Against Self-Defeating Climate Policy

Abstract

This paper contends that the narrow Overton window on climate policy is self-defeating to the goals of many climate activists and policymakers. It gives three examples of policies that do little to address carbon emissions and are likely to fail: (1) how decarbonization policies are destroying electric grid reliability; (2) how the attempt to eliminate the internal combustion engine is leading to the “Cuba-fication” of the automotive fleet; and (3) how the focus on reducing domestic carbon emissions leads to regulatory arbitrage. The paper provides three corresponding recommendations, contending (1) that states should eliminate RTOs and ISOs in favor of vertically integrated utilities and that we should eliminate unnecessary regulatory barriers to the development of new nuclear reactors, (2) that we should promote tech-neutral ways of reducing vehicle emissions, e.g., by authorizing the use of higher-octane fuels, and (3) that domestic industry should be promoted through permitting reform, deregulation, and industrial policy. The paper concludes by positing that self-defeating climate policy predominates because public discourse on climate policy is based on what Eric Voegelin called “gnostism,” which confuses temporal and spiritual concerns, leading to destructive policies that refuse to acknowledge the structure of reality.