National Review and the Contract

Why in the world would National Review say that, “Republicans ought to promote new energy technologies in order to reduce the risks of global warming?” I can’t think of a good reason.

Yet that is exactly what it does in an article by Ramesh Ponnuru, “Contractual Obligations,” that discusses the need for a new “Contract for America.”

Is it because, as Mr. Ponnuru points out, people worry about global warming? Well, people worry about not being able to pay their mortgages, but that doesn’t mean we should support massive government bailouts. Except that NR supported the Bush bailout plan as well.

These and other positions have me worried about NR. In this case, because even if one buys into the dubious claims of anthropomorphic global warming, government promotion of new energy technologies has proved itself every bit the failure that the bailout plan turned out to be. Remember Jimmy Carter’s failed Synfuels Corporation? It was child’s play compared to the billions of dollars that are being wasted on ethanol, wind, solar, and biomass today–billions of dollars that are making people poorer and making energy more expensive. The history of energy use is the history of energy becoming less expensive. Yet NR is supporting a policy making energy more expensive.

If it is because the editors are worried about man-made global warming and believe that government-led fuels policy will make a difference, they are simply wrong. If it is because they are worried that without such a policy in a new Contract Republicans won’t take back the House, then they are heading down the same wrong-minded path as George W. Bush who believed that policies such as steel tariffs and drug benefits for seniors would maintain a Republican majority.

A new Contract won’t work if it is designed primarily to elect Republicans. Or if it promotes more government involvement in our lives. Americans don’t want the government telling them what kind of cars to drive any more than they want it telling them what doctor they have to see.