those trees would be ideal for a sequel to “The Shining.” Creepy.
8
Bret Stephens knows bupkis about nuclear power.
3
NO on the WALL no matter what. Texans along the border don't want it, which should be a dead giveaway. Water treaties with Mexico would be upended. Flooding in AZ -- which has already happened -- and in TX. I'm for DACA but not for this. IT WILL NOT WORK. Billions for blackmail? NO. Trump will not deport the DACA recipients; the visuals would be horrible (we know he doesn't read).
Melania gets a free pass because she does nothing and is happy to work out and shop. She's assiduous about getting her family here, of course. I'll never forgive her for lying about Obama's birth and pretending she is college-educated and multi-lingual. She's part of the grifter family.
4
..."complete absence of malice...?" Really? The long list of offenses of the man stand out, starting with his attack on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - because he coveted a Senate seat in Texas - his employ of the attack dogs Roger Ailes and Lee Atwater in 1988 and their unholy Willie Horton ads, as well as his nomination of Clarence Thomas in 1991 and attacks on Anita Hill - these are not the absence of malice. No, what he represented was a white supremacist in grandfatherly clothing. Wake up, Bret, to the real world of white privilege that we all live in.
5
“best interior decorating critique of the year.!
5
Those red trees are ugly. Ugly. Jarring. Distressing. Threatening. And scary. I hope nobody with any type of seizure disorder is exposed to those horrible things. It could be fatal.
5
Ah yes, the trees that look like piles of offal at a slaughterhouse. I want to be fair and nonjudgmental but.....there is something wrong with that woman.
5
Those who write with such nostalgia about George H.W. Bush's civility (and all those other hallmarks of the archetype of the Eastern Establishment) are conveniently forgetting such minor items as the Willie Horton ads which opened the door to a new era of race-baiting; the negotiation of the original NAFTA which threw workers' rights and the environment under the corporate bus; stonewalling on global warming ("no targets, no timetables") and a host of other nasty policy actions. Bush may have been a nice man in person, but what was done on his watch by people he appointed was not pretty at all.
3
I haven't heard anyone say that they are clearly MAGA trees.
5
Every time I see those red trees I think of the hot place none of us want to go to. But they are reflective of the general mood in the WH. They also reflect the future of our world in terms of Climate Change.
6
The "RED" White House Christmas trees are symbolic (I think) of the Republican Russian loving Red elected officials who want to end democracy.
4
You did not discuss France. I know it is fashionable to dismiss the French these days, but imagine if the people of the United States through their weight around like them.
Overpopulation. Development.
Two things everyone should talk about in regards to climate change.
Corporations are hard to change. But if you have fewer people, you have less consumption, less manufacturing, less farming.
All countries should have incentives & disincentives so people have fewer children. STARTING NOW. That's what a big global agreement could be about. This way countries & religions will stop trying to compete and grow by population growth.
Every time I see spider mites grow prolifically on a plant in my house and start consuming it, I think about human overpopulation on this planet.
No one needs more than 2 children, if even that many. If you have more than 2, good luck to all your children as they try to survive to a comfortable old age during their lifetimes.
1
Obama sure was not responsible for "the remorseless state of war" the Republicans inflicted. The fact that GHWB was able to have a relatively equitable administration was due to the civility of the Democrats too.
Shifting topics -- how many of you here remember Bret's bizarre "skepticism" lead-off op-ed when he came to the NYT? In that episode Bret told us that we should doubt climate physics because the pollsters mis-predicted the 2016 election ... and he seems to have "evolved" on the fundamental issue, to what might be described as a modified limited Lomborgism.
"A carbon tax probably makes the most sense but tends to be regressive. My own view is that reinvesting in nuclear plants makes the most sense from an environmental and technological point of view, so long as you can reform the regulatory picture to make them economical."
A carbon tax alone is wildly regressive. A carbon tax with uniform per capita rebate is substantially progressive, AND revenue neutral. Nobody is talking about a carbon tax without some rebate scheme.
And then Bret, about "reform{ing} the regulatory picture to make {nuclear reactors} economical" ... you don't care about whether they are safe? You don't care where or how the waste goes?
You just want the regulations cut until they are cheap enough to take on wind and solar. Wow.
2
The video showing Melania walking slowly, contemplating each blood red tree with an upward gaze was absolutely befitting of Cersei Lannister's triumphant day and her walk up to the Irone Throne.
6
“The largely peaceful collapse of the Soviet Union.”
Mikhail Gorbachev’s doing, but hey.
6
I don't think I've ever laughed out loud at one of these columns before, but Bret's description of the White House holiday decorations did it!
4
I think Melania's hideous red Christmas trees are a very appropriate decoration for the Trump presidency. Why?
#1 They are fake trees, like just about everything associated with President Trump: fake truth, fake intelligence, fake sanity...
#2 Melania's trees are dead and red, not live and green like "true" live trees. Very appropriate because we know from Trump's anti-environmental policy that he does not like live green plants or protecting the planet with beautiful oxygen-producing plants. The only thing Trump likes in green is dirty green money. Ask Vladimir and the Saudi prince.
#3 Melania chose red trees, because red is the color of anger, and just about her husband's only emotion is seeing red with anger.
#4 Red trees also could be a not-so-subtle Freudian choice by Melania. Maybe Melania is not-so subtly communicating her anger at her husband. Trump is so thick, she has to do it in a brash way. Trump clearly does not get subtlety--or irony, or nuance, or hardly anything, despite his Wharton School education at Penn. (Do you think he actually went to class?)
So I don't blame Melania for her tacky taste in holiday decorations. Wouldn't you be angry if you were married to Donald J. Trump? I think this is just another of Melania's enigmatic ways of letting us know what she really thinks of Trump.
7
Every day the news is Trump. the scandals, gaffes, the blunders, disses, bad manners, nepotisms, mistakes, errational behavoirs and other dramatic episodic whatnot.
Now imagine every news cycle focused on physical and economic infrastructure, safety, income equality strides, trade deals that don't cripple farms and businesses, ...
Bret and Gail, I dare you to write an column that doesn't mention he who must not be mentioned. Be imaginative and hopeful. The whole Trump family is past tense soon enough.
Let's tear down the foolish, costly partisan wall and get busy again. Rather than destructive and divisive... Let's be great at building relationships and communities and bring hope back.
42
@Anne
Soon will be 2024. Agree to building relationships. But you don't do it by criticizing the First Lady's Christmas decorations. Or say the President's only accomplishments are NFL, not going to NY on weekends because you cause traffic delays and finally not screwing up G-20. Hatred blinds one to reality, honesty and balance. The haters are the victims.
The authors should have RED faces.
Bret,
"I’m less clear, say, that we should attribute events like the devastating forest fires to climate change alone as opposed to a host of additional causes, including too many people living in fire-prone areas (and often causing the fires), as well as poor forest-management practices."
The American Geophysical Union meets in Washington DC next week. You can get your press pass and attend the meeting. You can listen to people who do the work. You can walk through the poster halls and talk with the people who do the work.
After you have done this, statements that begin "I am less clear" will be based on some knowledge of the subject, rather than an apparent lack of effort on your part.
Hope to see you there.
6
We seem to forget that NOT doing something is often as productive as doing something for the sake of doing something. Living lighter is probably better for the soul and undoubtedly better for the environment. It is obvious that, if the entire planet goes into consumption hyperdrive we will never get a handle on the climate change issue. Perhaps religion has part of the answer (this from a militant agnostic); if we bring back the Sabbath, that is, the day of rest where we are actively encouraged to stand down, take a break, drive only if necessary, while staying close to home, communing with family, reading a book, trimming the kumquat tree. Put our communications channels to work encouraging 'take a break' rather than pimping for the latest version of Xbox or Versace cocktail dresses would be commendable. Expecting 'leadership' to lead us in this direction is naive. Perhaps the little people have to lead them.
2
Of all the NYT's conservative columnists Bret seems the closest to seeing the modern Republican party for what it is - a sham. It is a shame he can't turn the corner and admit it to himself and everyone else.
Republicans should be about stopping climate change and protecting the environment and wise investing in infrastructure and decency to others. They should be about maintaining sound judgement and respect of time honored traditions and orders which promote stability and general well being. They should even support a woman's right to choose as it could be seen as an individual's choice and not the society demanding what she has to do. These things should reside in the heart of what it is to be conservative.
Instead the modern conservative movement ushered in by Reagan, reinforced by Bush, made sacred by Gingrich, and personified by Trump is as perverted as Melania's blood drenched trees is to Christmas. It's all tax cuts and resentment and refusal to accept facts all to make sure a few people keep control of massive amounts of wealth showered down on the lawmakers who do their bidding.
Bret and those like him, this Christmas do something good for your soul and renounce all that the Republicans have become and embrace democracy even if it means that some of what you want is sacrificed because the majority wants something else. That is the way it was supposed to be when the country was established before Fox News and the Right wing sold oligarchy as democracy.
1
Great example of how to disagree politically but still be civil. But they do share a contempt of Trump which is missing in red hat vs. tie die t-shirt conversation/arguments.
In a strange way bright red Christmas trees in the White House are emblematic of this administrations denial of climate change as well as the the fires that blazed so destructively in California just recently.
4
Bret, while I sometimes find your views baffling and dismaying, today I'd like to echo Gail in offering you some well-deserved praise: that was indeed the best interior decorating critique of the year.
2
Latin American problems are partially caused by us. Yes, corrupt leaders are a main factor, but we add high demand for illegal drugs and a great supply of firearms to the mix. We need to legalize all drugs, which will stop the illegal market and make all firearms illegal or at least licensed, with strict limits on who can have them and where they are stored.
1
Don't forget that the anti-tax Republican extremists helped bring down President Bush (41) because he dared to raise taxes. They have only themselves to blame.
2
I love these columns, mostly because how lovable Gail is. But Bret is at his best here and these discussions are a ringing success in my book.
Two things: Gail, if you are so inclined to become a follower of sport, I suggest baseball, in appropriate season of course. The magnificent game rescues my jangled political brain every night.
#2 I certainly agree about Melania's Christmas decorations and I was particularly confused when all the red trees had little handmaiden hats on. It was starkly weird. Did I imagine this?
But you guys are being a bit tough on Melania's artistic concepts which are no less goofy than others.
Next; it irks me that never have we had such an anti-outdoor person in the White House. Obama was a bonified City Slicker as are most Presidents, but Trump takes it to a new level and Melania is as vacuous about the un-concrete world as well.
At it's heart, as everyone knows, Christmas is a seasonal celebration of the Winter Solstice and the daylight to become longer. I think it is repulsive that our Presidents don't have more natal curiosity and affection of our natural world...
I know that Trump as a Climate Denier has aligned himself with those seeking to further wreck the World, but to have no affection toward, or peace of mind afforded with the appreciation of such ancient beauty and grace is just deeply questionable.
These two don't even have a pet to watch and admire and love in a an uncomplicated and pure way. This is a very bad sign.
1
"I’m also skeptical that we have any genuinely practical solutions right now to climate change"
Bret's skepticism is understandable. Chances are he hasn't spent much time investigating practical solutions.
Chances are he isn't particularly concerned about the existential threat of climate change. Chances are he's wedded to tropes such as "gee...uncertainty" or "well--we don't want hurt the economy" and of course the ultimate: "help--taxes!"
And yet, I learned--in the pages of the NYT--of Project Drawdown. I guess Bret missed that one. Given that I haven't heard one whisper about it for the last 6 months, I guess everyone missed it. Nothing of it from Krugman, Friedman, etc.
Too bad--it's probably THE most important thing...
"Project Drawdown is the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. We did not make or devise the plan—the plan exists and is being implemented worldwide...We gathered a qualified and diverse group of researchers from around the world to identify, research, and model the 100 most substantive, existing solutions to address climate change. What was uncovered is a path forward that can roll back global greenhouse gas emissions within thirty years."
All of the 100 ranked solutions exist now
Many are low-cost
Something can be done. It requires will, and the curiosity and desire to begin.
Saying "we don't have practical solutions" is disingenuous, defeatist, disrespectful and above all else: false.
https://www.drawdown.org/
1
Garish red trees. Will the Narcissism, both personal and party, never be mitigated?
3
I'm not a fan of the blood red trees, but that's me. I like a more traditional, minimalist (no tinsel, no rubber chickens, no tacky, Wally World decorations) tree--simple lights and a few bulbs would be enough. Good thing we all have different tastes--keeps things more interesting.
I wasn't a fan 41, but he was a decent man who knew how to work with and around others. I wasn't a fan of 43 either, but compared to what we have now, both Bushes were much better (the bar has been set too low).
Our politicians could do so much on many of the big, serious problems facing this country, and it doesn't have to be motivated by anger. You would think that infrastructure would be an easy win for both parties (the Democrats and Republicans can't agree on the color of an orange), but with McConnell in power, I doubt he will let any infrastructure bill be debated, much less voted on. I think he'll kill any such bill in the Senate.
Nor am I holding my breath for any action on global warming. The ostrich party/GOP (stick their heads in the sand and if they don't see it, it doesn't exist) denies it is happening, even with record heat and cold, with more intense hurricanes, more flooding, more intense fires. There is only one planet where we can live, and when we destroy this one, we've destroyed ourselves. This too, should be an easy win for both parties, but it will go nowhere. Corporations control government, and they've paid off politicians so they can pollute at will.
1
Yes, there are more pressing issues, but can we please talk about those heinous red Christmas trees? It's like the humiliation of our country just never ends these days.
2
Gail: I’ve always suspected that many conservatives hate mass transit because it just fundamentally offends their sense of individualism. That you can’t be the heroic American Man Who Rides Alone if you’re sitting in a car with 40 other people making multiple stops in New Jersey.
________________
It is about oil.
The Republican Party is about oil.
.
That is why Republicans (and democrats who accept campaign funds from Big Oil) hate public transit.
.
That`s why the United States can`t get public transit built.
2
For modern conservatives, the problem with infrastructure is that too little of the construction money stays in the pockets of the contractors. Who cares about tunnels if no one gets rich building them? Far better to be a defense contractor.
Trains and transit present a second problem: Nearly all the people who operate them are union members. Ewwwww!
1
Humorous take on Melania Trump's Christmas decorations...especially the line about it looking like the moment when Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a live bat. Got a good laugh imagining John Bolton performing an exorcism (sadly, not on the President). Although I wish there would be more in-depth introspection about infrastructure. I agree completely that American airports are a disgrace especially compared to 22nd century appearing Asian airports. We are really looking more and more like a 3rd world country in which all of the opulence is segregated behind security gates for the very wealthy while the rest of the people experience the thread bare existence like a scene out of the sci-fi flick, Blade Runner. China is so far ahead in its vision and serious planning that it is now going to outshine the rest of world in quantum computing putting the USA at a serious risk of security vulnerability. In fact, in the Plutocratic banana republic that is now America, we have a laughable anti-science stance, while other progressive governments (again, China and India notably) are paving the way for innovative technology in energy renewables like photo voltaic power which converts light into electricity. Entire cities based on solar & voltaic power. They have advanced technology using hydroelectric power and massive wind farms. If it weren't for American innovators like Elon Musk and his focus on electric cars, driver less highways & space technology, the future would be the past.
40
@Dunca
Well, if all you care about is STEM-world, I guess you could call China's government "progressive."
But their innovative technology is also going to be used to keep the Chinese Capitalist-Communist Party in power and to keep the once-sort-of-free population of their eventual United States Colony in line.
Elon Musk is South African
3
I love these guys. They should run for office as a duet, fueled on humor alone. I only read Brett because of his excellence as a writer but he is clearly deeply principled -- and funny.
1
Clean coal...no coal...update power grid..mass transit..insulate homes...recycle...ride a bicycle...nuclear...solar...wind...
These are the things we talk about when we talk about rising CO2 levels. All worthy of consideration, but THE most significant tool we have to reduce carbon is rarely, if ever even mentioned.
According to Project Drawdown (see website), of the top 25 practical solutions we already have to lower CO2 levels, 14 are related to food production/distribution or land use/management.
We all know clearing forests is bad right? Carbon is released. Are we equally aware that growing trees sequesters carbon? Trees, and shrubs, and grasslands.
What we do now/have been doing for 1000's of years is clearing land of vegetation, releasing carbon. We could reverse that process by increasing ground cover. And it could be done quickly, in just a matter of years. Put simply, if we just grew a bunch of stuff we could sequester enough carbon to seriously reduce atmospheric CO2.
Restore, replant forests, grasslands. Reverse desertification. Phase out industrial, highly mechanized, fossil fueled, pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, GMO, monoculture, govt. welfare "farms". Encourage regenerative AG which adapts it's plans to nature's example, produces higher quality food and builds soil--sequestering carbon.
I would urge all to learn more about dirt. Everything comes from it and well...you know the rest.
1
What do I think of Bret Stephens...
...thinking
...thinking
Bret, I don't always agree with you, but many of your responses were great fun (seriously) and had me laughing out loud.
3
Two doable things to deal with the environment and climate change: First, mandate that every new house or extensive rehab be required to be built with solar panels. Second, tie FEMA to taxes. Every taxpayer should pay into the fund. Tornadoes, forest fires, earthquakes, floods, mudslides - every part of the country has a catastrophe at some point. Everybody pays so everyone benefits when they’re impacted.
2
If climate change is "man made", then it follows that the more "men" (people) we have, the worse the consequences of climate change become. All the measures we take to mitigate climate change are pretty much negated by population growth, which is a net gain (births - deaths) of 200,000 humans PER DAY. So yes, we need to take those mitigating measures, but we must do more to balance out world population growth. You don't have to impose draconian measures to achieve balanced population growth.
3
Good luck getting infrastructure past Mitch McConnell. Last week, on TV, he said (paraphrasing here) that we don't need any more infrastructure investment because we had plenty under Obama. Could this be because McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao, who is the Secretary of Transportation, has already implied that the goal is to sell any infrastructure projects to the private sector? Have we not had enough of the thievery of privatization?
7
Infrastructure and green energy. Higher taxes on the high rollers. Climate, climate climate. Promote regulations.
That's just being proactive, not constricting.
2
Uh, Gail, you "Totally agree about the flood insurance" far too quickly. A significant portion of residents of flood-prone areas are too poor to simply sell and move to higher ground. Same with those of us living in the fire-prone forested residential areas of the West.
Any abrogation of federal flood insurance must be coupled with state-sponsored buyouts of affected home owners and condemnation of the affected lands for future human dwelling. Otherwise --> complete political non starter.
2
"I’m also skeptical that we have any genuinely practical solutions right now to climate change"
Are you kidding me? There are a myriad of solutions, including nuclear, that are available right now. How a supposedly rational and well informed person could write such a thing is frankly absurd and revealing as to the deep set denial that permeates most, if not all, conservatives. How about we start with massive shift in tax policy to favor renewables?
9
On global warming: it's only life as we know it that is under severe threat. What we are seeing is a warning. We've known since before the 1980s. It is accelerating to a point that is now noticeable. The science of attribution is getting better, and ignoring that is foolish and willful blindness.
Here's an excellent summary of not only the evidence but the power and wealth of the campaign to pull the wool over the eyes of people like Bret Stephens. Bad actors and those duped by this same campaign believe it's not so bad and somehow we cannot afford to take measures to slow down the worst consequences now, as it gets worse and worse.
I've taken the trouble since Mr. Stephens, with his beautiful writing and fine but blinkered intelligence, appeared here, to record his sources. They claim it's about money, but they themselves are bound with much greater money pots.
"How Extreme Weather Is Shrinking the Planet: With wildfires, heat waves, and rising sea levels, large tracts of the earth are at risk of becoming uninhabitable. But the fossil-fuel industry continues its assault on the facts." https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/26/how-extreme-weather-is-shrinking-the-planet
Bjorn Lomborg and Roger Pielke Jr. are both politically and financially in the toils of the fake skeptic industry, which pays very well in respect, jobs, and money. They are the darlings of our Republican Congress, voter suppression experts) who will do anything to get their way.
7
The largely peaceful collapse of the Soviet Union was in no way certain to lead to the successful reunification of Germany.
George Bush41 worked with the German leader at that time to make it all happen as quickly as possible, and a lot of West Germans were NOT in favor at all of the idea.
East Germany was an economic basket case and money had to be spent just to bring their roads and utilities up to West German standards, and there were a lot of bruised feelings remaining from the communists' treatment and shootings of those refusing to face a life of socialism.
Thanks to George H.W. Bush for his part in giving us the united Germany that we have as an ally today.
1
California officials have been saying for years that climate change is real and will have devastating consequences. Apparently that lets them off the hook for not implementing anything to deal with the immediate consequences. Anyone with eyes could see it was a disaster waiting to happen.
They go on and on about the need to reduce carbon emissions. All well and good but it will have no short or medium term impact on climate change; or the dry forests that are everywhere in California.
It borders on criminal that they did not implement forest management principles years ago. Those efforts have been underfunded for decades.
You either manage forests or they will manage themselves - through fires. It's been that way for centuries. Native tribes set fires to do exactly that.
I've played golf on the Monterey peninsula for the last five years. Every time I am there I'm amazed by the number of dead trees in the Del Monte forest. Around Cypress Golf Club, literally half the trees are dead. Look at old pictures of the course and there's hardly a tree in sight.
There are $20m homes all over that peninsula. And only one little fire station. And almost no exit in the case of a rapidly moving fire.
I describe this area as an example. And a place where the cost of forest management should not be an issue. There are a thousand other communities in California with exactly this problem.
California Nero's fiddle while Rome burns.
2
@Ed Bukszar
There's another piece of evidence staring us all in the face. It's about the death of trees everywhere. They have a kind of asthma, though increasing drought is also a problem.
Not saying you aren't right about the stupidity of wealth feeding itself instead of going back into the maintenance of a healthy community. You could say the same about the "servant" class - the 80-90% without decent jobs and benefits. They're being starved of the ability to thrive.
5
This conversation between two smart talking, straight walking pundits is fun and educational. Love it.
5
I am less concerned about Melania Trump's taste than her spending. I can't help but wonder what berry trees cost, especially big ones.
On the other hand, she lives with her husband, who spends our money like water just to play golf.
As for important things like infrastructure, the do-nothing or make-it-worse president will do nothing, though he promised to do something. We won't hear about the promises he didn't keep. Meanwhile, the roads heading to the famous resort beaches here have been full of badly filled potholes for years.
6
Gail:
NY and NJ don't need the fed gov to build or fix their own infrastructure. They won't even adequately fund what they already have.
@James
Bear in mind that red states take money out and blue states put money in. Sure, they could do a better job. Now they've got rid of Christie and his wealthy buddies, perhaps they will.
He is the one who killed the last NY-NJ project and the millionaire tax, along with using Sandy funds to help wealthy real estate interests rebuild in vulnerable areas that cannot be sustained in an era of rising seas and increasing wild weather, etc.
5
I’ve traveled up to Boston frequently, during the “big dig” and afterwards. I know it cost a lot, I know there were initial problems, ie the tunnel and the ceiling issues which were terrible for that family that it occurred to, but the end results really are wonderful. The Rose Kennedy park is beautiful, and traffic is far better managed. In the long run, it will be worth all the overruns and other problems. And you’re correct in your assessment of Christie, not only did he take us out of a much need tunnel, on the “advise “ of his wife, but tried to destroy the teachers union, funding for schools, you name it. I propose if the tunnels currently being used ever spring leaks, we use Mr Christie’s keester to plug the hole till we can replace and/or repair. It’s big enough, like his mouth and ego.
1
@James -- they'd do it no sweat if they got back their share of what they contribute federally.
1
A world class transportation system would be the ultimate transfer of status. Tens of thousands of ordinary people traveling quickly and in comfort, while the important people sat in their limos, stuck in traffic.
But this would be very un-American. It would destroy the desire to get ahead by any means if the little people were actually better off than the elite.
As for the Christmas display, why not box it up and put everything back on display for Halloween?
8
The red trees are very striking, but they are far from the only White House decorations. I am about as far from a Trump fan as one can get in this neck of the woods, but I really don't see what the fuss is about. One hallway of red, many rooms of glittering lights.
But then I like red. I was very disappointed when the colors of the parties, which used to switch election by elections, solidified the way they did.
1
If you don’t think we know the best way to prevent (or reverse) climate change, then you should favor federal support for a massive science and technology initiative to spur innovation and testing of new options. We developed nukes, conquered polio and walked in the moon - by wisely spending Federal money on R&D. A similar commitment should be made now to nailing the solution to climate change. It can be justified by national security alone. $50 billion a year, minimum. With new labs in red states (Remember Oak Ridge?). We’ll overlook their economic dependence on blue states that pay more in taxes than they get back.).
Instead, the Trump Administration kicks the scientists off EPA panels.
Don’t be a wimp Brett. I thought Republicans were supposed to care about national security and our competitiveness in emerging technologies.
11
"Encouraging the solar heating industry and wind power gives us an economic boost." Wind power provided 30% of England's electric power one day last week. While other countries move ahead on alternative power sources, we have the Koch Bros., et al.
15
@Cody McCall -- Wind and Solar provided more than 50% of California's electric power repeatedly this year.
9
On climate change, the biggest single solution is right in every single person's personal power to do: eat less meat, even if you cannot become vegetarian/ vegan. A reduction in demand for meat will go farther than any other measure proposed or shot down by politics. And it will dramatically improve people's health.
10
"A carbon tax probably makes the most sense but tends to be regressive." Bret, or any other Republican, criticizing a tax because it's regressive" ? Isn't that the best kind? Indirect and/or flat taxes, the kind where individual people pay more than corporate "people"; and poor individual people pay the most of all?
2
@Margaret -- true, but also nobody is proposing a carbon tax without some progressive rebate scheme.
The one most commonly mentioned, is the one I favor: per capita flat rebate.
To be really specific I would state "per capita, to adult citizens and green-card holders residing in the United States."
Per capita rebate is substantially progressive -- poorer people do very well from it.
3
Bret, I am pleased that you have decided to join the "climate change is real" party, a little late but at least you are here. However, you are still spreading disinformation. No legitimate greenie has believed that corn based ethanol is any sort of solution for global warming for about, oh, two decades now. It is merely an economic boon for right wing farming states that grow little actual food. Research continue in algae and other areas. The Koch brothers bought and sold right wing politicians are a cowardly disgrace. And, while I agree with Gayle that your tree rant was impressive, I kinda like them. Happy holidays.
6
@runaway Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah
A border wall is a “price worth paying” to achieve other, desired and required changes to our immigration laws? NO, IT ISN’T. No wall. Ever. It’s racist (else, why doesn’t COOTOO insist on a Northern border wall), and it is antithetical to the open-arms policy that America was founded on. Not to mention that I and hundreds of thousands of other beleaguered taxpayers want NOT ONE CENT of our tax money to go to this hideous boondoggle. NO COMPROMISE on this issue. NO WALL.
9
Mr. Stephens' observation about California's wildfires, that while climate change is partly to blame, arguably a more direct cause is the increasing number of people choosing to live in fire-prone areas -- particularly in what are called the wildland–urban interface.
But the fundamental cause of most of the world's environmental ills is over-population. In America and elsewhere, religion and traditional notions of the desirability of having many children (as opposed to a sustainable limit of two), is steadily pushing our number past the abilities of our economical and political models to support it.
Until the world embraces clear-eyed policies and practices that stop the unchecked rise of our population, we will find no relief. Water will continue to become more scarce, farmlands will diminish, the oceans will continue to be overfished and poisoned by run-off and polluted rivers, air quality will worsen, and this planet will continue to suffer chronic illnesses from its inhabitants' collective refusal to face facts.
4
"We haven’t talked about global warming in a long time."
Those of you who have influence should speak and write to climate change everyday. Gail and Bret, that's folks like you.
"skeptical that we have any genuinely practical solutions"
-Bret
Invest in transmission infrastructure, provide incentives like CA for solar. Put the lid on coal, and build solar plants on every mountain top that was cleaved in WV. As far as nuclear, the technology is there, the regulations are right for the technology, what is needed is, a long term permanent storage location, there is none to date. Then more wind power, smaller cars, and improved public transportation.
And most of all, "Leadership". And that is the most important factor to address climate change. And it is missing from this Administration.
242
@cherrylog754
I'm skeptical the technology exists for long term storage of nuclear waste. First, it has to be secured longer than the history of human civilization. Second, it has to be stored some place, and no state or locality is willing to be that place. (A running joke in one TV sit com is a small town politician's efforts to economically boost her rural community by becoming a nuclear waste depository.)
Third, many parts of decommissioned plants themselves have become radioactive. What does one do with these enormous chunks of toxic infrastructure?
Any ideas?
22
@cherrylog754 "And most of all, "Leadership". And that is the most important factor to address climate change. And it is missing from this Administration."
The difficulty is that there ARE things you can get from Trump, You have to accept that he is not a liberal, and that you still can get SOME things. For instance, Trump, probably prompted by Ivanka, once suggested that every new mother should have three months paid leave.
Did Democrats jump up and embrace that suggestion? No. Every positive suggestion by Trump is met with, "He does not mean it, he is not consistent". In other words you invariably spit on the hand of friendship. Trump offered a path to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented immigrants. What happened to THAT? DOE.
Try peace. PRAISE Trump for the fact that unemployment in the black community is the lowest it has been in decades.
But Trump is combative. If you spit at him he will spit back. And I have never seen anything other than spitting from the NYT and its readers.
4
@Jim Forrester
"Any ideas?"
Worked in the nuclear industry for 20 years, and the elephant in the room always was, what to do with all the waste. Salt deposits underground in Texas was a possibility, another was a place in Colorado, but they all failed, too much local opposition, the "NIMBY" effect.
Unfortunately, the Nuclear Industry stopped trying, and use on site temporary storage, which is the "band-aid" approach. Sorry couldn't add anything positive.
17
We have some enormous problems, climate change and increasing inequality among them. Bret articulates the Republican idea that, because solutions are complex, we should just do nothing. The market will take care of it all and, when market forces cause suffering, individual responsibility will make everything alright.
That ideology is the fundamental flaw in thinking that Republicans can be effective in addressing problems. The idea that somehow international corporations and the very wealthy, who also have international interests, will allow the kind of policies that might ameliorate suffering is an illusion.
By manipulating public opinion so people believe that the government is the problem, not the solution, they have made it impossible to preserve the kind of economy that underpins democracy. This is not an accident. A lot of money is being spent to make people act in ways that are contrary to their best interests and the best interests of the nation and the world.
When I think about professional sports and the way they occupy the attention of the USA, bread and circuses come to mind. And it seems to me that people are cheering for the lions.
290
@Betsy Brett may be an intelligent Republicans, but he is a Republican. Republicans resolutely refuse to acknowledge the role of inertia in the marketplace. It's hard for a company to be the first to step out with an LED lightbulb that is much more energy efficient when the initial cost will be high (as has been the case with every new technology). That step forward was made possible by federal energy efficiency standards for lightbulbs. The country's entire power generation system was built around coal with a smattering of hydroelectric plants and hideously expensive nuclear plants. Creating a space for cost-effective wind energy and solar required a role for government - at the very least to eliminate disincentives and unfair advantages those legacy power systems had. The only civic good conservatism theoretically provides is to slow down overly rapid, poorly thought-through changes. The practical problem is that conservative impulses to often serve the status quo no matter how inefficient, harmful, unfair and oppressive.
126
@NCSense - Agree. In the long run the "marketplace" will take care of it all.
However, one can go broke in the short run, waiting for that long run solution.
9
@Miss Anne Thrope -- "the marketplace" does not guarantee solutions where any large fraction of mankind survives. Read Diamond's "Collapse;" civilizations have collapsed, principally by destroying their own food production.
Mankind appears to be on course to doing that globally -- enormous loss of species and planetary carrying capacity ... leading to societal collapse and a great loss of humanity.
Changing course to prevent that is possible, but won't happen simply through market means. Remember "business cycles:" aka "boom and bust." If you are mathematically/ecologically inclined look at Lotka-Volterra cycles .. and understand the "atto-fox problem."
The "market place" does not guarantee any sort of stability or that a stationary equilibrium is ever seen -- it is an entirely sophomoric idea to think it does.
11
I think everyone's hopes are pinned on the new Congress coming in in January. However, with the senate firmly under the GOP I have my doubts about any infrastructure projects being funded, any improvements to the ACA, and any controls on the Toddler in Chief.
93
I don't understand the objection. Didn't you just hail them as a Grand Old Party with that abbreviation?
If it's too much work to key in "Republicans," just type a single capital R. We'll know what you mean.
Mr Stephens' remark that President Bush's passing ",,.. reminded me that there was a time when our presidents were dignified, presidential, decent and public-spirited" exhibits amnesia. While I don't disagree with his sentiment toward the elder Bush, he need only look back a couple of years for such a time. His name was President Obama.
1303
@Sumac Perhaps by "our" presidents, Stephens meant Republican presidents.
76
@Sumac You are absolutely correct.
49
@Sumac
Agreed. Unfortunately, Obama's initial naivete in reaching for bipartisanship with McConnell and his ilk resulted in limited effectiveness while he had the upper hand.
77
Go low tech and go wide! Nuclear power? Talk about a boondoggle. Let's say no to radioactive waste and centralized grids. Let's utilize the abundant LOW tech options for taking a huge load off of the grid. My house has a low, low tech solar hot water system that completely eliminates the need to use purchased energy to heat water from April to November. It's so cheap and low tech it's almost funny, but the fact that these systems are not on every home in a sunny state really calls into question our will to act. A nationwide effort to install simple design changes could lift a lot of burden from the grid. Shade cloth, anyone?
2
I'll bite: What's low-low tech, and how cheap?
1
"it’s easy to inflate costs massively when the taxpayer is footing the bill and government isn’t controlling the costs."
Excellent! A perfect rationale for never doing anything! Stephens should try for the Repub presidential nomination!
4
Stimulating discussion, Gail and Bret ! On giving Trump *billions for that Wall Fiasco, that has to be a *flat no simply bcuz it would be subsidizing certifiable *insanity with taxpayer's money. Like Palin' "Bridge To Nowhere" in Alaska.
Great take on the White house Christmas "decorations" from Bret, who has the "temerity" to advance a well wrought opinion on the matter. Bret's take puts me in mind of a quote from Tom Arnold back when he was still married to Roseanne: "We are Hollywood's biggest nightmare .... white trash with money" ! ;-D That same sentiment seems somehow also to encapsulate any semblance of "taste" or "class" from our present occupants of the White House.
3
Nuclear power plants. Okay, Bret, let's locate them in your neighborhood and see how you feel about them?
7
I'm with Gail--best interior decorating critique of the year. To combine "White Christmas" with Ozzy Osbourne biting the head off a bat takes talent.
7
Finally! I feel freed to express my horror and disgust at Milania Trump's taste. Well, both Trumps actually - those golden toilets in Trump Tower - sheesh! Following on the impeccable fashion sense of Michelle Obama, the get-ups (my mother used to point out the difference between an outfit and a get-up) Mrs. Trump chooses to appear in are even more appalling. She was a model, for goodness sake! Really, someone should take her wardrobe in hand for the sake of the country.
8
Any linkage in the red trees to the Orange One’s obsession with female blood?
Calling Dr. Freud!!!
9
H.W. the best one term president? Seriously?
What about Jimmy Carter?
And even ... Gerald Ford?
Ok, they got caught up by economic circumstances largely beyond their control. But in terms of human decency ...
11
This should be an interesting December and January for the Trump administration as Trump tweet attacks reality as a conspiracy vs him.
2
Hi, Bret. Willie Horton. Willie Horton. Willie Horton. Willie Horton.
A defining moment in the willingness of conservatives to "go there."
17
For me, the White House Christmas decor evokes the "Red Wedding" in A Game of Thrones or the elevator scene in The Shining. Is this part of the war on Christmas?
8
@James A
No, just another way of expressing "I really don't care, do U?" by the First Centerfold. Nobody could intentionally have taste this bad.
1
It's no surprise that Mr. Stephens can't think of anything useful to do about climate change as his ideological bent won't allow him to think carefully the way he does on so many other issues. But, Ms. Collins, come on!
There is a bill right now that has been introduced by a bipartisan group in the House calling for a Carbon Fee & Dividend (it sometimes goes under different names). The idea is to tax carbon at a gradually escalating rate AND to return all the funds collected to citizens as monthly checks (kind of like the Alaska oil fund). This would drive consumption of fossil fuels down and spur development of alternatives. Because richer people tend to have a bigger carbon footprint than poorer people, such an approach is also economically progressive as poorer people will get back more than they pay in carbon taxes. Finally, because of its simplicity, it would not be bureaucratic or costly to run.
It befuddles me that NYT columnists are not aware of and promoting this solution to the most important issue of our time. It's not complicated. Learn a little! Check out the Citizens' Climate Lobby website.
2
I kind of like the trees, there are just too many of them. Could they be made of cranberries? Edible? Compostable? The armatures recyclable? As a commentator noted previously could they be a subtle political statement?
As far as your view, Mr. Stephens, about dealing with a warming planet -- nuclear power and loosening regulations -- really? Ms. Collins mentions only one of the collateral consequences of this dangerous technology. Where even with tight regulation we have disasters caused by leaks of radiation how will deregulating these plants help us? Methinks you might do well to read up on the host of problems associated with nuclear energy and how safe alternative energy technologies, like solar and wind, are becoming more reliable and preferable.
1
George H.W. Bush the best one-term President? Sure, he beats Coolidge, Harding, Harrison and a bunch of others by a mile, but surely not John Adams, my favorite single-termer by far.
3
@Giskander: Alien and Sedition acts. Nuff said.
1
Here's what I would like Congress to do. Find a solution to the epidemic of spam cell phone calls we all endure. Especially the infuriating practice of spammers "spoofing" local phone numbers, which make it look like the spam call is coming from someone with your own prefix.
I can't believe there isn't some way these calls could be stopped. Money is probably changing hands to prevent that.
9
Bret Stephens has redeemed himself in my eyes now that I know he's a fellow Bears fan. And I really enjoy these conversations and try to model mine after them with my few hardcore conservative tennis buddies.
1
Thank you, Gail Collins and Bret Stephens for showing that people with differing political views can actually have a conversation. What a novel idea! As for a time when Presidents were dignified, presidential and public spirited, George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama both fit that description. I didn't always agree with all the views or policies of either one of them, but had respect for both. Character matters! (Just for the record John McCain also had these qualities so even though his views were far right of my own, he was someone I respected.) Hope there are a few people with similar qualities "waiting in the wings" to bring these virtues back to the Presidency and also Congress.
116
What a stupid, disingenuous thing for Stephens to say. "Bush 41 was probably the last president who refused to govern in a state of remorseless partisan war with his opponents". Have you forgotten Obama already, Bret? Bush 41 was no Trump (thank God), nor was he Bush 43 (that apple fell pretty far from the tree). But he was also no Obama. Obama didn't employ Lee Atwater to run his campaigns. Obama never ran a "Willie Horton" ad. Obama did not wage relentless partisan war, he strove diligently to work with the rabidly partisan Republican party, a party whose only stated goal was to make Obama a one term president. Granted, Bush 41 was the last half-way decent and acceptable Republican president, but that's not saying much.
364
@John Ranta
Thank you for pointing out the obvious regarding the Bushes.
I am hopeful that our next Obama is right around the next election. We need him more than ever.
22
@John Ranta
Clinton also worked in a bipartisan way, but when he did it, it was called being slick or always sticking his finger in the air to see which way the wind was blowing.
12
Aficionados Of infrastructure will do well to visit China--High speed rail all over the place. Magnificent air, rail, and bus terminals. All public spaces and facilities are well managed.
In China, the politicians look after the peoples' needs. In USA the politicians are consumed in bobbing and weaving through elections and the government structure. The sooner our system collapses, and we begin again, the better.
4
@Heckler
If you consider China's air to be "magnificent", then you have never been either to Beijing or Shanghai, especially on those days when one cannot see across the street with the naked eye for all the pollution - or you display a propagandist's idea of what the English world "magnificent" means.
Even the Chinese Officials admit that their horrid air quality is killing hundreds of thousands of Chinese people per annum. Truly "magnificent", all right !
You are correct in the need for ALL government systems to be rebuilt, but certainly not on the *present choking model that we have on display in China ! ;-D :-D
1
“I’m also skeptical that we have any genuinely practical solutions right now to climate change...”
Bret, isn’t it tiring to have to think of ways to phrase inane statements about climate change rather than just admit that your party and President are essentially alone in the world in their ignorance?
I just put solar panels on my house. The system will pay for itself in about eight years in addition to creating jobs, reducing pollution, and moving us toward an inevitable future of cleaner energy. What exactly is your skepticism about that?
215
@John Vasi - I agree with Brett on this one. In order to scale wind and solar fast enough to prevent permafrost melt (tipping point), you'd need to mine 50% more copper annually than today. Copper production typically grows no more than 3% per year. Nuclear is 40 times more efficient in terms of copper usage compared to wind, and more than that when compared to solar. That's just one of many ingredients that would need to massively scale. And that assumes you've solved the energy storage issue. Reliable grid-scale batteries have yet to be invented. Several start-ups have molten salt reactor designs ready to be commercialized. These reactors are designed so they can't melt down, can't blow up, use the laws of physics to automatically shut down in the event a problem (rather than operators and back-up systems), create only a fraction of waste compared to today's plants, make it really hard to sneak fuel to build a bomb, can be mass-produced like airplanes, delivered to the customer and switched on. They can scale fast enough and are a very viable "silver bullet." The USA pioneered this technology and should retake it's leadership role quickly.
2
@John Vasi @brett
With the lie that climate change is a hoax crumbling, next to go should be the lie that there are no genuinely practical solutions.
Here is a ranked list of 80 solutions to reverse climate change documented by Paul Hawkins in Project Drawdown
https://www.drawdown.org/solutions-summary-by-rank
#1 Refrigerant Management
#2 Wind Turbines (Onshore)
#3 Reduced Food Waste
...
#8 Solar Farms
#9 Silvopasture
#10 Rooftop Solar
...
#19 Managed Grazing
#20 Nuclear
#21 Clean Cookstoves
...
At this critical point, all should be considered.
9
@Matt Wilkinson I don’t know if your statements or statistics are correct or not, but my point is that there are things that can be done, right now, to mitigate the conditions contributing to climate change. Putting solar panels on my house is not going to end climate change, but it’s a positive.
The overwhelming concensus that climate change is real has caused the deniers to now say things like Stephens and you are saying: well, it’s here, but we aren’t sure what’s causing it and we can’t really do anything to address it. That’s a completely cynical political stance, not a scientific one. It’s embarrassing to see this country wallow in ignorance and political ideology.
16
How the debate over a comprehensive infrastructure plan is framed will be crucial to bringing it to fruition. If politicians begin by asking: "How much can we afford?," we're sunk. As a sovereign nation that issues its own currency and can create "fiat" money that is no longer pegged to gold or any other standard, the United States can "afford" to pay for anything it wants. The right question is: "What will a huge spending bill do to inflation?" If a deficit hawk had been told in 2008 that the national debt was going to double from $10 to $20 trillion in 8 years, he would have predicted the end of western civilization by 2016. Of course, with the election of Donald Trump that year, he would have been right in at least one respect. Inflation averaged a paltry 1.45% per year during Obama's 2 terms, and the economy is still humming along today.
A sound infrastructure plan would not simply throw money at the problem but would create the conditions for increasing the nation's productive capacity. If all we've done is pump more money into the economy so that many more dollars are chasing the same amount of goods and services, we'll probably get an unacceptable inflation rate. But if infrastructure upgrades set the stage for a dramatic increase in the goods and services our newly supercharged economy could supply, so that more money is now chasing more goods and services, then the inflation bogeyman slinks back into the bedroom closet.
58
@WDG Ask the Confederate states about 'flat' money. For someone raised on Nast cartoons, I remember best the guy with a wheelbarrow full of money, going to buy a quart of milk. The backing is our production, and it had better be there, or the money is just so much paper.
6
@barbara jackson Modern Monetary Theory has an interesting take on this. The reason we value US currency is because the government has the power to put us in jail if we don't pay our taxes, and the only form of payment the IRS will accept is the US dollar. So in one important sense the government doesn't collect taxes to pay for stuff--the treasury can just create money out of thin air and buy anything it wants--but to give value to the currency it issues. I've read that the Virginia Commonwealth (before the revolution) would issue its own currency to pay for its government expenses and then demand that its citizens pay their taxes in that currency. After the government collected all that currency, it burned it!
3
@WDG
I think you're overlooking the problem of the Trump tax cut when comparing inflation risks. That said, we're not really talking about a traditional infrastructure package. We're talking about a backlog of neglected maintenance. We have to dig ourselves out of a several trillion dollar hole before we can even begin speaking about actual improvements to existing infrastructure.
This why I say Trump's tax cut is more impactful than you might realize. The US government just handed away $2 trillion for a won year sugar high followed by the resulting sugar crash. What we can "afford" naturally doesn't look quite so affordable anymore. The right time for an infrastructure package was around 2010 but Republican deficit hawks wouldn't allow Obama to claim infrastructure as a victory.
5
We have an inertia to everything except Wall Street. China surpassed us years ago - public transit, booming economy, and now an approach to environmental issues. We’ve turned our back on progress and the need to modernize. In the case of wildfires. A New Yorker has never experienced a Santa Ana - the hurricane of the West. And people ignore the basic rules of home maintenance an brush clearance. Builders use the cheapest products not fire resistant products. Politicians ignore the evacuation needs and utility companies ignore the need to prevent transformer malfunction during Santa Ana’s dry windstorms. And of course CA is running out of water - too many people and no rain or snow. And rising temperatures that parch a region. So we fret about Trump - a man mentally and morally unfit for office - and build walls rather than transit, upgrading bridges and roads, and addressing the homeless issue. We are a decaying society where the stock market, not social progress, is our measure of success.
410
@Barbarra What people fail to realize is that it's far easier to start from scratch. China is doing what we did in the 1700-1800 through the twentieth century. We first have to dismantle all the old stuff and haul it away, deal with the 'save the history' crowd, and every other group who has a mouth and an idea, and then work around a crowd of 'don't gentrify our neighborhoods' people. It ain't easy . . .
22
@Barbarra - "CA is running out of water - too many people and no rain or snow."
Human usage of H2O in CA = 8.6 million acre ft/yr.
Cattle usage* of H2O in CA = 10 million acre ft/yr.
Want more water? Stop eating beef. Poultry, even pork, consume far less water/lb of protein produced than cattle.
Any form of shoving plant protein through animals in order to consume animal protein is inefficient. You might like to eat meat, but you do not have to in order to consume adequate protein.
* "Cattle usage" = cows + forage crops + pasture.
62
@Barbarra California is not "running out of water" as people keep insisting. There is the entire Pacific Ocean, which supposedly is rising. Desalination plants exist; they work. Build them. Especially in S. and central CA.
You will never convince people not to expand into wildfire-prone areas. Local building codes need to be upgraded: only tile or metal roofs, non-flammable exterior walls, including eaves, and mandatory roof sprinklers for all. People will protest increased building costs and government mandates. Paying for these measures will be better than having your house (or yourself) incinerated.
I see people burned out by the fires in Paradise every day I work in a clinic. They are lost. They have no real plans. They are traumatized.
21
"For reasons I don’t quite get, liberals and conservatives seem to have made some kind of tacit pact not to criticize her or her choices as first lady."
It is hard to be distracted by Melania's taste in decoration while Donald is trashing democracy.
5
Not that Bret needs any help being fully but, I would have ended with
Bret: Poor Polar Bears - sad.
rather then:
Bret: Poor Bears. Shoulda beaten the Giants on Sunday.
1
Those trees are perfect, tacky, gaudy and tasteless just like the trump clan.
6
Wow, Bret is sounding so reasonable - in theory. In practice, I suspect he would still justify Republican "no" votes on the grounds that whatever proposal was made, it wasn't the right one.
I'm wondering which huge infrastructure projects here in the US Bret regards as huge boondoggles? He should visit Boston, which has been transformed for the better by the Big Dig and has turned out to be a huge boon to developers - who admittedly, could and should have shouldered more of the cost. Perhaps, if opponents hadn't been so keen on labeling it a "boondoggle", it might have been easier to focus on the cost/benefit analysis.
As for the red trees, I kinda like them. They're dramatic. They're no more overkill than the multiple trees decorating other rooms in the WH.
2
This is always fun, but may I venture a correction. Biofuels weren't an attempt to curb global warming. Furthermore it was known from the get-go that the practice of growing corn to generate ethanol consumes more energy than it produces, and generates more CO2 than it saves. It is stupid, stupid, stupid. There are smart things we can do right now, that Gail alludes to, but unfortunately the only things to get passed by congress are the ones that further grease the pockets of their buddies (or husbands, wives, family, selves) in agribusiness.
3
Your opinion and reporting is clouded by such hatred for the current administration that you're now bashing the Christmas decorations, good grief! Michelle had two giant dogs guarding presents for Christ sake and that was just adorable. Half of the decorations are essentially the same every year. Take off your Anti trump goggles and except that someone may have different taste than you. Post some pictures of your decorations and let's decide who has better taste.
1
@Bruce
Red-Republican-Russian. Melania is sending a tone poem to her buds. Maybe she got Christmas confused with Valentine's Day. Be Beast!
1
If we are looking at the red trees as a design statement, I yawn. They are uninteresting. No contrast. Blah.
If they are a statement, I yawn. It's Christmas. If the republicans are so worried about democrats killing Christmas, they should look at this Christmas tree display and realize 3 fingers are pointing back to them with this God awful display.
As for Melania using the trees as a secret shout out about some hidden message, I say you give her way too much credit. Remember she was the one wearing the jacket with - Really don't care, do you?
6
Brett Stephens continues to offer his soothing misrepresentations on climate change, an imminent threat to all ecosystems on earth as well as to human civilzation. He either hasn’t read the science or is committed to strategic denial — at this point a criminally irrational choice.
This is the end game, Stephens. Do you read the NYT at all? Have a look at the Insect Armageddon article. Read up on the death of the kelp forests. Understand what the loss of polar ice caps means. Stop preening and start helping.
6
Ohh!!! How about John Bolton's whiskers were dyed to match the red of the"trees," and he gets to stand immobile watching ballerinas twirl around? No, no the latter image too creepy- for the ballerinas...I take that back, but the first: finally, a job truly fitting for Bolton, don't you all think?
4
Oh my god, I'm laughing so hard at Bret's 'best decorating critique of the year' bit!
1
“The largely peaceful collapse of the Soviet Union. The successful reunification of Germany.”
C’mon Bret, these are not Mr Bush’s achievements. What is it with conservative Americans that they take credit for developments that the USA can only have been incidentally involved in?
11
Those trees - look like they have blood coming out of their...everywhere!
11
From 12 Monkeys: "You are walking through a red forest and the grass is tall. It’s just rained. Most of the blood has washed away. There’s a house in the distance, cedar and pine. You’ve been there before. You’re not alone. There’s a man. You see him, you go to him. You know him, like a memory of tomorrow.u go to him. You know him. Like a memory of tomorrow." https://www.reddit.com/r/12Monkeys/comments/69ua9e/youre_walking_through_a_red_forest/
"And now, of course, every former president looks great compared with Donald Trump."
Ain't THAT the truth! I thought Bush 43 was a blithering idiot subject to the direction of Dick Cheney. When I saw him speak on 60 Minutes on Sunday, I was impressed with his thoughtfulness. Until he died, I had not really reflected on what a "soft landing" the Cold War had under GHW Bush; we did indeed dodge a bullet as the USSR broke up. Thank you, Bush 41; you were the right person at the right time!
Trump's presidency allows all previous presidents to be looked at through a new lens. Anyone who speaks in complete sentences; isn't involved sexually with as many woman as possible (his own Vietnam); actually reads (whereas some presidents actually hid that fact); and has the capacity and interest to learn the duties and limits of their job vaults way up in our estimation. May this presidency be a one-off and end soon.
2
I cannot think of anything more contrived than these "conversation" opinion pieces.
1
Thank God the only red wave we're seeing this holiday season is courtesy of Melania's trees in the White House.
3
To commemorate Daddy Bush, I'm going to re-watch "The Panama Deception"
1
Immoral! These lightweights discuss climate change and spread ignorance about it. They babble as if it were "another issue."
It is THE issue -- the biggest humankind has ever faced. We are igniting self-driving forces that will devastate conditions of human life on Earth, devastate our human civilization and species.
And the NYT enables these lightweights to spread their ignorant babble about it as just "an issue"????
3
Good Op-Ed as usual, love Bret's take on "The Malania"'s Xmas decorations and the point on how she gets a pass when any other First Lady wouldn't. Which brings up the larger point that Brooks, Blow and others have brought up on how Trump and his Henchmen at Fox have moved the goalposts on truth,decency, right and wrong. As a kid learning history I always wondered how a country's population of decent people could allow people Hitlers or Mussoliniis. It was somehow easier to see in "banana republics" where power has always been so centrally kept but not in large educated and informed countries.
Wow I'm worried now
1
Here's something good to say about Trump:
He has not yet started a shooting war. (… unless you count the terrorist NRA and their war against everybody on US soil.)
3
...dunno...I actually kinda like the trees....
3
Melania has extremely commercial taste (only one of the reasons why comparisons to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis were so off-target) so it is not surprising that she would decorate the WH like one of her husband's hotel lobbies, or a shopping mall.
9
“... reminded me that there was a time when our presidents were dignified, presidential, decent and public-spirited...” and only lightly dog whistled....
2
Oh Brett, when will you Neo Cons grow a spine!
"I’m less clear, say, that we should attribute events like the devastating forest fires to climate change alone as opposed to a host of additional causes, including too many people living in fire-prone areas (and often causing the fires), as well as (sic): poor forest-management practices (DT)."
Myself, I'm less clear that any amount of butter and syrup would help that sad piece of "waffling" on climate change go down. However, I am completely clear that the GOP/?P Far, Far, Far Right that you continue to court in vain (quote above) will call you 'RINO', for-ever!!!
2
The WH Christmas decorations: last year it was bare twigs painted white, as I recall. Now it is fake "trees" made out of some kind of red berries, looking vaguely phallic but also aggressive and militaristic. Someone mentioned the "Red Menace" of yore. By the way, is one of those large things in the photo giving birth to a small one? Or is that just its reproductive organ rampant? I am glad I live too far away to go see those things in person. As for me, I put some solar powered LED fairy lights on my garden wall. I will keep them up, because after all 12th Night and the Mardi Gras season starts soon....Happy 2nd night of Hanukkah, everyone.
5
Those red trees made me think of Max Ernst, "Attirement of the Bride"
https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/1186
- much as the Current Incumbent himself, earlier, had put me in mind of the German Surrealist's "Ubu Imperator" (Ubu the Emperor), more for its title - playwright Alfred Jarry's signature character serving as obvious go-to literary referent for the Id-in-Chief - with Ernst's "L'Ange du Foyer" (The Fireside Angel) -
http://guerre-civile-espagnole-tpe.e-monsite.com/pages/analyses-d-oeuvres/max-ernst-l-ange-du-foyer.html
"one of [Ernst's] few definitively political pieces", per Wikipedia, "sub-titled 'The Triumph of Surrealism' depicting a raging bird-like creature that symbolizes the wave of fascism that enveloped Europe" - providing the definitive visual.
1
A staging for an avant-garde version of Federico Garcia Lorca's " Bodas de Sangre" : brilliant !
1
Bret, you gave me a rare laugh out loud moment with your interior design critique. “Pure class” observation. Thanks!
There certainly is a lot not to like about Melania. She has horrible values. Lousy politics. A very distasteful public role.
I guess then I'm not supposed to like those red trees. But they don't seem all that bad. Someone tries something different. So what?
2
Maybe it's just me and I know it's a stretch. But those pointy red Christmas trees the Trumps favor eerily bring to mind the red-tipped Russian missiles in Cuba that brought the world to the brink of armageddon in 1962.
Must just be me.
2
My least favorite thing to read in the NYT is this column. Why? Because these two people don't sound any smarter than anyone else. Bret Stephens' vision of Trump's wall makes me cringe because it's so utterly ridiculous to think that wall is going to make things better. It will forever be a symbol of the xenophobia and racism of this country.
1
Bretster, kinda harsh dogpiling of our First Lady's Christmas decorating tastes, which, admittedly, are bizarre. Nonetheless, maybe the proper response, the kind thing to do in this holy season, is to just look down and mumble that you've never seen anything like it, however that could be accomplished in print.
And, dude, you recommend nuclear power plants: What! Hast thou not heard of the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima disasters? And that Germany is methodically ridding itself of all such time bombs?
What page from what book are you reading? The Exxon-Mobil annual report? Gettest thou woke.
Ah, errant youth: the time of deep confusion, bad decisions, and cockamamie conclusions. Been there, done that.
5
so, paper lions or yellow submarine for retro oscar?
We really don't need to say much about the red Christmas trees except that they're ugly, do we?
2
We do not speak of the NFL franchise that ran off to St. Louis with the showgirl.
I'll be honest - I don't 100% hate the red trees; I mean, yest they are ugly, but if you squint maybe you can rationalize this as just a failed attempt at doing something different? But, this matters so little that I don't really care. (Do U?)
Here's what does matter: My memory must be failing me because I can't seem to remember Obama's reign of terror over those poor, helpless republicans. (What I DO remember is an Obama who was conciliatory to a fault with a republican party that made no bones about how much they despised him and how little they respected him.)
I get that you want to eulogize GHWB's magnanimity - please do so. But don't go so far off the rails that you have to make baseless statements about everyone else just to get the point across.
10
Of course it just could be a cruel joke but the forest of burning red Christmas trees may be another subtle message from Melania. She knows the whole place is going up in flames. Time to go shopping!
Or maybe something about those fires in California and global warming.
3
give the hatred a rest already, we all know you don’t like trump, we get it it’s been a daily barrage of countless negative editorials from you people, can you just lighten up, at least for December.
Write something positive, write something positive about Obama if you have to, just stop the complaining, the nonstop complaining is really making me second-guess why I subscribed to this paper.
@Crossing Overhead Anything positive about Trump would have to be Fake News.
4
Remember how little the left said about Laura Bush having long ago accidentally killed her boyfriend? Nothing, in fact. Democrats obviously felt that attacking her would be too low-class. Never any sign of fear of moral or ethical faults on the right. Those are their MO. So Hillary and Michelle were under constant attack and Laura and Melania safe.
3
Gail, you're not there yet in the guys' nitwit parade of bumper cars at the local county fair. It's not “Hey, how about those Giants?” It's “Hey, how about THEM Giants?”
You're welcome!
My only question re: the WH Christmas trees - just how much did we pay for that exercise in Melania Trump's execrable taste?
6
“ Bush 41 was probably the last President that refused to govern in a state of remorseless partisan warfare with his opponents “.
NO, Bret. How soon you forget the War against President Obama, starting since before his inauguration. Mitch and his minions fought him, fang and nail. Thru two entire terms. Convenient memory, Much ????? Do better.
Seriously.
9
Gosh, it sure is heartwarming to see how woke Bret has become since his promotion(?) to the Times. Well, at least we have Gail to stand up for reasonable conservative viewpoints in these conversations. Wait.....
The first lady, who seems to be a good and decent person, seems to have a little trouble with decorating. Is it possible that her authority was usurped by our guy in the Oval Office with the Christmas decor assigned to a more outlandish acolyte like, for instance, Sarah Huckabee Sanders?
Just sayin'.
@Doc "Good and decent person"? She married a con and grifter for money and citizenship. I don't call that good and decent.
8
@Doc
Not sure what your "good and decent' conclusion is based on.
1
Bret’s ratings:
Critique of WH decorations: A
“Analysis” re climate change: F
The notion that we can just keep shrugging our shoulders about climate change, as the oceans warm and insects die, is not “conservative.” It’s radical and nihilistic.
2
Sounds like Brett is in the “wring your hands and don’t cry” camp on global warming. Maybe he should talk to Musk about moving to Mars?
1
Mr. Stephens
Why do you just mention foreign policy. That should not be the major or sole judge of a President. To most people that comes a distant second. Where are his domestic achievements?
And please. Not the tired answer of foreign issues are life and death. Not really for the US.
Of course we all agreed he was decent, honorable gentleman. It is sad that these day that is considered a major accomplishment!
1
As always, thanks for the laughs, Bret and Gail. I second: "best interior design critique ever." So funny!
And PS, I agree: "Do something."
3
I find myself amazed that Mr. Stephens lauds Mr. Bush as "the Best one term president", cited that he started two wars, illegally invaded panama to arrest and silence Noriega from spilling the beans about the CIA drug business and gives him credit for the self-collapse of the Soviets. Neither he nor the Time Oobit mentioned the 100,00 AIDS deaths caused by his refusal to recognize of deal with the crisis.
Among those deaths were 40 of my friends.
Equally stunning is that infrastructure rather than Impeachment is Ms. Collins priority for the new Congress.
6
@Kim Hanson Note who would become president if Trump were dumped. Be careful what you wish for.
1
Infrastructure. Right.
Trump will do everything he can to throw a monkey wrench in that concept.
Know why?
Major construction projects require more than big ideas and blueprints. They require laborers. Lots of them. People with skills and physical strength who will work under stressful conditions and in bad weather, and will show up and do the job they're hired to do.
The kind of people Trump wants on the other side of his wall.
10
Another accolade from Bret Stephens for Mr. Deep State himself, Bush 41. Ah, for those thrilling days of yesteryear, when preemptive invasion, regime change & democracy building seized & bundled the citizenry into cohesive unity.
Bret must be wondering how Trump wasted all that military school training.
3
I suppose that hideous holiday decor is consistent with the low budget entertainment style of this white house.
Like professional wrestling, current leadership maintains limited but enthusiastic support of a disturbed minority by appealing to the lowest elements in human nature and casting them in an illusion of legitimacy.
They certainly do not want Christmas decor that would risk reawakening the now all but forgotten message of the Nativity. Because "Peace and Goodwill" are subversive liberal plots and impediments to marketing.
5
1) Immigration: there is already a bill wasting away in Congress that had great bipartisan support in the Senate. Dust it off, pass it, and send it back to the republicans. If they throw it back into the dustbin Democrats should make the point that republicans are not looking for solutions; only problems.
2) Infrastructure: since republicans from Reagan to McConnell have shown us that deficits don't matter let's fix everything. Especially trains; let's put cargo trains on their own tracks outside of cities and metro areas and put in tracks that can handle those high speed trains seen throughout the rest of the developed world. And much of the developing world, thanks to China's efforts.
3) Climate! There are many reasons for the Western forest and wild fires and the destruction they are causing. Building in areas where building should not be is one of them. (That holds true for coastal flooding as well.) But the record heat and high winds of late are directly caused by the oceans warming and that is a direct result of human activity. What republicans (there are no more conservatives) seem to really loathe is the idea that we are causing our own extinction. (Probably some Biblical reason for this.) How about we forget the blame game and get on with realizing that humans are the only species on earth with the intellect and the technology to do something about it.
4) Putting the brakes on the anti democratic movement of t rump and his party. Self explanatory.
4
Only JFK? LaGuardia and Newark are up there as reminders of the 3rd-world status of our airports.
4
Anger is only a cheap sugar high. It needs to feed constantly to be maintained. It is blind, visceral and voracious. It lacks focus and direction. It is not strategic, has no vision nor plan. It can serve as an initial motivator, a jump start only, but it is really only as spiky and characterless as these alarming trees. Real power relies on much much more.
President Obama wanted to implement shovel ready projects and the old white GOP who wanted to make him a one term president said NO. Obama wanted to do infrastructure and the chorus said no. The tunnel in New York was killed by the ignorant governor of New Jersey who shut down the George Washington Bridge and who placed all of his high school friends in key positions at the Port authority. Till we clean up the remaining swamp GOP and closely review every proposal the same greed will take place. All we have to do is look at what happened in Puerto Rican and what is happening in the fire areas. Remember the electrical company of three people who received a no bid contract and couldn't do the work but were friends with a GOP representative. These contractors will do anything to rip off the American people .
With the passing of President Bush not just decency died with him but integrity of American businesses. See what Facebook did to George Soros and one just weeps.
So when you write these stories please review all of the facts and call out the people who stopped these projects years ago. The GOP is scandal ridden and we need to call it for what it is.
7
Maybe it shouldn't *be*? Ugh.
Re: Environment-- I didn't see razing rain forests for cattle grazing listed as a causative issue in climate change. According to https://ec.europa.eu/clima/change/causes_en (sorry, EPA, I've lost faith in your stats--) 3 of 5 causes of rising emissions are deforestation, increased livestock farming, and fertilizers containing nitrogen.
If we omnivores limited beef consumption to one meal a week, we could make a big difference!
1
The only thing I like about these conversations is Collins' talent for slyly jabbing stickpins at Stevens' pretentious orations.
1
Poor Bears, Bret? My heavens, look at our SF 49er's,,they are terrible!
Okay, first Friedman's piece about a wall with a big gate... No wall. Period. The only Big Gate I endorse is Immigration Reform. We were that close to it with the Senate bill under the Obama administration. So close, but then - poof - it vanished. That money on any border structure should be completely diverted to infrastructure within our states and between our states. We have too many highways, freeways, city and rural streets, and bridges to fix.
Next, our fires. Please stop passing the blame on CA's building too close to forested areas. Come to my state, particularly the northern part, and you will see that there are trees all over..not only native redwoods but also our oaks. You want to blame the forest department, well, that is mostly federally owned and maintained. Blame Trump and Zinke et al. And loggers who are salivating over all that wood, which spells dollar signs. You want to rake? Put on your golden-soled boots, Mr. Trump, and buy a rake.
Finally, Melania's taste in Xmas decorations is garish, garish, garish. Truly the worst "exhibition" in the White House I have ever squinted at from all the glare in my 70+ years of life. Geez... that lady has been with Trump for too long.
Okay, I'm done until next week. Here's to "Red," as in ornaments, Xmas wrapping, and Santa!
5
ns appears not to have gotten over his boyhood crush on George HW Bush. He mentions the racist campaign that got Bush the elder elected, but leaves out the racist and hyperpartisan appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. He actually praises two unlawful invasions of foreign countries that had not attacked the US. One of them was the beginning of the destabilizing of the Middle East that was so thoroughly completed by Bush the younger as he expressed his oedipal need to outdo Poppy. The other was to remove and kidnap the leader of a sovereign state who had been a CIA informant. Not really proud moments.
And so far as Bush pére being the last president not to preside over open partisan warfare (see Clarence Thomas, supra), that is because the party of Bush declared open warfare on Bush's successor and continued that war on any president with a "D" after his name. What did Poppy Bush ever do to rein in Newt Gingrich?
3
Another tunnel? Nuclear power? I saw no note in any large paper, but yet another worker was killed this week at your nuclear waste storage facility in forgotten Idaho, and it's leaking more and more at Hanford. We have wind and water, but city mice think we need to further poison the plant to power their I-phones. Neither Bret nor Gail think two cents' worth about the needs of we "flyover" people. Neither Democrats or Republicans have any intentions of serving anyone but rich urban donors and large blocks of single-issue voters. And both now propose to steal our voice in the Electoral College.
@vandalfan
No one wants to steal your voice in the electoral college. You should have the same voice everyone else has - no more, no less.
1
Three gentle comments in the spirit of the season.
Trump doesn’t like to spend money on infrastructure projects that people don’t see? Put his name on it, in all caps at both entrances, and see how quickly he can be persuaded.
Red berries Xmas trees? Look at the bright side. They could be 24 carrat gold - at taxpayer expense of course.
The media being nice to Melania? Maybe they figure that she suffers enough being married to Trump.
Happy Holidays.
1
I hate to disagree with Gail when she's on a brilliant roll, but Trump is not merely a "weekend" golfer. He has spent 154 days so far this term on the golf course, at a taxpayer cost of 83 million dollars - and many of those days were weekdays, not weekends: https://www.trumpgolfcount.com/displayoutings
4
I think the the red trees is a covert we love you message to Putin. Trump and his inner circle are probably singing "I'm dreaming of a red Christmas" gathered around the fireplace.
2
"an expanded H1B visa program"
So China can plant more spies and informants in US tech businesses and university departments.
1
You'd think someone from an area previously occupied by a political entity identified with the color red would be less likely to have a major red holiday display. An occasional solid green tree would relieve the scene. Those White House folks must be clueless.
2
"It looked to me as if Derek Zoolander had been brought in as style consultant. And that he, in turn, had subcontracted the task to Imelda Marcos. It looked like a staging for an avant-garde version of Federico García Lorca’s “Bodas de Sangre.” It looked — if looks could sing — as if “White Christmas” were being performed by Ozzy Osbourne just as he bit the head off a bat. It looked as if John Bolton had been chosen to perform an exorcism, sadly not on the president."
OMG, this made me laugh out loud in a library. PERFECT.
3
The impetus for use of ethanol actually came from efforts by the EPA to reduce air pollution rather than to address climate change because it helped gasoline burn cleaner. Today's engine emissions controls do not require ethanol.
It was also promoted as a replacement for fossil fuels at at time when there was broad belief in "peak oil". This was driven by farm states looking for new ways to subsidize corn production.
No serious accounting for carbon intensive inputs to ethanol production in farm fuel, fertilizers and transportation would show a net benefit to carbon reduction and it is no longer promoted as such.
1
@Look Ahead
"The Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandated the first requirement that renewable fuels be mixed into America’s gasoline supply, and the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act increased the quotas of the original mandate". from Heritage Foundation report.
These acts reflected the concern at the time about over-reliance on foreign oil, especially from the Middle East destabilized by the Iraq War.
1
Yes why exactly do replublicans-- and libertarians --hate mass transit? How is a subway or a train-or sidewalks for that matter-- different from a plane or an interstate or a bridge that doesn't rust out and fall down.
4
I was expecting Bret Stephens to preface his climate-change remarks with that well-worn conservative catch phrase, “I’m no scientist, but...”. Which is usually followed by a sentence or two attempting to discredit the scientific consensus.
If these people admit they aren’t scientists, why does it follow that their own uninformed conclusions carry more weight than an expert’s?
It’s like saying, “I’m no airline pilot, but I sure wouldn’t put the flaps down in this situation.” “I’m no surgeon, but re-attaching that tendon in this instance doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
11
It's a great idea to spend billions to fix JFK, for millions of visitors the trip to USA starts in a ridiculously outdated airport.
It's a very bad idea to invest billions in an additional tunnel between New Jersey and New York City. The correct answer to global warming is NOT to create more and more jobs in NYC and further increase the commuting capacity. The correct answer is to create more and more jobs in New Jersey, and decrease the number of people who must commute because they can't afford the insanely high living cost of NYC.
3
Thank you so much Bret Stephens for the well needed laugh I got when I read your reaction to the White House Christmas decorating. I too think it's completely awful, but then so is everything about the Trump presidency.
23
Take it easy on the trees - they symbolize the President's promise to make the cranberry farmers in Wisconsin whole.
7
Yes, we need to get people out of fire-prone areas, but they are often there because they cannot afford other areas. The problem is bigger than we think. Jobs are hard to come by, especially in California, that allow survival in cities.
Trump, thankfully, has not started any wars. We can only hope that Congress convinces him to end the Yemen War.
Furthermore, Trump has tried to talk to Xi. That is perhaps a bonus, but we will see what comes of it. It was mostly a disaster of Trump's doing, which he is now finding a solution to. Trump is good at creating problems, then solving them, and giving himself credit.
2
@Anthony
More like Trump is good at creating problems, then not solving them, then declaring victory and forgetting about it completely.
17
For once I agree totally, and thoroughly with Bret Stephens -- about Melania's taste.
One small quibble. Last year's Christmas decorations might have been even worse.
7
@Observor
I showed the picture of the blood red trees just now and he said " was there a war in Melania's country when she was little? If so, maybe that's what trees really did look like - covered in blood. "
I doubt it but you never know.
Anyway, does she really think they look good? YIKES. Why couldn't she have put them at Mar-A-Lago?
Oh yeah, this way taxpayers have to pay for this Christmas nightmare.
5
Bret: You are correct that there are no perfect solutions to the climate crisis, however if we wait for the perfect solution to come along it will be too late to avoid catastrophe. In this case any action is better than no action.
11
Hey Bret, you have made some progress on accepting climate change! Anger, Denial. Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance! You did it!
Now, onto solutions. There are plenty of things both individuals and governments can do right now to reduce CO2 emissions. A carbon tax and dividend is a great place to start - it harnesses human creativity with minimal rules. Create a pound of CO2, pay a tax. The end.
Our household has already cut out CO2 production to about 1/3 the level of the average American without a lot of work; others can do so too. But in the interim, I will be quite happy to collect CO2 taxes from others. A CO2 tax might even help increase local manufacturing, since locally produced food and goods will have lower carbon taxes.
18
@Djt
"Local production" often implies less efficiency (including energy efficiency) and/or a less competitive market. These add cost that, like most carbon tax ideas, will fall disproportionately on the poor.
On a more positive note, using this forum to share what you did to cut back in your household might inspire some other readers to make similar changes.
1
Well Gail, what I’m hoping is that the Dems in the House will focus on solid common sense solutions to infrastructure, opioids, health care, and responses to global warming. Policies so obviously sensible, necessary and practical that their denial by Mitch and the Donald will make the GOP blatantly obviously evil for 2020.
18
@John Brews ..✅✅
All notable and worthy suggestions -- but you might want to add Campaign Finance Reform and yes, Climate Change to that list of things for Dems to do, since Mitch and the Donald obviously bailed out on those thing too.
2
Mr. Stephens, perhaps you missed this NYTimes article last week:
Climate Change Is Fueling Wildfires Nationwide, New Report Warns By KENDRA PIERRE-LOUIS and NADJA POPOVICH NOV. 27, 2018
15
Interesting to see Bret Stephens write that infrastructure mega-projects are boondoggles in one sentence and then point out the obvious - that we lag farther and farther behind our peers - in the next. And I’m only able to talk about Europe from personal experience. I’m sure that China is zooming past us as their economy and society are being completely transformed. But I will join them in hoping that the next two years bring us some bi-partisan progress on infrastructure, because like them, I don’t see any way that the president and the GOP will give up their favorite whipping boy wedge issue, immigration.
Healthcare is the other area I see for some bi-partisanship and progress, if for no other reason than that GOP will fear another electoral debacle in 2020 if they don’t recognize the needs of the voters and do something positive for a change.
17
@Mike Iker
First-class infrastructure should be a truly bipartisan issue: People get functional transportation AND visible evidence that maybe their country really is the greatest in the world.
What we have now is barely-functional transportation wrapped inside a geriatric infrastructure that is the envy of zero of our peers.
3
For CD/NY and anyone who might still have an issue with Dreamers. The Dreamers came as young children. They lost the only homes they had ever known. They lost grandparents, cousins, and friends with whom they had shared experiences. They lost their familiar language. They lost everything except their parents, who not only loved them but had total control over them: The children had no choice. Of course, the parents were doing it for their children out of love--a safer life, a life with more possibilities. These enlightened parents risked everything. The risk-takers are the creators, the imaginers--ones who built our country from legendary Plymouth Rock to Silicon Valley, and who also brought our Dreamers to us. I, for one, and happy they are here. (And lest we forget, the children have be raised in & by our culture, not that of their country of origin. They may still speak their first language at home, but out in the community, they are total American kids.)
23
@Caroline
Look, all respect to the Dreamers, meaning the kids who were brought here as kids, without agency, and who have grown up as productive members of society. I agree that those people should be able to become citizens.
But just because this is a fait accompli doesn't mean that the fact that their parents came here illegally should be absolved. Illegal immigration is not an "enlightened" thing. Left wing Democrats can hardly acknowledge that there is even such a thing as illegal immigration.
Not real power. Anger is only a cheap sugar high. It needs to feed constantly to be maintained. It is blind, visceral and voracious. It lacks focus and direction. It is not strategic, has no vision nor plan. It can serve as an initial motivator, a jump start only, but it is really only as spiky and characterless as these alarming trees. Real power relies on much much more.
8
Gail, I love you but you do need to catch up on nuclear energy technologies...4th generation reactors are low temperature with no meltdown risk, and little if any waste. Wind and solar don't work if there is no wind and no sun, batteries are no where near what they would have to be to have wind and solar much more than a small percent of non-carbon emitting energy. As Brett says, we (the world) have to go nuclear in a big way before the critical mass of carbon gets to the irreversible threshold level.
10
@Will S. Sorry, the sun will rise everyday even though some days may bring clouds, and the wind will always return after whatever brief calms may occur. And here is the important part - the patterns of wind and cloud are predictable. The true limit to the percentage of solar and wind power in our energy systems is imagination.
@Will S. Wrong. The nuclear waste ends up out here in Idaho, and we have no idea how long it will stack up. How about you get your grandkids to guard spend fuel rods in a forsaken desert for $8 an hour?
The French riots were 'caused' by Macron raising fuel tax about $0.008 a liter i.e., 0.8 cents per liter. Er, popular anger at climate-change laws? Beware of Bannonites exploiting the media.
23
@Carling the riots in France were because these extra 8 cents per liter were used to finance everything BUT the fight against climate warming. Nothing to do with Bannon or Putin, French citizens are smart enough to figure out when there is no line between two dots.
1
@Carling
It would be more accurate to say that the French riots were precipitated by the new gas tax. The populist anger that elected Trump are present in France as well, with many of the same class of people, but the mechanics of their democracy did not yield a populist president. We might be seeing the same protests today in the US if the Democrats had swept the 2016 elections, and might see them in the future if the Democrats sweep the board in 2020, but fail to address the working class anger found throughout the rich world.
While stuffing envelopes for Bush, what did the young Bret Stephens think about the Willie Horton ad.
24
@Robert Roth
Thank you, Mr. Roth. Clearly, young Bret Stephens didn't and in middle-age he still doesn't.
3
@Robert Roth It did not bother him in the least.
3
Those red trees. They are metaphors or symbolism of the Trump family. Red is the color of adultry, the Scarlet Letter. Red is color associated with GoT wherein the guests are slaughtered in the episode of the Red Wedding. Red is color of the oldest profession, prostitution, red-light district, do I need to state the obvious reference, Melanie, Stormy, Don Jr. et al. Red is the color of blood, as in support for killing journalists with bone saws. The Red menace, Russians , as they brought Trump to where he is today, I’m guessing it was tribute to Putin. Everything Trump touches dies, now they have forever ruined the color red.
47
@tjcenter Edgar Allen Poe "The Masque of the Red Death".
6
My first and lasting impression of those red missile-shaped objects in the White House is that they symbolize Putin's (IMHO) successful intrusion into what used to be our government. Symbolism must not be brushed aside. It affects our subconscious minds.
28
Infrastructure is what Gail wants from the incoming Democratic House? How about a screeching brake on Donoldo The Tyrant?
There is nothing more important than caging Donaldo The Tyrant, and countering and cornering the Russo-Republican Senate.
Business as usual is a pipe dream. Nothing has been normal in America since Donaldo came down the escalator spouting hate.
You want infrastructure improvements, sane immigration reform, sane climate change policies, a return to civility, decency and law and order? Then you need a sane government and in January there will be a big improvement, but sadly it will be a pathetic bipolar congress with a pressing need for a White House frontal lobotomy.
Until the Russo-Republicans and Donaldo The Tyrant are removed from government, the most we can wish for is blocking them, cornering them and someday caging them.
8
Bret Stephens’ take on Melania’s classless Christmas decorations is priceless!
27
Nuclear power? Gail, wish you had called Bret on that: fooling with the most toxic of substances and no way ever to store the waste, plus making nuclear weaponry seem normal. Study, people!
8
Well Bret, at least you made me laugh out loud with your Christmas tree critique. But you failed to notice that Clinton and Obama did not conduct themselves as if Congress was their enemy - it was the GOP that did that to them. And your propensity to do nothing about climate change is immoral at best.
29
'Do something' is the worst possible response to global warming? I think, 'Let's just sit in slowly warming water like a frog' is the worst response. I bet all the young grandchildren being born today would agree with me and not Mr. Stephens.
Yeah, yeah, let's have no leadership on the subject matter as is coming from our president and we'll be ok, Brett.
Sheesh. Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable.
18
No mention of Willy Horton
9
Wow! - the first time I agreed with Bret on virtually everything! (Okay, maybe not totally on board with nuclear power plants,but I understand the need for clean power (until the end of life issues), and an immigration deal should not just include a H1B visa for talent, but a worker permit system for harder labor jobs.)
And his calling awaits in the fashion section of the NYTimes... One rim shot after another - "It looked to me as if Derek Zoolander had been brought in as style consultant..etc....." You could tell his sensibilities were sorta piqued by Ms Trump's architecture degree inspired design. (Look it up...)
4
@Dave S
There should be strict protections written in to the H1-B visa programs to STOP companies from bringing in rafts of foreign workers simply to replace EXISTING American workers they lay off. This shameful practice has been documented in this newspaper.
Re: the ongoing beatification of the late Bush 1:
On December 24, 1992, President George H.W. Bush granted pardons to six defendants in the Iran-Contra Affairs. Trying to bury the lead in Christmas. Yeah, he governed during interesting times but please, let's keep this guy in perspective, shall we?
“And any time I fly from JFK to Hong Kong or another Asian destination I feel as if I’m departing from the 20th century and arriving in the 22nd.”
Try Manila next time, Bret. You'll love it. You probably never thought it possible to travel Steerage by air, but...
2
The Starbucks cups have found a safe harbor this year with the right wing media given Melania's decorating choices.
'Happy Holidays!'
We can still say that without fear of prosecution, correct?
5
bret's christmas tree riff was the funniest thing i've read about melania since her high heels in a hurricane photo op - or maybe her 3000 dollar balenciaga flannel gardening garb!
15
On the blood-red fake firs lining White House corridors: aren't they an apt symbol of the devastation being wrought on our environment by Trump and Republicans who flunked high school tests of reading comprehension in the natural sciences?
15
"For reasons I don’t quite get, liberals and conservatives seem to have made some kind of tacit pact not to criticize her or her choices as first lady."
Heartfelt sympathy, perhaps, for a fate many of us would consider worse than death, dismemberment, lobotomy... perhaps when he's finally imprisoned, we can begin to judge her on level ground... Human considerations can still loom larger (broach biglier?) than politics, in extremity.
3
@Bob I thought of Melania as just a gal who needed to make a living, and I was willing to feel sorry for her until I learned she was a staunch Birther for years. Not OK. Think of how gracious the Obamas were to her on Trump inauguration day when Donald acted like she wasn't even there.
2
You've got to be kidding.
Gail, I thought I knew you (from afar).
Bret, where on earth are you coming from?
Bush 1.0 was one of a series of awful Repub Presidents dating back at least to Richard M. Nixon.
Consider just one of H.W.'s numerous injustices: The 1988 campaign against Dukakis.
Remember Lee Atwater? His creating - along with Roger Ailes - the infamous "Willie Horton Ad"?
Though he later would apologize for this on his deathbed, Mr. Atwater reportedly said at the time: "We're going to talk about Willie Horton so much that people are going to think he's Michael Dukakis' running mate."
Remind you of any recent Presidential campaign?
Clearly there must be exceptions to the NYT's Opinion pieces on the career of this "public servant". But I haven't come across any to date.
What I've read so far can only be described as a disservice to your readership, if not a disgrace.
For shame...
4
@tj breen and his failure to act when the USSR was collapsing gave us the anti-Democratic capital monster threatening us from Europe and Asia to this day. Hope he and his family made lots of oil money that way. Nope, Bush Pere is as rotten as Bush Fils.
2
I enjoyed Brett's humorous take on Melania's red trees in the White House. My reaction was colored by the memory of an old friend of mine who grew up in East Germany who fled that country on foot at risk to her life. She said she had a visceral dislike of the color red because it was the color of the Communist party that she had come to abhor.
Melania Trump grew up in a Communist country where her father was a Communist party member. Red was her party color then as it is now and putting it in our (western) faces surely cheers her fans and autocratic leaders in the east.
Speaking of which, the other stand out "in your face" image of the week was Putin and the Saudi prince high fiving at the G20. These two oil soaked king pins could hardly contain their glee...now that the leader of the free world is under their thumb due to personal and financial misdealings, they can murder dissenters openly and with impunity and continue to push fossil fuels on the world as long as possible and us all closer to the cliff. Meanwhile, Melania has planted bloody red trees...
32
Bret wonders why liberals and conservatives have called a truce on Melania. The answer is simple: everyone feels bad for her, seeing who her husband is.
5
@Dr. OutreAmour -- I was raised by my grandparents, both of whom were born in 1896. They were a font of sayings rarely remembered today, like this one:
"A woman who marries for money earns every penny the hard way."
And that was before the ubiquitous pre-nup.
1
Dear Gail and Brett, so much Trumpian malice today! So many vital American issues to choose from -- failing infrastructure, paths to citizenship for migrants from Central America, America's rotten foreign policy nowadays (#45 didn't insult as many people in Argentina last week as he did in the past two years at the G-20 Summits, Nato, EU The Singapore Summit (w/ Kim Jong-un), the Helsinki Summit (w/ Vlad the Impaler). Trump has a friend in Saudi Arabia...though Prince Salman is persona non grata at summits these days. Global warming (not a hoax!) should be on Trump's front burner, but face it, climate-denial is as stirring for his olla podrida of loyalists as racism, bigotry, misogyny and America First are. Trump had the solution to California's forest fire -- raking forest floors and gathering leaves like they do in Iceland? Please! The fires and floods next time! Why can't Trump just acknowledge climate-change on Earth? Why does he call "Fake News" the enemy of the people"? Mother Nature's floods and fires and earthquakes are now the thin edge of the wedge of population-growth pruning of mankind and fauna. And, BTW, please explain why gigantic blood red conical trees are lining a corridor at the "deck the halls" White House?
2
HW:According to Stephens, decent and public-spirited even when he opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Really? No problem for Stephens, a white man.
7
The obstinate, manipulative myopia of (R)egressives - even (R)egressive Lites like Bret, knows no bounds. Where to start?:
"a lot of huge infrastructure projects are boondoggles of dubious long-term economic value" - Like the Panama Canal, continental railroads, REA, interstate highways…? Don't want 'em to be political "boondoggles"? Plan & manage 'em better.
"I’m also skeptical that we have any genuinely practical solutions right now to climate change — at least solutions that don’t create environmental or political problems of their own. 'Do something' may be an emotionally satisfying statement, but it’s a lousy guide to policy." - Good Goddess, sir, what hermetically-sealed mayo jar do you live in? We've had endless, viable, economical climate control options available to us for decades!! (See: Carter, Jimmy; White House solar panels!!) Since the US WASTES more than half the energy (& food) we produce, how about a National Conservation Program - encourage citizens to turn off the lights, don't overheat/cool houses, insulate, carpool, walk, (continue lengthy list). Of course, there arises that "political problem" - might be too "nanny state" for you anti-Conservation Conservatives??
"ecological devastation wrought by biofuels — which were seen as part of the climate-change cure just a few years ago." - Never a "cure" according to us Greenies. Nothing but a Chickenhawk George bucket of slop for agribusinesses.
The "best one-term president we've ever had." = Jimmy Carter
10
@Miss Anne Thrope -- Bret Stephens completely rips up the real history of the biofuels tax and mandate to invent a green-bashing fantasy.
The real history of the Ethanol binge involves two things
* the huge tax-scam and corn price-support fix for Republican corn-producing states, and
* less well known, remember the MTBE fiasco? The EPA wanted (and to some extent still does want) an oxygenate blended into gasoline. It reduces air pollution, particularly from less-well adjusted cars.
The refining industry came up with methyl-tert-butyl-ether, they already had it as an additive to raise octane. You can read the basics about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_tert-butyl_ether
Unfortunately MTBE became a major problem by leaking from gas tanks into ground water, and it was removed from fuels in the USA.
Ethanol is a non-toxic oygenate -- the desperate need to find something less of a problem (at the time) to replace MTBE helped "sell" the biofuels boondoggle.
Does anyone recall melania's last Christmas effort? An ice palace was perfect in a loveless whitehouse-- no love of country, a poor child being raised there never to be seen by his fellow citizens, no puppy? Now we have this abomination. I think it's time for the next president to go for simplicity. You know-- a tree to represent every state, decorated by ornaments made by 4th graders in each of the states? Anything but this over the top, paid for by taxpayers awfulness. Ever wonder how something be cheap and garish all at the same time? Now we know.
24
I disagree with Bret. I think the White House was decorated by the Whos down in Whoville. Be Best!
8
Are these MAGA hat trees? Red State trees? Trump loves to offend, but maybe I'm reading too much into it.
5
@Tom
If you are, you're not alone because I had the exact same thoughts.
1
Gail, you said, Trump "was babbling about raking the forests because he didn’t want to go near the real issue," of global warming. Really? Trump babbles all the time. There is no reason, just babble.
Bret, you believe Trump knows what he is doing with tariffs? Really? Trump negotiates like he babbles. There is no reason.
Trump's one motivation for everything he does is to get attention. We know that. He doesn't because he is deeply narcissistic.
5
While berating Melania's taste, Brett failed to add "if Melania asked Donald for his input on what would add some class to the sad White House decor?"
What is sad is how American collective taste, morality, just general capacity to be shocked has been lowered. When the whole world is on fire or under water or Americans are being forced to speak Russian, what will it take to get a rise out people looking for that perfect Christmas gift?
2
The NYT, WaPo, and CNN are no longer worth my emotional energy. I’m sick and tired of unwarranted malicious attacks on the Reagan, Bush, and Trump families.
1
The East Colonnade:
Talk about a message what is impossible to misconstrue.
A Republican Wonderland. Angry and enough to make you weep.
2
Quite frankly, all that bloody red decoration in the White House is all except 'moderation' in how to spend our dwindling resources, payable, at the end, with our taxes...and honest sweat (as Hedge Funds are not, speculative as they are, and worthless socially). But then again, how can we ask Donald and Melania to be prudent in what they do, when their social distance from the common man/woman/child is astronomical? Insofar 'climate change' is concerned, however imperfect our efforts to save mother Earth from our destructive patterns, being pro-active in preserving, if not improving, our environment, is one thousand times better than being 'anti' something while sitting idly, complacent with the status quo, as instituted by the most unscrupulous thug in-chief in memory, abusing the power of the presidency to feed his ego. One more thing: a reminder, that each time we 'welcome' a foreigner (myself included) to enter these United States because of his/her expertise and entrepreneurship, it is a steal from poorer countries that can hardly afford losing the best a nation can produce, it's human talent. Can't we, humbly, recognize how lucky we are, and of no virtue of our own? This, recognizing we cannot, consistently, choose wisely, witness the Trump's arrogance as immigrants, adamant in trampling the very land that allowed them room to show their humanity.
1
Anger may be motivating. It may stun people into sun but is a blind and viscemotion and visceral devoid of intelligence,
I couldn't believe this shameful Q&A between two NYT Op Ed columnists who are obviously smart and talented as demonstrated by their future priorities.
I completely agree with the need for new Infrastructure, Immigration policy including that wall with a big gate and on Global Warming I agree with Bret's concerns.
However, after a needed tribute to 41, they quickly dive into a series of criticisms of the President starting with the obvious 41 contrast. I expected this. But I didn't expect an unwarranted attack on Melania and her "tacky"red choice of Christmas decorations after referring to the Christmas spirit and being positive. The "third" rail of politics" - come on! And dragging in HRC who soon will be answering questions about Uranium One after Huber's testimony tomorrow. Shameful!
Then when discussing Trumps accomplishments Collins can only think of the NFL and not traveling to NY on weekends! Stephens is even more ridiculing by multiple pauses then "he didn't wreck the G-20 a disaster he needlessly caused." Then criticizing the USMCA. How disingenous! Well in the Christmas spirit let me suggest to them these:
1.The USMCA will greatly help American farmers.
2.In the last 6 quarters our GDP grew at 3% compared to Obama's last 6 of 1.5%.
3. The VA can now fire incompetence like recent denial of benefits
4. DHS recent deportation of 2,000 illegal felons - U.S. safer.
5. The bi-partisanship criminal justice reforms... I could go on...
Take your pick. Merry Christmas!
We should fix our immigration laws. Make them exactly the same as they were when Trump's ancestors immigrated to the USA. Oh, wait, they weren't the best people, they brought crime.
7
Bret Stephens glibly says that George H.W. Bush was dignified and decent. Really? Bush 41 was an extremely wealthy, Yale-educated (member of Skull and Bones) elitist. He was Brett Kavanaugh before there was Brett Kavanaugh.
He was a racist: During his presidential campaign Bush 41 used race to stoke fear of black Americans, males in particular, in the notorious Willie Horton ad to win white voters. So, despite his pedigree he's just another racist in a succession of Republican (presidential) candidates that have used the same tactics in the past 40 years.
Also, Bush 41's administration led the first invasion of Iraq. He lied to the Senate about his knowledge US arms shipments and secret payments to Saddam Hussein --- Irangate.
5
I do not understand the proclivity to tread softly when it comes to speaking about Melania, the most bizarre First Lady in a generation. Her sartorial choices speak volumes, and yes, Melania, most of us do care. The blood-red Christmas trees look like a cross between phallic symbols and weapons, perfect for a film about a Christmas nightmare, perfect as a metaphor for this presidency and this administration. So much for good will and peace on earth. It looks like the aftermath of a savage battle. Does no one in that White House advise Melania?
Questions: Did our tax dollars pay for that monstrosity? I demand a refund.
16
Think of Tony & Carmela Soprano in the White House and it all makes sense.
9
"...as we’ve learned from the Second Avenue subway misadventure, it’s easy to inflate costs massively when the taxpayer is footing the bill and government isn’t controlling the costs."
THAT'S when you learned that??
Dear sweet jesus in pajamas and a party hat.
2
nice exchange! two comments:
1. climate change IS less important to him than his golf schedule
2. as much as i like the shout out to zoolander? the red trees are really a love note to putin
7
Not one word on healthcare. Has Ms. Collins now gone tone-deaf on the citizenry? I have less hope for Mr. Stephens in that regard. But at least infrastructure is in the loop. Mr. Stephens made one of the bigger GOP-style gotcha comments outside of our president Vlad Stain, when he admitted that large projects need regulation! Unbelievably appropriate, Mr. Stephens...now go out and promote that idea to the brain-dead Republicans.
Speaking of brain-dead, the glaring commentary missing is about the Congress itself. While it is a given that we have a total nothing-burger in the WH, there must be a loud and continual outcry against the entrenched Senators, on both sides but particularly in the failed and despicable GOP. These troglodytes have to be held up to original standards that have long existed for all Congresspersons, which the GOP has totally trashed. I expect both Ms. Collins and Mr. Stephens to take the lead on this, as the rest of our national media has proven itself to be arrogantly useless, as Lawrence O'Donnell so rightly condemned last night on MSNBC. At least we have the wonderful new lights represented by the very sharp Ms. Octavio-Cortez and also the fine group of new women coming into the Congressional chambers...there is hope with these fine, brave and intelligent people kicking away the stain of the dinosaurs.
1
I guess when Trump has all of those long red ties to Russia, the old Republican mantra, “Better dead than red,” disappears along with them as well.
3
@Steve Griffith Recently some Trump fans were photographed in tee shirts saying "Better Red than Democrat."
@Bonnie I had forgotten that. How times have changed.
I think we already have a place to put a large amount, if not all, of our nuclear wastez; Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Its construction was mandated by the federal government and the nuclear power industry was required to pay for it. It has never been used thanks to Harry Reid's promise to the voters of Nevada, his home state, that it would never be used as long as he was in the US Senate.
Harry Reid has been retired for several years and I think it is time to make use of this idle facility. The alternative is to allow spent nuclear fuel to remain near the reactors that created it around the country. That does not seem like a good idea, long term, to me.
Some people like to say that nuclear power is inherently unsafe and point to past disasters like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, or Fukushima. Badly planned and poorly managed, Chernobyl and Fukushima were indeed disasters, but disasters that could likely have been avoided. These same people fail to note that France has been using nuclear fission for most of its electrical power for decades without a single disaster.
It is also worth noting that India recently announced a major effort to deploy nuclear power using primarily thorium, a safer fuel than uranium.
A "full court press" by our government should be directed toward supporting efforts in this country to develop and deploy thorium- based reactors. Now that would a most excellent infrastructure project.
1
@NRK -- Yucca has "a little problem." The original premise for Yucca Mt. was that it is an enormous plug of "welded tuff"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuff
underneath some cap-rock. The belief was that the welded tuff was impervious to water.
After the site was selected further geological testing showed that quite a lot of water goes through the tuff, and that dooms the mountain as a repository.
As to thorium reactors -- you don't know what you are talking about. Thorium reactors are marginally feasible at best; they end up either being huge and costly, or requiring a load of highly-enriched uranium or plutonium to make them reactive enough to work.
Thorium fuel cycles do not reduce transuranics much unless the reactor can have continuous isotope separation ... at present nobody knows how to do that without a lot of waste and safety problems.
There are two clear advantages to thorium: there's a lot of it (India has a lot, the reason for their interest), and it does not produce a good fissile material for bombs.
Neither of these advantages is pressing for the USA.
If you put little hats and eyeglasses on the trees, they'd look like Cousin It from the Addams Family, dyed red.
10
Here's one simple change that would have a huge impact on global warming:
everyone cuts their consumption of meat by just 1/3.
Even if not everyone does it, it just might make you personally healthier and live longer.
If a lot of people did it, the planet would be healthier and a more livable place too.
So...win/win.
15
Thank you both for this amusing conversation because it offered a much-needed laugh, since there's certainly not too much to laugh about these days.
So on that note, let me get back to those White House red trees -- While I must admit a certain gag-reflex upon seeing them for the first time, there's little doubt that the choice of color is either a testament to the Republican's continuing stronghold on certain states and the Senate (but not the House!), or just another attempt to keep Melania and the Trump brand circulating in conversation.
In any case, I too am glad they're celebrating Christmas THERE and not here, in New York.
We've already got enough traffic headaches with that Rockefeller Center tree!
6
"Bush 41 was probably the last president who refused to govern in a state of remorseless partisan war with his opponents."
Obama? Only in the sense that he made a (limited) effort to defend himself against attacks.
11
@R Biggs Seriously. In all this rush to eulogize 41, it strikes me that 'last president' should have the qualifier 'white' attached, but that still doesn't excuse the Willie Horton ad. Also, I don't think Clinton was especially partisan, either-- he just had the misfortune to overlap with Newt Gingrich and Kenneth Starr.
Bret's artistic critique of the White House Christmas decorations made me laugh out loud, and I'm always grateful for a laugh, but deep down I believe liberals are correct in treating criticism of a president's family as mostly out-of-bounds. That goes for Melania too. She didn't choose this role, we ought to leave her out of it. Doubly so for children.
(And the decorations just aren't very important in the scheme of things.)
4
Melania has horrid taste, period! She’s from a nowhere country and was raised from the git-go to marry money and support her parents when they got old. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but stop making her some kind of wonderful human superwoman..
Uh, Trump’s adult children are pre-indicted co-conspirators with Putie’s gang. Lock them up.
1
Laughter is power. Thanks for the critique of the white house Christmas decorations. That was laugh out loud funny.
7
I’m usually infuriated by Bret’s opinions, while admiring his ability to put a brilliant sentence together. I have to agree with Gail that’s the best (and funniest) decorating critique I’ve ever read.
10
Even if you believe climate change is due to normal long-term climate swings and not caused by human activity, the sea will continue to rise, temperatures will be hotter, and storms will increase in frequency and severity. So we MUST harden our infrastructure to cope with this.
Yet the Trump administration rescinded Obama-era regulations requiring Federal projects to take climate change into account when they fund, say, highway underpasses. So when a big storm washes out a brand-new bridge, we'll just have to ante up again to rebuild it.
Bret, whatever you think about the efficiencies of government spending, building budget-busting infrastructure that's doomed to be damaged or destroyed is the peak of wastefulness.
This is a perfect example of Trump actions that are just plain spiteful. Not to mention destructive, dangerous and short-sighted.
13
Enough with the hagiography of George Bush! He was at best a forgettable one-term President, at worst and extension of Reagan and everything horrible that he stood for, and the person who gave us George W. Bush.
As for the collapse of the Soviet Union - I think Bret needs to catch up on the news before he writes it off as "largely peaceful." But this also harkens back to the 80s and 90s when you couldn't find a Republican who wasn't taking individual credit for that collapse. Bush just happened to be there when it happened, it was the result of decades of US foreign policy starting with Harry Truman.
9
"Bush 41 was probably the last president who refused to govern in a state of remorseless partisan war with his opponents." - Um, did Obama govern in a state of remorseless partisan war? No; his greatest flaw was his delusion that he could rise above that and have a partnership with the GOP.
17
Bears shudda beat the Giants? No sir, sorry. The Giants had that game and deserved the victory.
This is probably the least serious response but I burst out laughing al the Derek Zoolander reference re Christmas trees at the White House. Thanks for the moment of cheer.
6
Hey Brett, you should check the successes of wind power in the deep red state of Texas (and numerous other red states).
A few well-places tax incentives is all it would take to massively build on this success.
13
It was the inept Chris Christie that stopped the Port Authority's all but approved attempt to complete updated tunnels under the Hudson. Chris Christie was so bad that he couldn't even get a job in the Trump administration and that is saying something.
Interesting to hear Bret and Gail struggle to say something nice about the Donald. Trump absolutely refuses to say anything nice about anyone unless it is a side reference to bragging about his own incompetent self. But I still maintain that it is Trump's inability to take responsibility for his actions or non actions that bug me the most. The buck never stops at Trump's desk unless it is the profits from his Washington hotel. My hope is that Trump will soon become our worst one term president and the country will at last breath a sigh of relief.
5
Bringing up bears, the football variety, can lead to discussing bears of the polar variety... so much for getting away from politics.
The currernt Conventional Wisdom, here expressed by Gail, is that "every former president looks great compared with Donald Trump." How soon we forget....
In my lifetime, two Presidents have lied us into horrific wars: LBJ ensnared us in Vietnam with the phony "Gulf of Tonkin incident." W Bush bluffed our way into the Iraq War, with lies about Iraq's role in 9/11 and WMDs, and the famous Colin Powell presetation of falsehoods at the UN. It's hard to say which was worse, Vietnam or Iraq, but considering how the Iraq War also gave birth to ISIS, and in the sheer depth of warmongering lies from Bush, Cheney, and friends, I'd say the prize for horrificness goes to W. Maybe Trump will start his own global war, but so far he's managed to avoid that. Yes, W is more "dignified" and "presidential", and Trump has had more bimbos, but I'd rather have an embarassment than a war.
And let's not forget W's other accomplishments. Deregulation of the financial system, tax cuts for the wealthy, and the Great Recession in which millions of Americans lost their homes and the money tied up in them. We're still recovering from that economic disaster, which came just before the end of W's 8 years and can be firmly rested on his shoulders.
And then, of course, only one President in our history has endorsed and practiced TORTURE; and spied illegally on American citizens.
Trump can't come close to W's perfidy. Although I guess everyone would rather have a beer with W.
3
When remembering HW Bush, I can't help being amazed that Cheney will be involved in the tributes. Cheney, who didn't want W to leave the Valerie Plame exposing mass-murderer Gordon Liddy on the battlefield (and Trump did the evil deed of pardoning) will finally get his proper historical treatment in "Vice".
As to climate change action, Trump undid years of population progress by eliminating support for Planned Parenthood International. There's a place to start, along with the examples set in California where solar panel-powered electric cars are emerging, along with telecommuting, as a solution. Why try to push expensive mass transit on resistant people whose only peace is in their cars.
2
People may have forgotten that self-adhesive postage stamps are available today because of the first Gulf war. Although the technology was available for years, it was never profitable to invest in the equipment to produce them. But when the military demanded it for the soldiers in hot, arid Iraq, the investment was made with no concern for return-on-investment. During this Hallmark season we can thank a government mandate under President G.H.W. Bush for making application of our stamps more tasteful.
1
Love those pre-licked stamps!
Jimmy Carter was the best one-term president in living memory. He foresaw the moral and economic problems that continue to erode the well being of our people and planet and he set forth policies to turn those adversities into national advantages. Unfortunately, Reagan and the Republicans, like Trump today, set about vilifying and dismantling even the most benign symbols of a Democratic president's leadership, such as placing solar panels on the White House, and indulged in war, waste, and environmental destruction for the benefit of corporate benefactors -- as did George H.W. Bush.
22
@Hugh Wudathunket
Agree to a point, but I also remember Carter's term had terrible national pulse numbers -- growth, GDP, interest rates, inflation, then stagflation, unemployment; it was a mess. Granted, maybe he just happened to be president at a very bad economic time.
And his Iranian rescue misson didn't inspire confidence either.
Smart guy, experienced, moral to a fault, well-educated, and yet lackluster in performance in almost every department, and I voted for him. But Ford was a dullard, and Reagan the beginning of the end, so Carter was indeed head and shoulders above them: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
2
I'm a Democrat, a woman, a liberal feminist, but I'm going to take issue with attacking Melania over the blood-red Christmas trees. This morning I observed a blood-red Christmas tree on top of the Radio City Music Hall marquee.
Yup, very similar to Melania's. And it was only one tree, so it didn't look so bad. I think the large number of red trees in the White House looks ugly. But I also think criticizing them and pontificating their meaning is a waste of time.
It's more interesting to me that the decorations include Melania's Be Best motto, when her husband's administration and, frankly, his philandering do not make me think of being best. It's the hypocrisy, not the color red.
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@NR
Melania is working with a green carpet and white walls. Red is the natural choice for contrast. You don't need an art degree to figure this one out. As a point of fashion though, she should have chosen a softer red or broken the red up with color variation. Tree height doesn't count.
At Radio City Music Hall, the effect makes more sense. We are literally talking about a giant marquee in New York City. The tree is supposed to look like a neon sign. In the White House, not so much.
Aside from looking like left over props from bad horror movies, (I'm thinking "Day of the Triffids" meets the more recent "War of the Worlds."), Melania's Christmas decor is l like using a billboard to leave your co-worker a post-it note. From simply a design perspective, she's way too loud.
There's a reason art has certain formal conventions. People respond to these things even if they don't realize exactly why. You have to understand the rules in order to break them effectively. Melania clearly does not understand the rules.
18
@NR. Great advice re art & visual display: never lie to your eyes.....when you see the forest of totally red berry xmas trees what is your physical response? what is your emotional response? It does not look good or festive...perhaps growing up under non religious Communism Melania does not have the Xmas tradition experience......or maybe she just lacks good taste and style....seriously, never lie to your eyes.
4
@Andy, I said they were ugly. And believe me, as a former journalist who covered the fashion industry for 15 years, I understand why they are ugly.
But you missed my point, which was that the red trees are pretty trivial next to the real issues, like the FLOTUS's Be Best, anti-bullying campaign.
As a woman, a feminist, and someone who wrote her senior thesis on women's fashion as a barometer of women's position in society from 1890 through 1970, I also take issue with the focus on the decor. Yeah, it telegraphs something, and it's fun to talk about, but it is genuinely trivial!
4
Just want to say how grateful I am for this biweekly civil discussion of actual policy between two well-informed persons who may disagree on approaches but respect each other's good faith. Lead on, journalists!
6
Melania did not grow up in this country with the aesthetics of welcoming Father Christmas or Santa Claus, let's not forget. For her, the red trees evoke perhaps subconsciously more of her past, and I don't mean just the color red. That's why she is such a fashion maven, I believe; tradition not her metier. As for the climate and the tremendous weather disasters, of course we as a countryu and as taxpayers should not support flood insurance for anyone, and particularly for the wealthy who build enormous palaces in the sand. Folly. And of course too many have exuded from cities into the forest thus creating vulnerable areas. As for population explosions, isn't the more pertinent fact that economic equilibrium is as out of whack as regulation is as public policy is. Not.
1
@Katalina Her country did do Christmas. She's not from a Buddhist country. https://www.tripsavvy.com/slovenias-christmas-traditions-1501863
I agree with you on the trees being a statement but I don't think it's a fashion statement.
Amen on not making the same mistake twice with rebuilding and protecting those in high risk areas....especially the rich.
Our best economics were during the Johnson era of the 60's. He put so many people to work and as we all know, for every dollar spent, two dollars are generated. Stop with the corporate and rich people tax breaks and start with the job stimulus programs.
Everyone on both sides of the aisle really need to look at the people being elected and see if they are trustworthy, ethical people or just another narcissist trying to feed the ego.
Keep up the good work with this column! We need more common sense and less ideology in the world today. For example, while big government infrastructure projects are prone to waste (bridge to nowhere comes to mind) so do problems when government programs are turned over to the private sector. Unfortunately, the waste problem becomes an ideological one at the expense of dealing with the oversight problem itself. Not sure what to make of the red trees, though. Maybe the first lady is trying to tell us something?
1
Jim Baker and Bret Stephens suffer from presentism. It is not evident at all that Bush was the best "one-term president" in US History. William McKinley, who only served 6 months into his second term before being assassinated, was responsible for America's "rise to globalism" and imperialism. He was also the first modern president in his forthright view, which he acted upon, that presidents should be leaders exploiting an elastic Constitution, and not just executors of the will of Congress. If one insists on being literal, James K. Polk arguably accomplished more than Bush in four years. Let's see: completing the annexation of Texas, obtaining territories from Mexico including the future states of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and avoiding war with Great Britain while securing the disputed territories that are now the states of Oregon and Washington. True, the Mexican cessions created (big) problems later, but unquestionably strengthened America long-term. And, in comparison with the Bush recession, which he fumbled, Polk created an Independent Treasury which consigned the divisive Bank issue to the past, and remained our financial system until the Federal Reserve was established in 1913.
But that's "just" history. It wasn't in our lifetime, so I guess it does not count.
8
@Georgian It should count, because in modern day America, there are still "reservations" -- or, prisons, as I call them -- for the original owners of the land. While it might be easy for many to not see the living conditions the USG affords these populations, many live in less than favorable conditions and under USG decrees that makes it difficult for them to seek justice.
6
Correction for Bret Stephens: Bush 41 was probably NOT "the last president who refused to govern in a state of remorseless partisan war with his opponents." You may recall a president named Barack Obama, who set out to govern without engaging in partisan warfare, but was remorselessly met from day one with unyielding Republican opposition on every front.
110
He meant the last Republican president.
Thank you for discussing nuclear power and climate change in the same article! It happens too infrequently.
We are in a race to stop burning more than a modest quantity of fossil fuels, and a much longer race to stop creating nuclear waste. This suggests one way to avoid the worst outcomes from both problems is rapid expansion of nuclear energy (both plants and research) now, with the understanding that those nuclear plants will require public support both to be built and to operate. In the second half of the century, these nuclear plants will be replaced by wind, solar or similar sources supported by energy storage. In other words, adding nuclear capacity does not imply perpetual generation of radioactive waste. This combination approach uses nature's capacity in two areas, not one.
The public's commitment to climate change is not guaranteed (see, e. g., France), and a carbon tax is an easy target for a politician (especially one funded by the fossil fuel industries). One might even say that whatever the current views on a carbon tax, it is unlikely to last indefinitely.
This risk of such a reversal means that such a tax may be very unlikely to get investors to back added capacity in renewable or nuclear energy, unless the investment looks profitable without the tax (and thus would happen anyway).
Climate change remedies do not have to be cost neutral to be justified, they mostly have to be effective. A "sin tax" on its own is likely to be the former but not the latter.
3
I always think it’s bizarre when talk about infrastructure doesn’t acknowledge the role that federal funding had in creating our current systems: most of which were federally funded programs!! Our bridges, tunnels, roads, and many public buildings are products of FDRs WPA (federal funding), and our interstate highways are largely thanks to Eisenhower-era government spending (90% fed/10% states). We’re way past the expected lifespan of all of these projects, which were never intended to support the level of use (or degree of national connectivity) they currently have—things not even imagined at the time. Infrastructure should not be a partisan issue, and should absolutely be federally funded!
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I'm just dropping in to remind people that the phrase "Anger can be power" originated with the Clash's song "Clampdown", not the movement that coalesced around Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. So if Gail and Bret were truly giving Joe Strummer & Co. a nod, props to 'em.
4
@Charles
Rock on, Charles, rock on.
In the discussion over climate change and every other environmental problem we face, population is never mentioned. Why can’t we accept that if the population contines to explode, we will never get ahead of the problems that are caused by and exacerbated by the sheer numbers of human beings.
22
@Jim Mahoney
Exactly. Like the human body that absorbs an occasional glass of wine, the planet can tolerate (heal) the worst environmental excesses caused by a only few million people. But the environmental abuses of 7.5 billion (and counting) is nigh on to impossible for the ol' planet to process and still maintain stain environment which allows homo sapiens to survive in their current form and numbers. But life on the planet WILL survive, as it did for the 4.5 billion years before homo sapiens appeared out of the slime. Of course, like the dinosaurs before us, our species might not be among it. One thing is certain, however: in the Grand Scheme of Things, the universe -- like the planet -- could care less.
4
Even if all the scientists were somehow incredibly wrong, the suggestions to reverse global warming would, in the short term, do no harm to the planet, and, in the long term, may, in fact, save us from our species' inclination for self destruction.
18
I'm really disappointed to see that the option of expanding nuclear energy was glossed over here. Our federal government has spent the last decade or better testing what is colloquially called "Gen IV" reactor technology. (As a reference, our crumbling nuclear infrastructure of the 60s-80s belongs mostly to Gen II.) These are specific types of breeder reactors designed to minimize waste, both in volume and radioactive longevity, as well as the need for fresh fissionable material as the decay products of uranium are reprocessed and consumed again. It's ASTONISHING how far these technologies have come in terms of cost and safety; several styles simply can't melt down. While only a couple of the six or 7 test reactors would be ready to go live in the near term, they will be the solution of the future. For the life of me I can't figure out why we continue to peddle rare earth element-gobbling turbines or solar panels, both of which put us in a position to end up with a Chinese stranglehold over our energy revolution (re: current issues with India, former issues with Japan). At some point our government decided that wind and solar were the green solutions to subsidize, despite their obvious resource limitations and additional incompatibilities with peak load, storage, and transmission. Certainly that mistake is why nobody knows that these Gen IV technologies even exist.
8
Having a wreath constructed from the grammatically illiterate 'be best' pencils took the biscuit. Yet the red Christmas trees reminded me of used women's personal hygiene products, so I was doubly worried. Is there a hidden sub-text to all of this?
7
I assume the misadventure regarding the Second Av Subway is the massive cost overrun. To be fair part of that is attributable to the fact that the four new stations (72,86,96; plus Lex, which is largely new) are jewels. Art, multiple escalators and elevators, huge concourses, ventilation. In any case, the project is a boon to the UES and when extended north will be another boon. It’s just a pleasure now commuting from that area. In the context of improving life daily for hundreds of thousands of people, the cost overrun is a small price to pay.
6
As for infrastructure, it's true politicians don't like to supporting things people can't see. This explains New York's atrocious subway decay. New York politicians don't want to pay for maintenance. People don't notice a working system until it breaks. Well, it broke.
Building a new tunnel is something different though. I certainly remember the new high speed NJ transit trains when they first showed up. I also noticed there wasn't any tunnel where they could go high-speed. Thanks Chris Christie. You won't get an aerial shot of a tunnel but people will notice a new tunnel.
I don't think that's why Trump withholds support for New York infrastructure though. Trump doesn't want to reward any state who voted against him. Yes, once again, it's all about him when evaluating policy. A broken subway is the price New York pays for not loving Trump enough.
14
@Andy Trump wants NYC to provide the kind of amenities that people who invest in Trump properties want - high end restaurants and fashion, theatre and other entertainment, executive and ownership employment opportunities with salaries and bonuses in the 7-8 figure range. His people (as distinguished from the hoi polloi that voted for him) don't take mass transit.
2
Mr. Stephens, a carbon tax does not need to be regressive. Both Treasury Dept. and independent analyses indicate a steadily rising fee on carbon emissions paired with a return of all revenue to US households stimulates the economy and protects low- and middle-income households. The Climate Leadership Council and Citizens' Climate Lobby both have detailed policy solutions.
14
Bret - Correction 'Dreamers' are NOT law-abiding persons. There parents and families violated our country's sovereign laws but entering this country illegally and remaining here.
Path to citizenship will not be an option.
A valid compromise is that 'Dreamers' should only be given the opportunity to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation.
2
@CD How is that children are deemed to have broken the law? Do we now hold minors responsible for their parents? But then again, I guess we do because it helps private enterprise.
15
@CD, Correction: The Constitution prohibits the corruption of blood - that is, the crimes of the parent do not pass on to the child. This is addressed in the Article III Section 3 discussion of punishment for treason - throughout American history the principle has been applied to all crimes and was especially important to the Founders who witnessed corruption of blood in European history going all the way back to the Romans. The legal status of the Dreamers is therefore much more complicated than your argument and so why not a path to citizenship?
9
@CD
So if you mom or dad broke the law, that makes you just as much of a criminal?
1
Brett: "I’m less clear, say, that we should attribute events like the devastating forest fires to climate change alone as opposed to a host of additional causes ...."
No one is suggesting climate change "alone". Kerry Emanuel, the eminent professor of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, put it well, “We cannot and should not say that a particular (event) is caused by global warming. But we can say that the probability of such an event is different today than in the pre-industrial era."
18
Criticizing development as a factor in climate calamity, while warranted, is something of a half-argument. Bret doesn't engage with other half at all. I'm somewhat surprised Gail doesn't call him out on it.
More people are developing in risk prone areas, yes. However, the number and size of risk prone areas is also growing in response to climate change. We're experiencing more people and more risk at the same time.
14
Brett: "I’m less clear, say, that we should attribute events like the devastating forest fires to climate change alone as opposed to a host of additional causes ...."
No one is suggesting climate change "alone". Kerry Emanuel, the eminent professor of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, put it well, “We cannot and should not say that a particular (event) is caused by global warming. But we can say that the probability of such an event is different today than in the pre-industrial era.”
3
There's a saying that you've reached the bottom at the point of capitulation. As I kept reading "good luck getting that past the President" it felt like capitulation.
Maybe a turnaround soon? Here's to hopin'
2
A word about the shift of immigration problems from Mexico to Central America. Following the ratification of NAFTA in 1993, the economy of Mexico has grown more than 600%, while Central America countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua have languished in continued poverty with hardly any growth at all.
NAFTA jump-started Mexico's economy, ultimately making the U.S. a significantly less attractive alternative for employment and the provision of government services particularly in view of the risks of illegal immigration.
One might be tempted to consider the comparative economies of the U.S. and Mexico as a zero sum game, in which one country prospers at the expense of the other in equal measure. That would be wrong. Just as Mexican exports to America leapt under NAFTA, America industries directly related to export products have jumped to over 9 million workers, the majority of the increase going to Mexico.
Perhaps there's a lesson there. Rather than pouring money into the sagging economies of our southern neighbors (such as Colombia), how about removal of tariffs and import duties applied to Central America? It worked with Mexico, whether Trump understands such things or not.
15
With respect to your conversation on infrastructure: How about cutting to the chase on the reason for the neglect of our infrastructure and. cost overruns and delays on seemingly every major project than is done in today’s America. It’s real simple, no one pays enough taxes, in particular the Rich and Corporations and the use of private contractors, the consequent use of the cheapest labor to insure the biggest profit. There are still numerous examples of the great work done eighty years or so ago by The W.P.A. using American citizens and The Army Corp of Engineers, now we are proposing allowing the Saudi Wealth Fund to massively finance our infrastructure needs and paying for it with borrowed Chinese money via our Treasury Auctions. The Kushner alliance with MBS has taken a momentary pause but once the short memory of just what we are dealing with with these individuals fades the fix will be in again, The Kushners, MBS and their ilk stand to gain so much both monetarily at home and politically in the Middle East the deals wont be allowed to be scrapped and the right thing done, scrap the tax deal, raise taxes on corporations and the few winners in the globalized econ9my and eliminate tax havens by threat of loss of citizenship if necessary(corporations are people now according to Citizens United), they want to incorporate in Luxembourg, Nassau or Angola for that matter stick management and their families on the first plane there with only the clothes on their back.
15
Just a word about the National Flood Insurance Program. I realize there have been headlines about people choosing to live in dicey areas knowing they will be covered in the case of a loss. But the reality is that many communities in the U.S. were built along streams and rivers because of access to water and transportation. Very occasionally these areas flood. That is the only natural disaster that is not covered by homeowners insurance. If people were encouraged to move out of those areas, there would be mass internal migration. Even though National Flood Insurance doesn't pay for itself, it is not free or even cheap for homeowners. In my area in rural Massachusetts, through which a small stream flows, the cost of $135k of National Flood Insurance which doesn't cover furniture is over $1,000/year.
5
I take two offences - I am glad Giants beat the Bears. I saw the decorations during my visit and they looked fine - not worth all this criticisms.
2
This column is wonderful, and saves my sanity today.
And yes Gail, that was the BEST decoration critique I've ever read.
13
We should reflect gratefully on the fact that President Bush (41) acted in numerous ways to protect the environment. Laws were passed and signed that helped protect the ozone layer, reduced acid rain and toxic air pollution. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2018/12/01/the-surprising-climate-and-environmental-legacy-of-president-george-h-w-bush/#7af5c327589c)
It is surprising how few Americans appreciate the importance of protecting the ozone layer. Presidents Reagan and Bush acted proactively in the establishment of the international efforts to protect ozone. The Montreal Protocol signed in 1987 was established with the full support of Reagan and Bush 41. Presidents since then have overseen strengthening of the Protocol's bans on substances that deplete the ozone layer. Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors projected a future that included 6 million excess US deaths from non-melanoma skin cancer in the absence of protections of the ozone layer. And every president since has acted to protect Americans from the effects of ozone depletion, except of course for...the current occupant of the White House. Has acted to derail this continuous progress by rejecting the most recent global agreement banning HFCs.
Why don't today's Republicans understand the need for protecting the environment? Their toxic legacy puts our kids futures at risk.
33
@James Wilson - Same reason some people think vaccines are unnecessary - if you don't have diseases (because of vaccines) you don't need them. If the water and air are cleaner (because of regulations) you don't need them. Infantile reasoning.
1
@James Wilson
Our kids futures? Heck, they are putting our future at risk! Today's Repubs continue their attack on our clean air and water. Vote Dems across the board from now on. Our lives depend on it!
"A carbon tax probably makes the most sense but tends to be regressive. "
Tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy and ending the inheritance tax, which only benefit the ultra-wealthy, thereby putting a higher burden on the poor and middle class, are "regressive", too.
A Democratic majority Congress should make infrastructure and immigration its top priority. How nice, how patriotic. The GOP had the opportunity in the last Congress, but they focused solely on a giveaway to their billionaire masters.
43
When the presidunt said "ain't happening" when asked about the climate report, I think he was referring to the report's projections of damage to the U.S. economy.
I don't think he cares one way or the other about the legitimacy of the science.
I think he has just faith in the market's ability to adapt -
which another way of acknowledging the hustlers' instinct for survival, and the stubborn resiliency of human beings.
Somehow, we get through every natural - or self-inflicted -catastrophe and while we struggle to adapt and rebuild, there's a sliver of the population that manages to come out ahead.
Someone always shows up selling band-aids and crutches.
3
No Flood Insurance? What about the people who live in the Port of New Orleans through which the nation’s corn and wheat pass? Or the farmers in the soil-rich flood plains of the Mississippi River who feed this country? And to follow your logic, most of Southern California and the Southwestern states should be emptied because they are mostly arid without manmade help. Don’t forget the actual swamp that the nation’s capital is sitting on.
4
@Sd
Can appreciate your point Sd, but for every valid reason for NFIP there are ten mansions built on the dunes of Montauk, awaiting a design upgrade after the next high tide during a nor'easter.
There needs to be a revamp where the public aren't on the hook because a hedge-fund manager really wants to experience coastal living on piers.
21
The trees are lovely up close. The rug is too bland against them. A deep green maybe.
3
@Wrytermom that's akin to what I've been thinking. The trees don't work with that carpet.
1
I will give Trump credit for something he accomplished. whether or not it was intentional. He has been responsible for a great Civics education in this country. If Trump had not won, we voters would still be somewhat in the dark has to how much power the Cabinet members really have to do harm to our Environment, Health Care, Housing, Agriculture, Foreign Policy, Defense, Civil Rights, Labor rights, pillaging of our Treasury, disregarding our Veterans, ruining our Commerce, turning its back on Public Education, and so on.
We would not know how the Cabinet Members use their power to enrich themselves and cheat the American Taxpayer.
In addition, we never would have realized how much power The Senate Majority Leader has to interfere with the smooth operation of Government and to twist his role to his and the RNC's wishes.
Or the House and their power to ensure that investigations go the way they want them too.
And despite Trump's own corruption and that of his family, we know much more now about Congressional corruption. All this because Trump is in the White House.
For all these reasons we can thank Trump. We will be a much more informed voter the next time we go to the polls.
As far as the Christmas Trees go, they are a symbol of all that is fake about the Trump Administration. Fake Trees, Fake News.
It all makes sense.
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@Jean
agreed. But at least they didn't kill any trees!!!!
Good column, and maybe the Forest of the Blood Red Trees are a metaphor for the fires in California due to climate changes? Nah. They represent tacky taste and extremism which sort of is a Trump emblem or motto. After all Trump, the crude, rude and lewd has expressed boredom with the blandness (read good taste) of the WH in general.
Fixing health care, immigration and infrastructure should be top priorities. All those investigations that the GOP refused to participate in need to move forward as well to cement the work being done by the Mueller investigation.
25
@Andrea Landry Surely fake trees are more environmentally sound than needlessly destroying real ones. Give the Trumps credit for that at least. They may even use them again next year.
Interesting. Trump doesn't want the Hudson River tunnel because he doesn't want to pay for something people can't see, while Christie didn't want to pay for something he couldn't fit through. There's no accommodating these people.
97
Bret you are so wrong about nuclear power. There are just under 100 nuclear power plants in the USA. Over 70 of them are still active past the 40 years they were designed for. All have every bit of radioactive waste they generated still on site. Why are these two facts important? Well older plants have much more embrittlement than they were designed for and thus subject to increased risk. The problem of on site waste is mainly a result of the failure to develop an off site disposal site. The chances of ever finding an off site disposal site are virtually zero.
So that makes it almost impossible to decommission the existing increasingly obsolete nuclear plants. It is critical to note that the on-site nuclear waste pools pose serious risks including the danger of spewing huge aerosols of highly radioactive materials should they be attacked by terrorists or suffer power blackouts. The clouds of these materials would affect millions of people downstream.
Bret: Do you really want to build more plants before you solve the problems posed by existing plants???
43
@FREDTERR
And then there are the nuclear plants around the world that have had serious meltdown problems. Think of Three Mile Island right here in the good old USA, plus Chernobyl and the one in Japan. And now that the coastal area around Savannah (including parts of SC ) get their water from the Savannah River what happens if that one goes kablooey and contamination makes the water unusable? When we used to drive upstate right past the Savannah River plant and the one being built but stopped because of huge cost overruns, it used to make me crazy that the wooded area around the plant was opened to deer hunting every fall. So easy for terrorists to go in and sabotage things just pretending to be good old boy deer hunters! We just need to get used to the look of solar panels on roofs! Or greenhouse additions.
9
@FREDTERR Amen to Fred and Julie. Thanks, folks.
@FREDTERR
Keep spreading that fear, folks, and we will never get the spent fuel into a repository. The only reason we do not have a national repository for our spent fuel and high level waste is because of the politicians; the technical aspects have already been worked out. Yucca Mountain is virtually complete. Dry cask storage is the preferred interim solution, but Congress has failed to implement the Nuclear Waste Act of 1982, as amended in 1987, which allowed construction of the Yucca Mountain facility. The U.S. government owns the spent fuel (who knew?) and, like with our infrastructure, can't get their act together so as to not have to pass this problem on to our children. Frankly, Nevada, if you don't want it in your backyard (NIMBY) at Yucca, then move.
Personally, I like the fact that Melania reminds me of Zoolander (you nailed it!). If the Trumps were not corrupt, racist, incompetent and belligerent, I would thoroughly enjoy their ridiculousness (though it would still prevent me from voting for him).
Its tragic that climate change is actually an area where the 'free market' talking points get it right - implement a market-enabling revenue-neutral carbon tax, without picking winners and losers - and every 'conservative' has lined up to demagogue against it. Its true it would likely be regressive, so maybe we could offset that by completely repealing the 1.5 trillion give-away to the rich that the 'conservatives' just pushed through popular opposition.
14
@peter n
Interesting comment. I remember when Trump Tower first opened. A lot of people thought that the tasteless, over-the-top attempt to imitate taste & elegance seemed silly. But I tend to like that aspect of America, or at least of New York, that anyone can buy a seat at the nicest table, that an interloper can out-snob the snobs & expose the falseness of "taste" & the pretense of power. But I never dreamed that the same interloper might buy his way into political power, his corruption & ignorance exposing a pretense behind democracy itself . . .
1
I am pretty sure Bret should transfer to the style section where his sense of order is more relevant and accurate. In the world of policy and social order he is adrift. For instance, his accurate critique of insurance that allows one to rebuild in the exact spot a disaster took out your property. How about a law making it illegal for capitalists to buy and sell swampland. For Bret to misinterpret the roots of the extinction as government misstep instead of the totally predicted outcome of capitalism and industrialism, is a direct result of his 1950’s programming and lock into a regressive conservative mindset. Transport too.
For better or worse he is a thought leader. Well, he should get his act together because along with his other capitalist and conservative buddies, they are going to get us all killed.
For real.
14
I think that president George H. Bush was an honest man. Even if he couldn't read his own lips.
However i believe that he presided over a major lost opportunity to make this world a better place. Remember how we all felt in 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall?
The Bush administration instead of leveraging that incredible moment to make this a better world by strengthening international institutions, decided to use that freedom to conquer the last few markets remaining for the US. You lost, we won was the message. Now the world is ours. Hunger, poverty, oppression? No worries. Can we open a new McDonald's in Moscow? Great!
Of course it was not just H. as Cheney and Rumsfeld were already showing their ugly morals. But 1989 presented a once in a lifetime opportunity to elevate humanity. George H. Bush and the republican party were found wanting.
7
As always, doing Putin's bidding. The red Christmas trees, of course, are an homage to Russia. President Trump's way of signaling Putin that despite the bumps in the road, Putin's still the boss and Trump knows it. The trees jarring effect on the public's psyche? Just a little bonus that will help mar the Season, and cause even more conflict within the United States. So once again, Merry Christmas Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
20
Subways. Rail stations. Airports... why is it that every time liberals talk about infrastructure, they focus on the urban? I am an overeducated liberal in a very rural area of a very rural state, and I can tell you that "infrastructure" doesn't conjure subways here. Want a chance to reach out to rural voters? Show you aren't the urban elite, sowing distrust in the hinterlands? Focus on roads and bridges! Like the car-swallowing potholes I encounter on the "main" road through town that passes by my house. Infrastructure? YES! But get outside your box.
17
@Dana Lowell I'm not sure who's thinking in the box this morning. When anyone, liberal, moderate, or conservative, talks of infrastructure, doesn't it make sense to consider the math as part of that thinking process? This shouldn't be an urban box vs rural box conversation. I'm an adequately-educated liberal who lived in the most rural part of northern NY for 40 years, I now live in the metropolitan NYC area - I've lived the annoying but not life-threatening pothole life. One car as you say, being swallowed by the rare rural "car-swallowing pothole", vs thousands of cars and commuters being drowned in a collapsed car/subway tunnel? Where's the equivalency in that calculation? Potholes need fixing everywhere but they aren't exactly the emergency that crumbling mass transit underground travel ways are. Every conversation doesn't have to be an urban liberal vs the rest of the world conversation.
13
@Dana Lowell
What you need is a wealthy person to buy a "farm" in your area. In South Carolina you could always tell where Sanford and his buddies owned plantations because that was where the roads were always repaved first, even though the interstate or the roads in Jasper County were full of potholes. Maybe when Lepage retires he could buy something up there instead of his place in Boothbay. Bet the roads there are in great shape!
2
@Dana Lowell
Rail stations, airports, sea ports, interstate highways are part of the interstate commerce.
It seems to me that the constitution says that interstate commerce is a federal responsibility but intrastate commerce belongs to the individual state.
Article I, section 8 lists what the Federal government can do. The Tenth Amendment says that if the power has not been given to the Federal government, then the power belongs to the state.
It is your own state that is responsible for the fixing the potholes in your Main Street. That is your own infrastructure. The infrastructure between states is Federal.
The same applies to education and to health care. So the Federal government can offer "carrots" to induce certain features by offering "bonuses" for compliance but cannot make demands. Participating in Medicaid is an example.
Look carefully at Article ONE, section 8. Money, Post office, Military are clearly mentioned .
5
I have to disagree with Mr. Stephens. George H.W. Bush was not the last gracious president we had who was "relatively free of partisan rancor." That would be Barack Obama, who also served with dignity and grace. That he touched a racist nerve in this country and that this gave Republicans the carte blanche to obstruct him at ever turn is their failure, not his.
259
@wanda. It was a failure on the part of the Republicans and a calamity for the nation.
4
@wanda true enough. I figure he meant the last gracious republican President.
3
Once again, no one mentions the root cause of climate change - OVERPOPULATION.
It would certainly help if the administration would give support to international family planning organizations, even though there is no hope they would do so domestically. They at least could stop making contraception harder to practice.
Every time climate change is mentioned, someone should bring up the problem of overpopulation, and keep hammering away at it.
25
@Charley Darwin
Except that the ugly unspoken subtext of hammering away at overpopulation is that it's the hordes of brown people breeding like rabbits that threaten our comfortable lifestyle and planetary health, not the hordes of overconsuming suburbanites clogging the roads with their obscene SUVs. How about reining in the overpopulation of THOSE people?
4
@Charley Darwin
I've often wondered why we never hear of Zero Population Growth anymore. It was big in the 60s, when I was just growing up. I suspect that the Catholic Church and the Evangelicals squelched it, just like they oppose birth control. Get real people, we do not live in the Middle Ages, anymore. Wake up and realize we have too many people on this planet to blindly follow a book that was written 2 Centuries ago.
1
Interesting. Bret gives Trump and Congress a pass on their failure to address environmental issues, infrastructure (and Congressional oversight of government projects), and immigration reform, but he's all-out in criticizing Mrs. Trump's holiday decorations. She's an easy mark, eh Bret? Go after stuff that really matters...
6
"skeptical that we have any genuinely practical solutions" - Brett Stephens
How can we possibly know if we have good solutions when every day Republican leadership in Congress and the Trump administration sabotage any attempt to find and test solutions. Go to the Republican controlled state of Arizona. The sunniest state in the country -count how many roofs have solar power. If Republicans spent half as much time and money finding a solution, instead of protecting their fossil fuel donors, we would be making progress by now.
Don't blame the people trying.... Blame the people obstructing!!
36
I do enjoy this conversation between Gail and Brett! This one has so much available for comment, but I have to say something about the ghastly red "trees" and Melania--and other "first ladies."
Republicans are willing to abuse and insult anyone, including the spouses of their Dem opponents, which is why neither Hillary nor Michelle got a break during the terms of their husbands. Indeed, Michelle's decision to stay out of anything remotely resembling policy discussions was a direct response to the kinds of nastiness Hillary experienced. But there is another issue here.
Melania patently hates the job. She is obviously unhappy, angry, even miserable: there is not a single photo of her that doesn't display some level of angst. At the very least she can manage a kind of frozen calm. People are being "nice" to her (despite her sometimes appalling style sense not just with respect to decorating but also sartorially) because they sympathize. Who would want to be married to that man?
It could be that the negotiations involved in the Trump marriage, which we will probably never know the truth of (but rumors of course abound), were/are similar to all Trump "deals": coercive, humiliating, and mean. Melania knew what she was getting into. Getting out of it might be infinitely harder. So I feel a kind of tepid sympathy for her--as do others, including the press. Why abuse someone so clearly already suffering?
15
@Linda Mitchell - She's got Secret Service protection for life (as does Barron), unlimited funds she should have put away by now and if not, she can have a book ghostwritten for her that will make millions. If she wants out, all she has to do is notify her secretary to make the travel arrangements - anywhere in the world, courtesy of US taxpayers.
11
@Linda Mitchell I agree. Melania is acting out, expressing the anger that she feels from being forced into the role of First Lady, leaving NY for the cesspool of DC, subjecting her son to the painful role of being this President's son and from marrying "the Donald." Trump isn't 'home' much and when he is he's watching Fox news, sparing Barron from his bizarre psyche. And we could discuss ad nauseam the psychological underpinnings of the name Barron. Actually it would be a short discussion.
1
Anyone who does not see climate change and the fate of our lives on this planet as imminent threat, I will automatically assume does not love their children. End of argument.
26
Trump is a one way train to nowhere. What you see is what you get and lets face it after two years there just isn't much to see in terms of substance. As for Melania's interior decorating taste, well let's just look at who she decided to marry. Say's it all I think.
18
"Anger can be power. But maybe it shouldn't be."
Here in the U.S. we're having trouble figuring out how to help our global neighbors with climate change. (I wonder why they should want to help us with anything? After all, we're being pretty selfish.) Perhaps not surprisingly, we're having some other problems. Like with infrastructure. And health care (taking care of one another). And the rich helping the poor to lead at least decent lives (more taking care of each other). And education. And guns (that is, greed).
It's a good thing we have nuclear weapons to show everyone how strong we are (even though using them would be suicidal). At least we have lots of conventional weapons to go with them. We have some big sticks, even though we're not walking so softly anymore. But it's a good thing we have them, otherwise it's not so clear why anyone would want to deal with us anymore.
And speaking of brute force as the path to riches: football! Frankly, rather than watching grown men cripple each other on a regular basis, why not more basketball, or baseball, or sports like swimming or tennis or golf? Or the Olympics (more often)? Or soccer (minus the heading of the ball = concussions)? You know, I'd even go for orienteering (google it!) That might drum up some ad revenue ... actually, I wish it could.
Anger. Power. Brute force. Maybe we can steer away from these things more? Maybe we can encourage more cerebral pursuits for a better future? Just thinking ...
10
This is why we can't get along:
Bret Stephens describing the building of twenty-bajillion-dollar wall announcing in perpetuity America's dissipate for, not say florid contempt of, everybody else; a concrete memorial to our national stupidity and laziness; a middle finger to the poor and aspiring everywhere; and, as bad as our future looks already, the first sure step to national decline observable by every being on the planet and in space.
Mr. Stephens, I imagine, fancies himself a master of Realpolitik, and sees the trade-off as a compassionate one "Give Trump one idiotic thing he wants/save the DACA Kids."
But its not like that. First, those DACA Kids will be going through life with a bloody ultra-conservative (not to say Facist) target on their backs. Their every sneeze and unsteady step broadcast nation-wide as proof Trump was both compassionate and right too try to spare these poor souls the trauma of not being really American, and save the nation the huge expense in faux compassion and unwarranted benefits.
More, Mr. Stephens continues down the path of ignoring America's rapidly declining influence (prestige went months ago) and what that's going to cost us, even long after Trump melts into the soil.
Bret is stunned we forgive Melanie's unorthodox taste. I'm gob-smacked he seeks to appease Trump with yet one more stone on Americas memorial cairn.
7
Brett's criticism of huge infrastructure projects as boondoggles primarily with the benefit of a smattering of short term jobs is only slightly an exaggeration. Trump's pet project being exactly that, there are countless bridges, roads, water and sewer systems that, individually, are easily ignored but collectively a huge horror catastrophe in the making. The cost of updating these systems (some dating from the 1800's) makes the cost of a world class rail system no more of a financial burden than a ticket to the Superbowl, and Trump's baby is parking meter change in comparison. But when the bridge you're driving across collapses into the Mississippi, you better believe it would have been money well spent. Plus the need for repairs and replacement is universal: every state, county and community needs help with one or more of the above issues.
Also, Brett's response to global warming is basically still a head-in-the-sand, but with a periscope handy so he can be the first to join (lead?) the parade approach, just in case the actions taken to reverse our current course work.
And the California fires? Has Trump declared the Camp Fire a disaster, yet? He was donny on the spot with federal aid when Harvey drowned Texas, but then, he got all 38 of Texas's electoral votes and zero of California's 55. The man does his strength training by carrying grudges.
And Melania. "Taste?" Is that what it's called. Somebody's spiking the White House water with mescaline.
11
Last I heard, Mitch McConnell is definitely not 'doing' infrastructure. The master manipulator seems to have the last word and get his way. I don't see how it would be paid for under the current budget. The House can put through a bill for the Senate to ignore I suppose. Good campaign material for Democrats in 2020. With climate change denial.
The GOP continues on their course of being the party of NO. The next 2 years may just become totally useless as the House passes bills to be stopped dead on arrival in the GOP Senate. Mitch is in no way finished with total Obstruction of all things Democratic - big and small 'D'.
25
The Republicans won't support any infrastructure plan that doesn't allow for privatization and tolls collected in perpetuity by those private owners, preferably owners who are big political donors. Believe that. Just as Betsy DeVos and her brother Eric Prince would like to privatize and own every other aspect of governmental services, schools, military, social security, the lot. And what they can't profit from, they'll eliminate, such as environmental regulation. Democrats have their winning platform right there. But they're too dumb to see it.
20
@PG You may well be right, but the only politician who tried to actually privatize that I know of was the Democratic Governor of NJ John Corzine. He tried to get them sold to Goldman Sachs for a one-shot reduction in NJ's pension deficit.
1
I remember just a couple of years ago when there was a president who was "dignified, presidential, decent and public-spirited."
The opposition, who regularly hires people who produce campaign ads like the Willie Horton one, not so much.
I do not appreciate the 'fingers in the ears' criticism of the 'Do something' argument when you demonstrate only a narrow awareness of what can and should be done.
When commenting on an issue as significant as this -- and essentially pooh-poohing the possibilities for a constructive response -- why not bring in someone who knows what he or she is talking about? At least Paul Krugman?
Or is this dismissal of 'Do something!' a version of the "I'm not a scientist, but..." argument?
17
Remember FDR's dictum to "Try something. If it doesnt work try something else. But TRY something."
8
Good conversation on range of issues. Great rant on putting the garish back in Christmas. I just wonder if they are having proper raking around the red trees. They look like they are on fire already.
9
The pine beetle destruction from the Colorado Rockies through the Canadian Rockies. Because winters are not getting to and staying cold enough, long enough. The decimation of moose populations in Maine because winter is too warm to kill and control tick populations. Climate change in front of your eyes.
Brett, time out from Asian airports and spend a little time taking a walk. These weren’t a norm a quarter century ago. What will the next quarter bring?
30
Jog my memory. Didn't POTUS blather on about our decaying and deplorable (not his word to be sure) infrastructure? Our airports, roads, bridges, power grids, etc. are accidents waiting to happen. Try a leisurely commute from NJ into NYC everyday Mr. President and your memory may be jogged - maybe put Chris on it now that he's unemployed. And on the subject of Christmas, I like trees and creative decorations but the current red tree display trumps that equally bizarre display in the halls of the White House we were subjected to last year. Can't imagine what next Christmas will bring - red trees really! New meaning for the words gauche and bizarre.
8
If Trump could hang all his red ties as ornaments on those trees he would, but people would trip over them and there are too many stains on them from the big macs of which he is so legendarily fond.
Why am I thinking such bizarre thoughts? Our brains can't relax -- we can find nothing, absolutely nothing that would feel heartwarming about this man. What have we done to deserve Donald Trump? I'd say "Happy Holidays" anyway, but then I'd be condemned by his base.
10
@Beverly Bah Humbug... spoken by a true Down East'er. Maybe some of those shiny diet soda cans could adorn the red trees.
1
So there are many things that can be done immediately to clean the air. Start by installing the technology that has already been developed on the smoke stacks across our country. This technology has been around for decades but not installed. You mentioned nuclear power, just so happens for decades they have had the ability to use spent fuel rods that can power a different type of power plant. DO IT. Just think were we would be if your buddy Raygun did not decimate what Carter started with solar power. China would be buying panels from US. The christmasy trees are just plain ugly.
There is much that can be done today. The plans that are already developed just need to be implemented.
11
Mr Stephens,
Please put that Time magazine away and peruse some Scientific American articles from the Bush 43 days. Ethanol from corn was never anything more than a giveaway to Big Ag, and on balance, uses more fossil fuels than it saves.
I didn't read the Times piece. Was that the upshot?
11
Mr. Stephens, you don’t think we should do anything about climate change? What do you suggest, we sit around and wait till Manhattan is under water? Is that when you’ll want to “do something”?
8
Gail, “solar heating industry”? You need to learn more about solar! Yes, you can heat with solar, but the application that has had tremendous growth ( when the utilities don’t get in the way) is to generate electricity. Solar and wind are now the lowest-cost sources of new electric-generating capacity. Sun power!
9
Re fuels: If nothing else, how can you rely on something that actually has to grow? Really bad weather could affect all that corn . . .
Re trees: Those red trees, like glowing, scarlet carbuncles, could be red for either the GOP's MAGA hat -- or Commie red, for Melania's grim Natasha (of "Ricky and Bullwinkle" infamy) alter-ego. Either way, my immediate feeling is revulsion.
Re G.H.W. Bush: Nice guy, practical president, vicious campaigner, and his son should have taken his advice. Saddam Hussein didn't have WMDs but he did keep Iran in its place.
For God's sake, how many more crooks, Trump's bad actors, do we have to round up before someone drags Trump himself off stage?
6
A couple of points.
Have we already forgotten the dignified, honest, steadfast, elegant president who graced the office just two years ago???
The fact that Republicans played to their racist recent past (thank you Richard Nixon and Mitch McConnell and the Tea Party) made Obama’s presidency difficult- but he set a high standard without Lee Atwater’s creepy ads against the other.
Second, it amazes me that no one asks the big question about human impact on climate- how do we turn the curve of population down toward a sustainable relationship with out planet?
14
I would like to go back to a country where the president and the congress actually believe in the concept of democracy. This has just turned into a mess where everybody just hates everybody who isn't them. Makes me gag just thinking about it.Could we just let the adults run the country in stead of the spoiled brats we have now?
5
Great column, especially the part about the Christmas decorations! Apropos of nothing, can I get off my chest that I think Melania Trump has about the worst taste ever in everything, starting with her taste in men? I swear I find every outfit I see her in somehow weird, even if it’s just the ugly belts. Of course she won’t do better at interior decorating. (One can also assume donald has weighed in on the deco, probably with more attention than he gave to N Korea.)
9
Climate change is real and caused by humanity. Doing nothing because other countries are doing nothing is not an option. Simply turning off lights when you are not in a room, using energy efficient appliances and automobiles, walking instead of driving etc.
It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
For the first time I agree with something Stephens has written. Nuclear power if better regulated is by far the cleanest and environmentally least damaging from mining to combustion.
Melania gets a pass from conservatives because she is white. Michelle was not. And Melania gets pass from liberals because she has to live with Trump.
I'd rather read Gail on her own. She doesn't need a man, albeit a slightly better one than past ones, to give her legitimacy. She hits the nail on the head.
14
Watching sports on the weekend is good for our mental health even when our team loses. We can yell at the TV...Good catch. Or. Run. Run. Run! Or. Bad call! We get out all our pent up anger from the week.
But then during the week, our blood pressure goes up. We yell at the TV.... Don't throw paper towels to hurricane survivors. Or. Ok, Trump. You can run but you can't hide. Or. You are a liar and will be caught. But yelling at Trump doesn't help. We have to resist and take actions to stop his crazy inhumane decisions.
4
With all your talk about the impact of overdevelopment on the environment ( with which I fully agree) how do you square that with your open door policy towards immigration? The places suffering the most from environmental issues California and Florida are arguably the two states with the greatest number of immigrants, both legal and otherwise. Should we be like China and dictate where people may or may not live or should we allow our citizens to be constantly pushed out of their homes due to no longer being able to afford the area that has experienced massive immigration, like San Francisco or moving by choice because your stance has produced such unappealing cities due to now homeless citizens being shoved to the street to build towers for rich Asians in San Francisco or rich South Americans in Florida, with former Middle Class Americans fughting for the housing scraps left thanks to open door policies.
5
@Ted - what the heck "open door policy toward immigration are you talking about?"
I grew up in the Bay Area, and it should be obvious to anybody that the housing price crisis in the Bay Area has nothing to do with immigrants, particularly illegal immigrants. They aren't bidding up the prices on million-dollar homes.
There are somewhere between 11 and 15 million illegal immigrants in the US right now. The US population is a little less than 328 million right now. Blaming illegal immigrants for the social and wage problems of the USA is ridiculous.
1
The debaucle of the NY NJ train tunnel, began and ended with the election of Chris Christie. We all remember him, the infamous NJ Governor associated with bridge gate. Christie was angry at the Mayor of Teaneck for lack of loyalty, so he shut down the GW Bridge.
If my memory serves me right, the monies for the construction were all in place to refurnish the tunnel. (The Governors or NY and NJ sit on the Hudson River Port Authority). But Chris Christine is a really good Republican and refused this necessary expense to repair this aging tunnel . That would only benefit the thousands of commuters between NY and NJ daily. So those monies went elsewhere, gone and there was no new tunnel. The sad reality is that the tunnel is worse now and more expensive to built.
9
"Also, the complete absence of malice. Bush 41 was probably the last president who refused to govern in a state of remorseless partisan war with his opponents."
Did Mr. Stephens sleep through 2008-2016? Clearly the Republicans were at war but President Obama took the high road. I for one think he should have been more outspoken and pushed back more aggressively. Making nice doesn't work with the anti-democratic republican party.
44
Those who are against transit never think about the lost real estate taxes for urban freeways. A couple of years ago I used the Google Earth map for Hennepin County to estimate the lost taxes for the I-35W trench in Minnesota. For one mile the lost taxes were well over a million dollars per year.
6
My calculation was $1.8 million for 31 blocks. See https://magree.blogspot.com/2014/06/cars-vs-transit-apples-and-oranges-or.html
1
Sure it might be the right thing to do to sing paeans to George Bush Sr. as a decent and well meaning mean but surely to say he was the last decent President is going too far. He may well have been a decent man but we lately had Obama who was at least as decent and far more honest and principled apart from being highly intelligent and articulate.
56
The major problem we have in tackling global warming is the devastation that it will cause will never happen during the current presidents tenure except one.
And at that time it will be too late.
4
Are you saying, Bret, that the 2nd Avenue Subway should not have happened? I don’t know about the government inflating costs for the project, but I am very, very happy that particular piece of infrastructure exists, given how ridiculously crowded the 6 train was before the Q opened on the UES. That is a realy poor counterexample to use.
14
Stephens lists this as a Bush accomplishment:
"The end of the Noriega regime in Panama."
And here is what the New York Times reported on September 22, 1988 during his successful run for the presidency
"Mr. Bush, as C.I.A. Director, was one of a number of officials in Democratic and Republican Administrations who had access to intelligence reports on Mr. Noriega that would have described the Panamanian's suspected activities, including drug trafficking. In those years, the United States maintained a relationship with him because officials believed, on balance, that the cooperation they were receiving from Mr. Noriega was more valuable than the damage he was causing".
During his administration the U.S. launched Operation Just Cause which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Panamanian civilians. Manuel Noriega on the CIA and DEA payroll for years, of course, was captured and jailed.
Still, one is left with the fact that the U.S. aided and abetted a vile dictator for years, and Bush was entirely complicit.
Stephens ought to have presented the full story and not simply ticked off Noriega's removal as a laudable achievement.
34
@Ricardo Chavira: Ricardo, you act surprised with respect to our abetting criminals or dictators when it suits our purpose: Marcos, Duerte, Duvalier, Susi, Mubarak, Pahlavi, MBS, Hussein just a partial list.
1
The image of Donald and Derek was too much, and my smile became an out loud laugh. Thank you for that; I was grieving over Wisconsin's lost progressive identity, and that my current state of residence is now represented by John Barasso rather than Alan Simpson, and wondering if our political decline will end the world before global warming does.
20
"That said, every time I go through Penn Station I’m reminded of how awful our rail lines are next to every other developed country. And any time I fly from JFK to Hong Kong or another Asian destination I feel as if I’m departing from the 20th century and arriving in the 22nd. So, yes, infrastructure."
Yes, there is a price for "always the low taxes."
81
@wanda
I live here in NYC and the roads are terrible. Mass transit can use all the help it can get.
But, Melania built a blood red Christmas tree path/ * rolls eyes *
9
@wanda -- New York, and particularly NYC, sure doesn't have "low taxes." We have dreadful infrastructure though; the decrepit and unsanitary subways that don't work reliably are the worst.
The three area airports, JFK, LGA, EWR (Newark), are widely considered the worst in America -- Joe Biden's comment about LGA was bang on. Billions are being thrown into LGA to make it prettier and add more shopping. Nothing is being done to solve its intrinsic problems (only one usable runway, no subway connection).
Corruption, folly, and sheer abasement to development interests have done a lot to make NYC what it is.
Look at Penn Central and think about how Madison Square Garden destroyed it ... and then go look at the Occulus.
Try to get to JFK or La Guardia to catch a plane, and then look at the construction of the second avenue subway.
And then, for the bonus, try to get to anywhere in Staten Island, without a car. Or try to get there with a car....
1
Mr. Stephens dismisses a “Carbon tax” as regressive. However, a Carbon Fee and Dividend policy is not regressive because it returns the money to American households and benefits the lower economic strata more than the wealthy (who have bigger carbon footprints). Plus, CF&D with a Border Adjustment Tax forces Asia and Africa to create parallel systems or see their products become more expensive than ours in the market. It’s a conservative, free market idea that will serve as the foundation to our future additional systems to remove pollution from our international economic order. It’s transformative and Mr. Stephens gives it short shift. Why doesn’t he study up?
7
"My own view is that reinvesting in nuclear plants makes the most sense from an environmental and technological point of view, so long as you can reform the regulatory picture to make them economical."
Liquid salt Thorium reactors can overcome many of the negatives associated with old style tea kettle nuclear reactors of the past. The waste produced is active for around three hundred years, they can be scaled down or up and there is never a possibility of a melt down or explosion.
Too bad Mr. Stephens doesn't believe in public infrastructure programs.
7
@Mr. Griffin -- what do you know about reactor design, reactor chemistry, isotope separation? Where does your enthusiasm for "thorium reactors" come from?
It's desperately difficult to build a Thorium reactor -- a true thorium-only reactor ends up enormous and costly. Most plans for them involve a core loading of highly enriched uranium or plutonium to make them feasible. This negates all your putative advantages.
Your claim of "waste produced is active for around three hundred years" is true only if a thorium fuel cycle has continuous reprocessing. This has never been successfully demonstrated, and it involves many complexities, risks, and problems with side waste streams and their handling you clearly do not consider.
You are pitching a fantasy -- you might as will pitch "purple fairies riding pink unicorns will save us, I know they will" ... it's just that "thorium molten salt reactors" sounds so techno-macho.
In spite of his being an Opinion columnist, it seems that Mr. Stephens should have a responsibility to this readership and the entire citizenry to be extremely well-informed before publishing proclamations negating the findings of scientific and forestry professionals regarding the causes of the CA fires. Please publish your references that informed your view and commentary on this, Mr. Stephens. Climate change and its effects are serious issues - and the people of this country and the world deserve to know the facts.
37
1. @scm thank you! I’m a native Californian and moved to the Santa Monica Mountains over 40 years ago. My family and I live in a home originally built in 1949. (In 1996, we stripped the old siding off, plastered the entire exterior, closed all eves, double-paned all windows, among many other things to “harden” our home against ember intrusion during Santa Ana wind driven wildfires.)
Since the 1993 Old Topanga/Malibu fire that burned 18,000 acres, and 400+ structures, all newbuilds in these designated severe high fire hazard mountain and canyon zones are required to adhere to building codes requiring fire resistant materials, including for roofs; double-paned windows, etc.
The recent catastrophic Woolsey Fire (98,000 acres) had everything to do w an 8-year drought and rising temperatures, and nothing to do with adequate brush clearance, (strictly enforced, 200 foot buffer of defensible space), “raking the forests” (SMM’s “forests” are a Mediterranean ecosystem consisting of fire adapted oak tree woodlands, the keystone species, and coastal sage and chaparral, providing habitat for native species; and, until this fire, often referred to as the “lungs of LA” as it is a transverse mountain range rising from the Channel Islands and going east to Griffith Park in the middle of LA City.) The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, an arm of NPS, is the largest urban wildland “Park” in the world. Over 80% of its natural lands have burned.
( Continue next post)
About the red trees: will a lot of added gold, they might look better. What are they waiting for?
6
@Francoise Aline
"with", not "will". Sorry.
@Francoise Aline: Trump refuses to open his change purse where most of the gold resides. Or at least he says it does.
1
@White Wolf
Too bad! Without added gold, his Christmas trees look absolutely deplorable. That's my opinion; some might call them "trendy" -- à chacun son goût!
Bret notes that in James Baker's view Bush 41 "was the best one-term president we’ve ever had." He goes on to note that there was "complete absence of malice." Really?
I know that it is civil to extol the virtues of the deceased or at least be deferential. And I also know that Bush 41 had a few successes, most notably the quick end of Gulf War #1. He refrained from toppling Sadam Hussein; we came to know the virtues of that supposed failure a few years later when Bush 43 took it all the way to Baghdad.
Having said all that, there was no need for writing "complete absence of malice." After all he was the one who hired Lee Atwater and approved of the Willie Horton ad. The very same Bret Stephens goes on to note this horrific reality, but only as an afterthought.
I also agree that having seen Trump for almost two years, Bush 41 looks gentlemanly; for that matter a doormat would look extremely presidential. But there is no need for hyperbole in the hagiography to Bush 41.
19
@chickenlover
41 also nominated Clarence Thomas!
8
@chickenlover
You should re-read the column. Bret and many others have been clear that 41 "governed" without malice, even if his campaign wasn't so high-minded.
3
@chickenlover: I guess you don’t believe anyone can change. I know it is difficult with the occupant of the WH sitting there with the abilities & ideas of a 2 year old, but, some few can change. Realize something they did was nothing but wrong, but, by that point unchangeable & they must just live with it, after telling the world that what he did was wrong then, is wrong still, & shouldn’t be followed. That is what 41 did after he was elected President. Did you read the very (very) long article in the NYT Sunday? As I was reading it I thought, ‘I didn’t know he was such a bigot’. My ideas of him went way down. Fought against the Civil Rights Act & the ADA when in the senate. Then after close introspection he voted for both. The same with the tactics he used running for president. My life long republican Dad, told me to never register with any party, always research the candidates myself. That something was bothering him he couldn’t put his finger on with the republicans. As I read that article, thirty years after he died, I knew what it was. The nastiness was getting out of hand in politics. Epiphany! The end of that is what is in the WH now. A less than human animal. If he wasn’t rich he would be in prison for the rest of his life NOW, not in the WH. We have allowed too many children to be raised as less than human, hating education, work, anyone different. Some have been saved as long as the draft took them out of their culture, now no draft most succumb to permanent hate.
lost about ethanol is that it doesn't do anything except in higher altitude locations where the gasoline fuel is oxygen starved.
but it was and is pushed by big business and farming. while ruining otherwise terrific farmland. and it's even less useful in view of today's ignition systems. and less power delivered per pound/gallon of fuel.
one positive is, i suppose, less fossil fuel use. but even there "drill baby drill"
4
@Jon_NY: Manhattan is one of the biggest wastes of farm land in this country. The whole island was farmland. It is almost all paved over now & next to none is green at all. What is is used to keep residents from going mad from having nothing natural to see, walk near, breathe in. Things are headed in that direction in many other places, with paved super highways connecting them. When the midwest dries out & becomes desert, within 50 years, the little bits left (if they are left & not under the ocean) in CA & FL will not feed us. Planting food crops in every empty lot & park won’t help much. The rich will demand all the crops grown like that. After all they are the only humans in this country, they say, & so it should be all theirs. Watch the Dust Bowl by Ken Burns & it’s epilogue about the great aquifer underneath that is fast drying up. One day people will wake up in big cities (like Chicago), towns & villages, on farms in the midwest, & turn on the faucet. Nothing will come out. Do you thing the rest of the country will allow residents from there to migrate to other parts of the country, just because they suddenly have no water? If you do, check our southern border.
Regarding the public transit issue, it's worth pointing out that all means of transportation, except perhaps walking cross-country & blazing your own trail, are forms of public transportation. Transportation by private automobile requires enormous public expenditures for roads and fuel, and laws governing everything from safety & emissions to vehicle interaction & liability. It is a form of public transportation, albeit an enormously expensive and increasingly impractical one. Of course the waste, expense & corruption of the fuel & automobile industries and a government beholden to them doesn't bother conservatives.
35
Elizabeth Kolbert's "The Sixth Extinction" should be required reading for everybody skeptical about the reality of climate change, its anthropogenic accelerants, its impact on our very near future or possibility of practical solutions.
39
@BRC "The Sixth Extinction" is one of the scariest books I've ever read! It gave me a whole new perspective on the many too-near future threats of climate change!
1
Sweden has pledged to achieve 100% renewable energy production by 2040, and is already at 57%.
The country has also set a target of net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2045.
All EU countries have agreed to achieve 20% energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020.
Most of the EU countries are on target or have already achieved this modest goal.
https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/renewable-energy-ecology/sweden-renewable-target-31072018/
America could easily join the civilized world and stop trashing the world with Gas Oil Petroleum and Grand Old Pollution, but Republicans refuse to take their heads out of their derrieres.
Stephens give three cheers for the fatal, toxic time bomb that is nuclear waste.
It's almost as if conservatism of dangerous energy sources is a Republican mental disease.
Below is a link that envisions a USA with 100% renewable energy in the year 2050.
http://thesolutionsproject.org/why-clean-energy/#/map/countries/location/USA
Too bad Stephens and the Greed Over People party refuse to take their head out of the right-wing sands of environmental catastrophe.
Abortion of the climate is not a pro-life policy.
218
@Socrates
Which Country was at the top of the list for reducing greenhouse gas emissions last year? It was the United States. Yes, the United States led the world for reducing greenhouse gas emissions even after withdrawing from the Paris Accord. How is it you don't know that Socrates?
1
@GregP
I will check to see if statistics agree with you but per capita we still produce the most pollution. And if we are reducing pollution it is because there are enough citizens who care and are switching to electric or hybrid cars and adding solar panels to their roofs. But I bet those buying gas guzzlers and using fossil fuels to the greatest extent vote Republican.
13
@GregP
So the republican alcoholic goes from ingesting a liter of vodka a day to a fifth, and proudly tells everyone "see how much progress I'm making?"
Failing to understand the reason he's drinking less is because of the efforts made by others to only allow single fifth bottles in the house.
Additionally, the thought never crosses his mind that a fifth a day is still deadly.
Nope. He's still so proud about his attempts to get on the wagon. At least he's trying!...so he thinks.
9
Bret, A carbon tax is not regressive if funds are returned to households as a monthly dividend check. A bipartisan bill to do this was just introduced in the House - HR7173, the American Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2018. There are economic studies showing that the great majority of low and middle income households come out ahead because their monthly dividends are higher than their increased energy costs.
Are you reading this? See the Citizens' Climate Lobby website for the details.
The framework of the solution to global warming is well laid out. It truly passes my imagination, Bret, that a Times columnist, from whom we expect well-informed writing, could possibly express skepticism about practical solutions. Here they are: Price carbon with a bill like HR7173. Push renewables (and nuclear) as far as possible. Incentivize electric cars and invest massively in energy storage and carbon sequestration technologies. Design smarter cities. Practice regenerative agriculture. Protect forests all around the globe.
The link between (a) more intensive and larger-acreage-burning forest fires and (b) anthropogenic climate change is also well established. Temperatures are up, and from that, drier conditions occur inland. Hence, bigger, hotter fires. Just because we can live more smartly on the land doesn't negate those facts.
May I suggest that both of you take a week off and learn a lot more about climate change, then you can write about it again. How about that?
22
@John
So explain how this works please. Consumers are taxed in order to encourage them to consume less right? But no worries you say, they will get the money back each month through a refund check? So what is going to stop them from taking the money from the refund check to buy the fuel they would have bought if it hadn't been taxed anyway? Why do you think that money won't be spent on fuel they need to get to work or buy their food? How is the reducing part supposed to work with the financial PAIN of the tax? It cannot. It will just add another layer of bureaucracy to an already over bureaucratic system. And make lefties feel good. Neither of those is a useful goal.
2
@GregP
Is it so hard for you to imagine a system in which the refund can only be used for, say, food - like food stamps?
Ration cards worked in WW II because there was a sense of common purpose, and we were all in something together.
Sadly, the GOP under Trump is doing everything possible to disrupt all sense of cohesion in society, which makes otherwise simple solutions complicated.
8
@Charley Darwin
Is it so hard for you to understand that money is fungible? You can't accomplish your social engineering project in the manner that you suggest. You would have to insert government bureaucracy into the spending decisions of millions of families to ensure that only the "right" kind of government-approved financial decisions were made.
As always, liberal policies lead to more government intrusion in a free people's lives.
3
I feel the underlying current here is what holidays inherently embody for most of us, an anchor and a place to visit yearly for realignment and coming back to our senses. As silly as I used to believe some rituals or traditions, I now look forward to them as frenetic or disruptive as they can sometimes be. They're hard wired into us. We relay on them because they give us something that's ultimately human and good about us! It re-reminds us of somethings that we may have temporarily forgotten and brings us together again at a table in gratitude. Truth be told, I achingly miss my government and some of those hard wired things that are Now glaringly missing! And of course, not to mention leadership..
17
The problem with "doing something" that doesn't actually help with climate change is that, to the political right, climate change has always been a bogeyman that the left uses to scare us to "do things" that they wanted to do anyway, like subsidize mass transit for city dwellers and make gasoline for exurbanites more expensive. The right doesn't believe that it's just about saving the environment, and you're confirming their suspicions.
.
Nuclear energy has a waste problem just as fossil fuels have a waste problem. There is a big difference, though. The waste from fossil fuels is spread evenly over the entire atmosphere and oceans, in parts per million of carbon dioxide. That makes it almost impossible to deal with. Nuclear waste is concentrated in one small place; decades of waste for a large city fits in a swimming pool. Yes, the waste is deadly and frightening, but we know how do deal with it and it can all be put in one small place. It's a problem we know how to engineer -- we don't know how to engineer the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans. I'll know we're serious about climate change when we start building nuclear plants again.
-- an Engineering Professor
11
@Tom
You'll get serious when the nuclear waste is buried near your home or favorite park and stays there, most of it, forever.
Then you might prefer wind, tide, and solar? 'Sorry, too late, and engineers might not profit from those 3 sources, but their grandchildren may.
3
@drbobsolomon
No, bob, I don't stand to profit from nuclear power. Yes, bob, I would be happy to have a nuclear waste repository down the street from me. Lot's of good jobs that don't require a degree at a place like that. But more importantly, bob, it's not about you or me or any individual and their NIMBYism. This is about the planet. We are not going to solve the problem of climate change if we are only prepared to consider solutions with no costs, because there are no solutions that are cheap, not even wind, solar and tidal, and no one technology is going to solve all of our problems. Stop trying to sell people on the idea that there's a magical green solution out there. Widespread adoption of solar will necessitate enormous new dams for pumping water in and out to store power, for instance. Nothing is free.
1
@Tom
Tom, much of what you write shows a good heart and sincerity. NJ will, I am certain, never serve as a repository for nuclear waste. In fact, to this day most is stored on site. But where will it go? Europe, Asia, the Americas? My beloved Rockies? And does no leakage have a guaranty? And where do we send the hundreds of nuclear plants the nect century would need when the plants are decommissioned?
As for storing electricity, think current "cloud" storage underground in Northern climes. Canada and Norway could store endless amounts. Water power eats land, I know and regret, gives us huge boating areas. Solar? Every rooftop could work without water problems. Carbon ruins the earth now, nuclear will make select spots places unvisitable for thousands of year. The other forms of production will cost a great deal and are not "magical green solutions". I agree.
But they are ubiquitous already and switching to them will ruin no mountain or column of breathable air. And we all know "no one technology is going to save our planet", but I know only one, other than coal-mining and tar sands, reduces our land mass to "go" and "no go".
1
Those fake red firs were the creepiest things I've ever seen--one pundit joked it looked like a set for an episode of the Handmaid's Tale.
Otherwise, Bret, you made my day with quips about Bolton, Imelda Marcos, Lopez, and Ozzie Osbourne.
Turning to more serious things like roads and potholes, I disagree with Gail who writes: "I’ve always suspected that many conservatives hate mass transit because it just fundamentally offends their sense of individualism."
Having spent more than 37 years of my life in NJ, I can vouch for the "you can't get there from here" mess affecting Bergen County. No matter how hard I tried--trains, subways, buses, car--the trip was never doable in less than 1.5 hours.
But I doubt Republicans keep it that way because of rugged individualism. More
likely, they don't care, because they have private drivers, helicopters, and the like.
Doesn't anyone remember when Chris Christie abandoned a project for new tunnel? Something to do with a construction mogul pal trying to squeeze the mayor of Fort Lee for a permit, hence the GW Bridge scandal?
I'm think my details are off, but not the cause--metro Republicans trying to weaponize the pain of commuting.
26
Maybe I’m crazy, but I think those red Christmas trees are pretty. Symbolism aside.
6
Biofuels were NOT "seen as part of the climate-change cure just a few years ago," except possibly in the popular press. Scientists and policy makers were calibrating the environmental costs of biofuels as far back as the 1980s.
The false notion that we do not have the technological capacity to stop dumping carbon into the atmosphere, or that we just don't know enough to solve the problem yet, is as destructive as "do anything" or "wait and see" and underlies both.
24
@Adam
Scientists knew about the problem of biofuels in the 1990s, but legislators and farmers have been selling biofuel subsidies to the public as an environmental fix until very recently, and to a certain extent even now. And no, it is not just Republicans.
8
All I want for Christmas is a new President.
325
@tom With a couple of indictments thrown in for good measure.
21
Let’s all write to Santa
6
@tom
..... who isn't the present vice president.
22
Bret, your climate change viewpoint is best described as out of date. Nuclear power has already lost cost-effectiveness to already-operating renewable power, in every way you can measure leveled cost of energy on a kw/h basis.
The practical difference between cap and trade and a carbon tax is not as great as assumed by the public. The tax is easier to administer, the cap is more adjustable. Aside from that, they work mostly the same.
Please educate yourself on current energy market trends before you hurt someone.
17
@Revoltingallday
Not true on cap and trade and carbon tax equivalence.
Cap and trade can be used by major polluters to purchase free passes from "green" holders. While it increases warming, it's also a huge boon for the worst offenders, and for Wall Street, which profits from the trades.
A carbon tax is the only truly effective way to go.
5
@Revoltingallday
Where will the space come from for all of the solar and wind power? What is the environmental cost of using that space?
How will we store the intermittent this power for when the sun is not shining and the wind not blowing?
What changes will be required for the national electricity grid, and who will pay for it?
How will we power transportation, not just passenger sedans, but trucks, trains, and planes?
.
That's just the start. Please don't kid yourself that we have answered all of the questions. Climate scientists at universities may talk about what is "possible", but engineers have only just started addressing the many technical problems. It will take decades and trillions of dollars to develop solutions.
5
@Tom Travel west and you will see the space needed for both wind and solar. Fact is the amount of space to furnish our needs is much smaller then you would think. As someone who has traveled and lived in the west all my life, I see the scars on the land from oil, gas and coal development that far exceed what is needed for space to develop green energy.
14
Bret Stephens thinks that "Bush 41 was probably the last president who refused to govern in a state of remorseless partisan war with his opponents."
He should give evidence that Clinton and Obama governed "in a state of remorseless partisan war."
In particular, the Affordable Care Act is poorly nicknamed "Obamacare". It was drafted at Obama's request by the "gang of six" senators, three Democrats and three Republicans (Baucus, Bingaman, Conrad, Enzi, Grassley, Snowe). Even though the Democrats in 2009 controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress, Obama made sure that Republicans had an equal say with Democrats in drafting the bill.
If this is "remorseless partisan war", then I'm a platypus.
305
@Dan Styer. It should also be noted that the ACA was patterned on a Conservative think tank plan already in operation in Republican-led (Romney) Mass. But Rs have such short memories they probably also argue that Germany and Japan actually won WWII.
16
@Dan Styer, it was remorseless partisan war on one side, at least -- the GOP.
5
How about letting Gail and Brett run things for a while? They could co-chair U.S. operations and policy, give the country some direction, and even (gasp), get something done. And, their governance seemingly would be flecked with humor, and grace... At once, a holiday wish-list on Santa’s lap, a ray of hope in the dark and unpredictable shadowland of Trumpism, and even a deserved homage to Bush 41.
26
These cute little conversations are an ongoing primer in how ideologically alike Establishment figures actually are, how desperate they are to undermine the legitimation crisis brought about by their own "radical centrism"--centrism (sic), of course, since that center moves, always, and has moved massively to the right in the past 50 years--and how entirely out of touch they are with actual reality.
As for Poppy, he was appalling. But note how the braver Resistor, Collins, just grants the whole frame to Stephens--with her patented brand of "sophisticated humor," whose outcome, whether she intends it or not, is to grant the whole frame to the right-winger.
This is why actual Democrats, out there in the country, are disgusted with their party. It's long past time to clean house.
16
@Doug Tarnopol A stirring endorsement of extremism and zealotry.
We could get fired up to do as much as possible to help stop climate change. We could all drive Priuses. We could shut down all coal-fired power plants. We could all start walking to work and school. But unless China and India do that too, anything we do will be negated by them doing nothing. Their citizens are now at a place we were at in the 1950's: everyone wants a car, air conditioning, a TV, and an individual home. Just look at the Population Clock website: 25,000 new cars sold/hour, 24 hours/day, worldwide.
12
@Bill Wilkerson How do Prius' run? Via electricity and fossil fuels. Perhaps in the long run they are better for the environment but they still require electricity to run.
4
@Margo Channing
Electricity may be generated by natural gas,
hyro, wind, solar, nuclear, coal, or oil. Even wood and waste burning. So the question I simple: which of these energy sources are clea and renewable. Not coal, oil, or even natgas. Not nuclear.
Priuses are efficient but use gasoline, too, most of the models. But Teslas? and next year some models of Audis, BMWs, and Mercedes-Benzes will include electric powered ones, and China will ban gas models soon, and India... well, maybe one day. EU? Starting.
Only one place refuses to control incineration fuel sources by law and determination. And it even turns food, corn, into hydrocarbons for cars. North America.
3
@Bill Wilkerson - Not sure what point you're trying to make here? That we all live on the same Little Blue Orb? Can't argue with that.
At any rate, since we here in The Land of The Free (old, white, rich men) consume, on average, 5 times our share of the world's energy (and waste over 50% of the energy we do produce), the US is a good place to start conserving. Maybe we could set a good example (Whoa, Nellie) for other countries.
Also, China's making huge steps in reducing energy use. They already use far less per capita than we do.
Conservation begins at home.
3
I was glad of the mention of nuclear power, brief as it was. U.S. policy needs to encourage, rather than hinder, development of thorium reactor technology. Scalable, not weaponizable, and significantly less "forever" toxic by-products.
16
@Hugh Hansen - TMI. Chernobyl. Fukushima. Prohibitively expensive. Nuk-u-lar waste with a half-life of 1,000's of years - we're still trying to find a home for the 80,000 tons (Yikes!) we've already produced, BTW.
Is it significant that the red trees appear to be made of bittersweet? If it is American bittersweet, the Trump's have further depleted a valued and, in many places, threatened species. If - as seems more likely - it is Chinese bittersweet, they have decorated the executive mansion with a destructively invasive non-native species. As with the president's lies, Tweets and numberless golf trips, we can be certain that they don't really care what message they're sending.
115
@Karloff With the Trumps (especially the donald) in office, I'd be inclined to say the red berry Christmas trees are pure fake - plastic, imported from China phony toxic-dyed tre-tenders. Just like the orange occupant who is camping in the oval office.
31
@Karloff in the unlikely event those red trees are made of natural berries, it’s probably winterberry, which is native. I suspect they’re fake though, like much else in this administration.
27
@Karloff
Looks to me like Winterberry Holly.A desirable food for over-wintering northern birds.
These berries could Have fed a lot of birds!
9
Bret's remembrance of the time when presidents were dignified, presidential, decent, and public spirited didn't have to go too far back. We had that in Barack Obama. We're getting the opposite in Donald Trump.
705
@nzierler
I have noticed all the so called conservative platitudes regarding H.W. found away around mentioning the grace and dignity of our last President.
Must be that little mote in their eyes.
17
Bret, let me remind you that "cap & trade" systems actually worked here in the US. The reason that the forests of the Adk forests of NY recovered from acid rain was a "cap & trade" program. Why is it that a system like that needs to be denigrated by conservatives as prone to corruption without mention that it may be the only solution?
198
@Fearrington Bob Not to mention that cap & trade was originally a conservative idea!
19
@Fearrington Bob
Cap and trade is "prone to corruption"?!
Has Bret even LOOKED at the White House lately?
2
@Fearrington Bob -- soberly, Cap and Trade is badly vulnerable to POLITICAL corruption, by those who set it up, through "grandfathering."
You better go away and understand that issue, before going forward.
I am an advocate of a carbon tax rather than C&T for two reasons:
1. it is POLITICALLY much harder to rig -- everybody out there understands that being preferentially exempt from a tax is unfair
2. C&T schemes usually result in derivative trading, and combined with the behavior of politicians -- a disaster.
Mr. Stephen's reference to the "disaster" that is the ethanol subsidy program is correct for the wrong reason. The subsidies had much less to do with an environmental ethic - recall that it was W's deal - than a blatant political ploy to Big AG. Growing food to convert to fuel is a loosing proposition.
75
I keep hearing that George HW Bush was the best one-term president we have had. I understand this if it means that he was better than Jimmy Carter (although I do not necessarily agree). But does this mean that he is also better than John Adams, our second president? They served in very different times, but can you really say that Bush was a better president than Adams? I would love to hear from an historian on this.
16
@Fearrington Bob:
I think a case could be made that _Lincoln_ was the best one-term president, seeing as he only made it 5 weeks into his second term. But yes, I think they're talking about Carter, who was still better than, say, Hoover, Taft, and anybody after Grant and before Roosevelt...
5
The problem with "discourag(ing) people from living in places they shouldn’t be in the first place" is that unregulated or under-regulated human activities can change the situation. True, there are more or less obvious places (like flood-prone areas, but are we really going to relocate, say, New Orleans?) but we also hve evidence of recent developments. For instance, in central Oklahoma, significant earthquakes were all but unheard-of until a few years ago, when they became common. Even the Oklahoma state government (well in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry) was eventually forced to admit that this was the direct result of fracking activity and react.
85
@Jenswold If insurance companies are willing to cover damages, then people are willing to take chances . . . of course, it's insurance companies who get bit when disaster falls. This means that everyone who lives in a nice, safe area and pays disaster insurance is subsidizing the richer, pleasure-seekers who reside on private beaches, live in dream-like forests and decorate their walls with Picassos and Modiglianis. Sort of like they refuse to do for health care - because it's going to the 'undeserving, poor folk', who actually could use a hand.
21
Deck the boughs with Don malfeasance
Mueller has a stocking filled
Listing lists of Trumpish treasons
Prepare for having your blood chilled.
93
@Larry Eisenberg. Sums it up in 22 words.
LOVE you guys! But, Bret, your totally classic riff on Melania's Christmas spectacle moved me to make first comment ever. Best holiday present so far this year.
227
@MarianneE
I read the trees were"high fashion" -as if that explains them.
5
@MarianneE His classic comments made me laugh out loud. I frequently laugh st Gail's comments but this was a first for me in terms of Bret's comments. Who knew beneath that solemn exterior there lurked a comedic side!
8
@RWV. No that is not "high fashion" at all.....there is no high fashion or taste or high style in our Whitehouse right now....just crass & vulgar nouveau riche wannabe gangsters, grabbing everything and stealing whatever is not nailed down.
4
Climate change won't be solved by exercising one solution. There must be coordinated efforts across a variety of fronts. In addition, we focus on human activities because it is the source of the problem over which we can exert some control. This doesn't mean that there aren't other contributing factors. And Melania's taste in Christmas decor? For the second year in a row, she has demonstrated that she is the source of the conservative's "war on Christmas." Maybe they should do something about that.
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The intensity fire in CA was absolutely caused by climate change. Lack of rainfall in October and increased temperatures makes for a longer, drier fire season. Years of drought, intense heat waves, decreased snowpack and subsequent attacks on weak trees by bark beetles make fires hotter, larger and more dangerous. Scientists in CA agree about this. If you continue to support the notion that the science is hazy and that scientists aren't sure, it is simply because you are shielding yourself from actual scientists working in the field and what they have to say on the subject. Great scientists to follow on twitter are Daniel Swain and Katharine Hayhoe. I recommend Mr. Stephens check them out
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@francine lambWe have been denuding every stretch of ground that is buildable - and some that should have NEVER have been built on and every tree that falls makes this planet drier. They don't call them 'rainforests' for nothing.
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@barbara jackson
Much of New England is still forested. And in New Hampshire where I now live the arable land is in short supply so conservation programs put those lands into trusts as much as possible so they will stay cropland. It is wonderful having so much fresh produce so close to the cities, recreation and hiking areas close by and even within city limits plus the wildlife. Not every state is shooting itself in the foot.
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@francine lamb. Republicans depend upon their own sense of the environment, or as DT says, his “gut,” to point the direction to their Valhalla. The rest of us, including the children and grandchildren of said Republicans, will find the future filled with local and global wars for resources, filled with diseases now rampant and a planet dying from an overpopulation of human beings who had no ability to live within their means or to share the planet with others. Live it up, Bret, your kids, if you have any, will curse you, but being dead, you won’t have to care.
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Why is it that I so enjoy these talks between Gail and Bret? Maybe it’s because you get to see two sides of the same issue, but in a much higher degree of civility.
It’s also comical where both Gail and Bret don’t take themselves so seriously.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if both political parties could learn from them?
Here is my proposal. Both parties should study the law of exponential theory; where one plus one equals much more than two. That’s NOT a theory. That’s a fact! Try it. You’ll be amazed at the results.
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I agree, Brett, a carbon tax which you describe as probably the most effective thing we could do to slow down global warming, ON ITS OWN would be regressive. That’s why many of us who believe that the problem is real, its causes are clear, it posses immediate and future costs, and is likely to get worse before it gets better, are advocating a CARBON FEE AND DIVIDEND such as proposed by the Citizens Climate Lobby. They cite a study that shows such an arrangement would be PROGRESSIVE in its overall impact. Not that you’d like that, although Gail would I’m sure, but such an arrangement does pull the rug out from under the “no carbon tax” argument regarding is impact. Check out the CCL website (or read my op ed piece in the Ashland Daily Press last Saturday).
And speaking of the GREAT SILENCE RE TAXES, I listened to Bernie Sanders town hall last night on climate change that went on for nearly 2 hours and NEVER ONCE HEARD mention of either “carbon tax” or “carbon fee and dividend” as both short and long term solution for global warming and economic collapse. Lots of talk on green infrastructure, economic justice, and nasty corporations, but nothing about a solution that MAKES BOTH ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SENSE. Are even “progressives” at least those in political office “tax shy”? How can Senator Sanders agree that as IPCC says we have 10-12 years to do something, and then not immediately embrace something like carbon fee and dividend?
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@Robert Schlack Talking about the nuts and bolts of real policy, whether climate, immigration or heart care, is boring and wonkish. Ask Hillary. She tried and no one listened. The American people love sound bites and so does the American press. And then no one thinks any longer about the issue and can really discern exactly what a politician's stance is. Smoke and mirrors.
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@Robert Schlack
Sanders is not a progressive. His ideas are mostly old and incomplete.
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@Robert Schlack: because it won't work, that's why.
What people see is THE PRICE AT THE PUMP.
The fact they may (or may not) get a tax refund A YEAR LATER will not affect their buying habits in the present.
It's a lot of trickery and hoopla.
If you want to be out of political power forever, and you love Trump….just pass a carbon tax.
I double dare you.
1
The discussion of potential policy options to address climate change misses the one that has been successfully implemented by the Obama administration: subsidies to innovation - particularly in solar energy. Another oldie but goodie is CAFE standards, which also drive innovation.
These are two leading policies which not only have the potential to reduce future global warming but also add jobs. Climate change is fundamentally driven by technology. There are technology based solutions. We should be aggressively pursuing them.
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Writing as one who lives in Eugene Oregon, I need to mention that one of the major problems that goes with Trump being in the White House is NYC media centrism. If a lot of the media exists there, if Trump is headquartered there, really, it ends up being the center of the resistance. But NYC is doing fine, compared to much of the rest of the country.
Here in Lane County Oregon, where Eugene and the UofOregon are situated, we have massive problems with homelessness. In an area the size of Conn. we have no public shelter system.
Sometimes the voices of much of the rest of the country are not heard, in the loudness of the NYC media storm.
Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the resistance that the New York media provides, you both are really talented, but there is a lot of suffering out here at the "living under a bridge" level.
Hugh
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@Hugh Massengill
In such a liberal state it amazes me that more has not been done. Our local paper here in Concord, NH had a big article this am about the new homeless shelter opening on December 17th on our Main Street. It will provide 40 beds, showers, counseling, etc.
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@Hugh Massengill But aren't homeless shelters usually a state or city commitment? Isn't that a local issue?
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@mother of two
Politicians have made it a local issue, but many homeless come from other states, many I would imagine from “red” states where support systems are weaker. Also, nation-wide health insurance companies avoid supporting mental health treatments, have for years. Here in California we do our best, but are also inundated. Homelessness needs to become a national problem because of health insurance companies and medieval practices in red states.
9
Agreed: Infrastructure and more infrastructure, and then a lot more infrastructure. Not just transport, but in renewable energy production. But then you have to solve the bizarre beliefs of Republicans who think that their successes were completely independent of the existing (crumbling and archaic 3rd world) infrastructure ( not to mention police and legal services) and thus shouldn’t have to pay taxes to do basic maintenance let alone build new infrastructure. When did shareholders become. more important than society? I must have missed that one. Is it worth pointing out that infrastructure and jobs IS what Trump promised? I guess some people will just say anything for power. Perhaps you could do what Australia does and privatise the highway system? But then you’d have to help people pay for the tolls or you’d get the current situation in France where the middle class are busy burning down Paris due to higher petrol (that’s gas by the way) taxes to help mitigate climate change.
Difficult very complex social problems I know but that’s why you have government and taxes I guess. Yet to hear from America’s record number of multi-billionaires volunteering to help pay for things.
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@Carl,
Infrastructure has not really taken off with Trump. He is out of the loop, does not commute and lives in a 'beautiful' world of his own.
The rebuilding of America, not only restores our bridges and tunnels, our roads and railroad tracks, but creates jobs that benefit our working class and revives public works. 'But how am I expected to drive to work if the bridge is being repaired?'. Keep going and you may not have a bridge to cross by car or on foot, for it will eventually collapse.
The Middle Class in France known as the 'Bourgeoisie' are not setting a match to Paris, but the growing angry Rural Workers who commute long hours at a low wage, unable to pay for a rise in petrol.
The Elderly, some belong to the class of impoverished nobility, are seeing their pension checks shrink, and cutbacks are taking place, the cost of living is rising, while the President tells the above to stop complaining.
Crossing the borders during the Season of Christmas: Send forth 'Maria and Jesus', leaving 'Jose' to fill out the necessary documents for legal migration. Volunteers from Puerto Rico, and our American Hispanic community to teach the children English. Gail Collins and Bret Stephens might want to see the World Bulletin News of what is happening in Central America, where pitchforks are scarce, but there are plenty of machetes.
Open to interpretation, the trail of blood red trees and tears on display at The White House lead to a tree, a symbol of hope with a star.
4
@CarlI guess you'd say the problem here is the voters, you know, those complaining people. But they are also the ones who put Trump into office - he who is siphoning off those tax dollars to pay for his legal problems, to 'donate' money for his international schemes, and provide a cushion for his collective family. But he could do none of the above without the voters - so to see the problem, look in the mirror . . .
7
Those red trees would make a great set for a science fiction film. As a Christmas decoration, no so much.
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@sjs. Perhaps we should think of those trees as a reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus eventually made? Celebrating Easter twice? Anyone?
1
Real trees freak out the Trumps. That's why his administration is doing their level best to get rid of as much green trees as possible so future generations won't have to be bothered by them...or clean water, or non contaminated produce, or clean air... or a future.
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@Blackcat66 Yup. This is what trees killed by acid rain look like. As with so many bad things happening during this administration, this is done right under our noses.
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@Blackcat66: because nobody ever used artificial Xmas trees before this?
Aren't artificial trees BETTER than real trees, because they do not kill a living tree -- and can be used for many years?
As a child in the 60s....I remember the fads for silver trees! My best friend's parents had one, with a little squeaky color light wheel that tinted the tree various colors. I also remember pink trees! and blue ones!
Frankly, red berry trees are not my taste -- I think Melania is very Eastern European in her taste for the gaudy -- but bad taste is not illegal or immoral.
2
@Blackcat66, don't forget a world without wildlife on land and in the ocean. The administration is doing its best to kill them all off.
8
I am so for grateful this column. I think conservatives are wary of mass transit is b/c the masses are in transit and on the move, and it is worrisome to their fixed world view. Alas. The passing of the last president of my father's WWII generation has brought about a gentle sort of grief. It almost feels as though we are orphans in a political sense. Pax, jb
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@Jamie Ballenger: as my youngest brother, who just turned 60 (!!!) recently said at the last family wedding this summer..."all the old relatives are now gone. WE ARE THE OLD FOLKS NOW!"
1
@Concerned Citizen Oh, I know....I still miss my Dad and his way of looking at the world very much shaped by the Great Depression and WWII. Not that I agreed with all his assertions, but there was a pattern not seen often in our current era. Pax, jb
1