Libertarian National Committee chair Nicholas Sarwark was interviewed recently by Planet Forward (at GWU) for a July 5 article about the US removing itself from the Paris Climate Accord. From the article:
When asked about the removal, Libertarian chairman Sarwark did not focus on the substance [of] the Accord but the amount of power that the president has to make these decisions.
“Our biggest issue is we would oppose having a president that has that kind of executive power where they are able to set policy for millions of Americans without any checks whatsoever,” Sarwark said. “For a libertarian, it is not truly the substance of an executive order, but that a president can set policy arbitrarily with no legislative or judicial check, no matter how ‘good’ the policy.”
The event of the withdrawal of the Paris Climate Accord leads to the concept of how much the federal government should do to combat climate change.
The role of the government, according to Sarwark, is to remove the government completely from the equation.
“The first step is removing some of the government interference in the market. Starting with things like subsides for oil and gas explorations and the tax credits and expiration subsides that make oil and gas look cheaper than other, potentially renewable, alternatives. (And) not subsidizing things like solar because … solar is automatically better than wind and nuclear.”
“The market alone is the best in determining … what is the best technology, what is the technology that is the most cost-effective, and still provide our energy needs and not the too smart people in Washington,” Sarwark said.
Finally, the focus was on the role of the individual on the problem of climate change.
For Sarwark, the main problem is market distortions that are causing individuals to not make the best decisions that they can.
“When you take away some of these subsidies you are able to have a clearer picture of what the true cost is, of coal, or of natural gas, or oil, or solar, or nuclear, or wind,” Sarwark said.
“By having a clearer picture, then an individual is most informed on all forms of energy and can make the most rational decision possible. In essence, an individual will make the best decision when there is not any government inference, according to Libertarians.”
