Real Clear Science published an interesting item the other day under a headline that read, "How the GOP Could Win the Climate Debate," written by someone named "Eric Bradenson."
Someone in the GOP needs to say it: conservation is conservative; climate change is real; and conservatives need to lead on solutions because we have better answers than the other side. [...]Republicans don't have to choose between conceding to the left and denying the science. There are genuine pro-growth solutions that align with conservative values. Republicans can admit that 97 percent of scientists just might be right without having to embrace Democratic ideas that would grow government.
Given the prevailing winds, anytime a Republican is willing to break with climate deniers and acknowledge global warming, it's a refreshing change of pace. But there's something unique about this piece in particular.
As Joe Romm noted, "Eric Bradenson" isn't the writer's real name; it's a pseudonym. In fact, the author needed to use a nom de plume, he said, "to protect his boss and himself."
Got that? In 2013, with the threats posed by the climate crisis intensifying, a Republican staffer on Capitol Hill is only willing to acknowledge reality if he can do so pseudonymously.
Romm added that article "was awarded second place in the 'Young Conservative Thought Leaders' contest from the Energy & Enterprise Initiative at George Mason University." The organizers at the Initiative agreed not to publish the author's real name "for job security reasons."
In other words, to write a piece making the case that Republicans can "win the climate debate" by pushing conservative solutions to a real problem, is to put one's job in Republican politics in jeopardy.
This really isn't healthy.