Is the Republican Party Incapable of Addressing Climate Change?

After Pope Francis issued his strongly worded encyclical on climate change and the environment, many wondered how it would influence skeptical conservatives. It didn’t take long to get an answer. “I don’t think we should politicize our faith,” said Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, who brushed off climate change as an inherently political issue. So what would it take to get Republicans more engaged on climate and cleantech? This week’s guest, Vox staff writer David Roberts, believes change won’t come from some kind of utopian post-partisan framework. “The other strategy is to beat the other side. If you can’t win them over, you beat them. For some reason, the whole idea of winning as opposed to transcending partisan battles is alien” to progressives, said Roberts. We’ll talk with David about the difference between “conservatism of the mind” and “conservatism as it exists” in energy policy. Later in the show, we’ll discuss the importance of the Pope’s encyclical on the environment. And we’ll wrap up with a look at underperforming concentrating solar power plants in Arizona and California. This podcast is sponsored by ReneSola, a Tier 1 solar cell and module manufacturer with a decade of experience in the cleantech industry. The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussions between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy expert Katherine Hamilton and Greentech Media Editor Stephen Lacey.