Army of Dog

I’m sitting in the living room watching television and this travesty appears on my screen:

Newt Gingrich, leader of the Republican Revolution in 1994, is sitting on a couch with Nancy Pelosi blabbering at me about global warming. After I picked myself up off the floor, I felt a sense of validation for the misgivings I’ve had about Gingrich since he left office. I never could shake the idea that, when it became clear that his political career was over, Gingrich subtly sabotaged the Republican caucus in the House by giving his blessing to leaders who were not capable of continuing his success. I may be off on that, but it’s an impression that has nagged me for years.

There is nothing subtle at all about this betrayal. What Gingrich is doing in this ad is providing a hammer that will be used against every conservative that argues against the imposition of leftist government policy under the guise of “climate change.” The phrase “well, Newt Gingrich disagrees with you!” or some variation thereof will greet those who are unwilling to submit to a radical socialist “solution” to environmental “crises.”

Allahpundit contends that Gingrich’s support for this campaign comes from his support for free-market solutions to climate issues. While it’s true that Gingrich’s past statements on this issue have leaned heavily toward free-market solutions, he is now lending his name to campaign that is deeply rooted in the kind of government-imposed “solutions” that he claims to oppose. The commercial he appears in exhorts viewers to go to this website set up by The Alliance for Climate Protection. Yep, that’s an official Al Gore production folks. Your betrayal is complete.

In testing the hypothesis that Gingrich is simply adopting a “green” stance in order to promote free-market solutions, let’s look at the “solutions” proposed by the organization he’s affiliated with:

Innovative Leadership

There are many examples of innovative leadership in every region and in every sector. But we need more. To help ensure that our children have a positive future, we will need to support — and demand — innovative leadership at the community, state, and national levels.

As individuals, we must urge leaders to make climate change a priority. We must speak up for what we believe in and urge our leaders to pass legislation that will dramatically reduce carbon emissions and increase the use of renewable energy sources. Please join us today and help add your voice to this important issue.

If you don’t know what “dramatically” means in the leftist vernacular then you haven’t been paying attention. Just think massive spikes in energy costs, confiscatory taxation of all income levels, government takeover of “critical” energy-related industries, and any other power grabs that they can justify under the banner of the “climate crisis.”

Clean Energy Economy

But, in order to fully transition to a clean energy economy, we need our elected officials to take action. Absent policies from government, the private sector may continue to invest in old-fashioned, polluting technologies. More than 80 coal plants without technology to capture carbon pollution are now being considered. If these projects go ahead, this will be billions of dollars invested in technology that is outdated and not “clean coal.” We need effective policies that unleash American ingenuity and innovation to propel growing clean energy industries forward.

Oh yeah, we’re all about the “free market,” if by that phrase you mean “government mandated.”

Personal Choices

In addition to making our voices heard, we can each make climate-friendly choices in our personal lives, whether by buying energy efficient appliances, switching to electricity generated by renewable energy, or taking public transportation. By taking these actions and by talking to our friends about the climate crisis, we are not only reducing our personal contribution to global warming, we’re building support for additional progress at the local, state, national, and international level.

About a third of the “Personal Choices” section is about your “personal choice” to support their political agenda.

Adoption of Renewables

The tide is turning toward renewable energy, but progress has been too slow. Individuals acting alone can’t halt the 100+ new coal power plants currently being considered. And they certainly can’t build new solar thermal power plants by themselves. That’s why we need our leaders at all levels to do more to promote renewable energy.

God, it’s like I’m reading Milton Friedman here. The free-market solutions to our climate crisis seem to be never-ending. There’s much, much more on that site, but very little in the way of suspense about the nature of their “solutions.”

My favorite part of the site is the constant reference to how many thousands of new jobs all of their eco-friendly fantasies are going to create. All we have to do to is cripple an economy that currently employs over 150 million people. I was never that good at math, so that sounds like a pretty good deal.

The bottom line is that Newt Gingrich has sold out. I don’t pretend to know why, maybe the desire for public approval, maybe bitterness, maybe he’s just gone crazy. What I do know is that, along with terrorism, this is the fight we must win. All of the other political battles we fight and win will fall to nothing if leftists are allowed to mainstream the kind of radical environmental policies that people like Al Gore are proposing. This is the Trojan Horse, and if we let it in, every manner of nanny-state policy will follow behind it. Unfortunately, one of our former leaders is the asshole trying to unlatch the gate.