William Galston Quotes
Ideologically driven thinking gets in the way. The right’s refusal to take climate change seriously has little to do with science; it is part of the culture war it is waging against the left. Conversely, the left’s belief that humanity can declare a “climate emergency” and quickly phase out fossil fuels is a fantasy. Everyone should set ideology aside and start thinking practically.
Cap and trade is a free market idea which appealed to many economic conservatives because it used the marketplace and not the government to reach a desirable objective. However when the idea had been accepted by Democrats and looked like it might pass, the oil, gas, and coal companies a geared up their formidable lobbying machinery to pressure the conservatives to oppose cap and trade.
This was his last House debate and whereas almost all scientists had agreed that climate change was a serious challenge to the nation, an ideologically driven majority of his Republican Party denied that that there was any climate change that was different from the usual vicissitudes of nature, he tried to persuade his anti-scientific, conservative colleagues to face reality.
Baker was referring to the "enviornmental" table -- the forums and institutions that had been and will continue to make decisions that effect many countries, By being too skeptical, the Reoublicans of the era took themselves out of the arena of policy and decision making on enviornment throughout the world. He urged that they get involved more actively.
- Born: January 17, 1946
- Nationality: American
- Profession: Author, Educator
William Galston holds the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in Governance Studies and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He joined the Brookings Institution on January 1, 2006. Formerly the Saul Stern Professor and Dean at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Dr. Galston specializes in issues of American public philosophy and political institutions. He was deputy assistant for domestic policy to U.S. President Bill Clinton (January 1993-May 1995). He has also been employed by the presidential campaigns of Al Gore (1988, 2000) and Walter Mondale. Since 1995, Galston has served as a founding member of the Board of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and as chair of the Campaign's Task Force on Religion and Public Values. Galston became an op-ed columnist for the Wall Street Journal in 2013.
