Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumSnotty Walkier's Lt. Gov. - States W. Renewables "All Of A Sudden They Have A Competetive Advantage"
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walkers (R) second-in-command made a surprising concession on Friday: states that emphasize green energy have a competitive advantage over states, like Wisconsin, that dont.
During an interview with radio host Charlie Sykes, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch (R) railed against a new regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency intended to curb the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from power plants. Kleefisch said the rule would hurt her state because Wisconsin has been slow to move away from carbon-intensive energies like coal, from which the state still derives about 60 percent of its electricity.
As a result of its heel-dragging, Wisconsin lags behind its neighbors in terms of clean energy, something Kleefisch said will hurt her states competitiveness. When Im talking to my colleagues in the National Lieutenant Governors Association and they have already gotten online to different standards than what is traditional in our state, all of a sudden they have a competitive advantage, Kleefisch conceded.
EDIT
Kleefisch seems to recognize the potential benefits other states have realized by shifting towards renewable energy, but inexplicably denies that Wisconsin could enjoy the same benefits. Rather than working to bolster their own clean energy portfolio Kleefisch dismissed the notion that Wisconsin could catch up to its neighbors as magic math Badger State Republicans are instead fighting national carbon regulations. Gov. Walker and Attorney General Brad Schimel (R) are currently collaborating on a lawsuit to gut the EPAs carbon emission regulations, which are set to be finalized this summer.
EDIT
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/23/3637602/kleefisch-admits-clean-energy-advantage/
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Capturing as it does one of the major responses of the 'not completely insane, but still fairly insane' branches of Republican ideology.
Ie, 'While we recognize the problem, and see how others addressed it, we simply fail to believe we could possibly do exactly what others did because it would refute our dogma, and so we will instead try to drag them back down into the problem with us.'
Scuba
(53,475 posts)phantom power
(25,966 posts)Roland99
(53,342 posts)not to mention the same social mindset as back in that day, too!