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| Bob Inglis is on a mission in Australia to convince conservatives to combat climate change. (Supplied: RepublicEn.org) |
Bob Inglis was a Republican Congressman, which to him meant one thing: "Climate change was nonsense."
It
was the mid '90s and the representative from South Carolina says he
didn't know anything about climate change except that it was something
for the other side of politics to fuss over."I was just from the reddest district in the reddest state in the nation and it seemed that that was the business of the other tribe," he said.
Fast forward to 2004 and Mr Inglis was preparing for yet another run at office when his eldest son, who was about to vote in his first election, approached him.
"He said to me, 'Dad I'll vote for ya, but you're gonna clean up your act on the environment'.""It was the first of a three-step metamorphosis for me."
The next two steps in Mr Inglis's transition from critic to climate action champion were visits to Antarctica and Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
These trips, and discussions with scientists along the way, convinced him there was a serious problem with the environment that had to be fixed.
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It promptly fell flat and he promptly lost his seat in Congress.
That was 2010.
Since then Mr Inglis has become a fierce advocate of action on climate change, but with a very specific focus: to tackle the problem with policies that are true to conservative principles, and in so doing convince his fellow Republicans they should get on board.
And he's brought that message to Australia, where he is currently touring the country to speak at public forums as well as with political and business leaders.
"I'm trying to help conservatives to overcome their inferiority complex," he said."We apparently think we're no good when it comes to energy and climate."
Mr Inglis tracks the split between the left and right on climate change in the US back to the global financial crisis, which broke in 2008.
He said prior to that former US Republican president Ronald Reagan had success with the Montreal Protocol to address the hole in the ozone layer, and George HW Bush introduced a cap-and-trade program to address acid rain.
"But then came the great recession, and some people with some vested interests created a wave of publicity that built on to the very high tide of distrust and discontent in America, particularly in the right, and that wave came over the sea wall and shorted out all of the climate change equipment," he said.
"So really we've been bailing ever since and trying to rewire."
What are the conservative answers?
Mr Inglis is certain conservatives can take the lead on addressing climate change, and that the answer is policies based around ideas of free enterprise, limited government and accountability.
He has established a group, RepublicEn.org, which proposes environmental tax reform in the US.
Specifically, the group wants to eliminate all subsidies for all fuels and "make all fuels fully accountable for all of the costs they bring upon society."
This would mean taking into account the health costs and any damage to the environment.
"So if you made it so the incumbent fuels could no longer subsidise their soot by spreading it all across society and made them accountable for that, well yes the price of their electricity would go up, but not artificially, it would go up to its actual cost," he said.
"So if you put all of the costs in on all of the fuels … then consumers, in the liberty of enlightened self-interest, would seek cleaner, better fuels.
"Then in the free enterprise system, on a level playing field, innovation will happen."Mr Inglis is not alone in his mission to spread a conservative case for climate action.
Another conservative lobby group, the Climate Leadership Council, has recently formed and includes veteran Republicans who propose a four-point plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, including the introduction of a carbon tax.
The council met with White House officials earlier this month to propose replacing nearly all of Barack Obama's climate policies with a carbon tax starting at $40 a tonne. It's something Mr Inglis is keen to follow.
Bob Inglis on Radio National
What hope do these ideas have under President Trump?
President Donald Trump's recent moves on environmental policies, as well as his previous comments on climate change, suggest a shift away from regulations and a renewed focus on fossil fuels.
The man he chose to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, is a known critic of the agency's regulations, having filed 14 lawsuits against the EPA during his time as Oklahoma attorney-general. One of them was over the EPA's attempt to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.
And the White House website's current statement on energy policies says "the Trump Administration is also committed to clean coal technology, and to reviving America's coal industry, which has been hurting for too long."
Scott Pruitt questioned on climate change in confirmation hearing (ABC News)
Nevertheless, Mr Inglis said he remained hopeful President Trump would be open to his ideas.
"I don't for a minute think that Donald Trump actually believes that it's a Chinese hoax and conspiracy, he's clearly playing to the crowd," he said.
"Admittedly it's a 'bank shot', but there's a chance that he might decide to complete the sentence this way: 'Richard Nixon went to China; Bill Clinton did welfare reform; Donald Trump did climate change'."
For now, Mr Inglis takes heart seeing young conservatives joining the environmental cause and embracing principles that speak to their beliefs.
For him, it's a sign the right is ready to rejoin the discussion.
"I see it on talk radio in America, where on first hearing they're sceptical, but then they hear it in their own language," he said."They don't hear a progressive talking, they hear a conservative using conservative language, and that moves them."
Links
- Trump will reverse climate change position, former Republican congressman Bob Inglis says
- Trump EPA pick tells confirmation hearing he will uphold carbon emission rules, for now
- US government scientists go 'rogue' in defiance of Trump
- Trump's new executive orders will cut Obama's climate change policies
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