OPINION:
President Biden and progressives’ efforts to convince Americans that the new climate change economy would be a benefit have predictably fallen flat. Hundreds of billions in Green New Deal spending isn’t strengthening the power grid or creating millions of jobs. It certainly hasn’t changed the temperature of the planet.
Right now, the only thing we’re happy to drill in this country is a hole in your wallet. Former President Donald Trump and commonsense conservatives can change that with more than a glancing nod to reducing emissions and protecting the environment. It will also expand the 2024 map without compromising the party’s principles.
Last year, a Pew Research study found that dealing with climate change ranked 17th of the 21 top issues for Americans. Among independents, great concern over climate change was a slim majority. Among Republicans, 84% said the economy was their top priority, and among Democrats, 70% said reducing health care costs.
First, Mr. Trump and Republicans should move the narrative away from obsessive, overblown climate change messaging and focus more on improving the environment, particularly local conditions. Second, it requires discussing how policies that expand the economy and save Americans money also lead to stronger environmental protection. Third, demonstrate that the first two are connected to better health outcomes.
One of the first ways Mr. Trump can do this is by talking about the massive environmental progress this nation has experienced in the last century, including cleaner air and waterways, reduced emissions in electrical generation, lower usage of harmful substances, and other initiatives. The U.S. has reduced emissions more than Europe while protecting our economy over the last several decades. We are also light-years ahead of China, India, Russia and other parts of the globe.
Importantly, all that progress happened before the Biden administration made impending eco-doom a constant refrain.
While Mr. Biden wants to save the planet on the backs of the middle class through government regulations that drive up costs, Mr. Trump can embrace making America more efficient and healthier while putting money back in the pockets of the average person.
He can do this by proposing a more generous set of income tax credits for high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, water conservation and insulation products, including windows and doors. Nearly one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to residential and commercial buildings. Improving efficiency saves money, reduces power generation needs and cuts emissions.
Like much of the tax code, the rules are arcane. Mr. Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act provided for an energy-efficient home improvement tax credit that amounted to a mere $1,200 annually and $2,000 for heat pumps and boilers. If you want to install exterior windows that meet Energy Star’s Most Efficient certification requirements, the credit is limited to a paltry $600. The government’s generosity basically helps cover the cost of one window.
The Biden credits, while higher than the previous set, don’t go far enough to help families upgrade their homes. Expanding the credits further would save families money on energy bills and encourage lower consumption.
Lifting nonsensical restrictions on those tax credits for rental and commercial properties would give landlords an incentive to install greener systems for businesses and residential renters, who are generally lower-income Americans.
Electric vehicle production has a massive carbon footprint, contributes to deforestation and human rights abuses, and puts big bucks into the pockets of China. Mr. Trump doesn’t have to declare an all-out war on EVs, but he should lay out the utter failure and waste of the Biden administration’s mandates.
Mr. Trump’s strategy can focus on capturing the supply chain from China to create American jobs while lowering emissions. He can offer incentives for obtaining lithium and other components domestically or from allied nations. That should include the development of domestic lithium resources such as the Smackover Formation that runs from Texas to the Florida Panhandle.
The more components of technology products are made here, the better for the U.S. economy, and the less reliant on the world’s biggest polluter and the lower our emissions footprint.
Though Democrats love to ignore it, the science is clear that few things improve air quality and clean the air like trees. Preserving open space and giving landowners and local governments incentives to preserve land and plant more trees, particularly in areas where suburban sprawl is decimating natural landscapes, should also be part of the Trump agenda. It’s also very popular.
Mr. Trump can be a champion for farmers. No farms, no food. The war on the beef industry needs to end, and attacks on cows and livestock over methane gases are ridiculous. With all the chronic disease and illness, the last thing we need is to regulate farmers out of existence so that investors can make a killing off synthetic meat and other goods that can have only a fraction of the nutritional value.
Stopping the destruction of America’s beautiful landscapes with seas of windmills and solar fields made with Chinese components would be a crowd-pleaser as well. More nuclear power generation is also supported by a majority of Americans, according to Pew.
Mr. Trump’s business background and bona fides on the economy allow him to make protecting our environment part of America’s business plan. He can weave an attractive message that limits the fortunes of China on the backs of Americans while demonstrating he and Republicans care about continuing the environmental progress we’ve made without cratering the middle class.
• Tom Basile is the host of “America Right Now” on Newsmax TV and a columnist with The Washington Times.
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