Letters to the Editor
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how did they get there?
Gingrich brings up California as an example. How did California get cleaner air now than it had 30 years ago? Was it the free market and technology prizes? Of course not, it was regulation. If you look at the United States' carbon emissions over the last 30 years, California has some of the lowest growth in carbon emissions, despite increases in population and economic growth. Again, it wasn't because of the "free market", it is because California has some of the toughest regulations in the US. If conservatives want to talk about free market solutions, perhaps they should get rid of gas, oil, and corn subsidies and tax breaks and see what happens in a real free market environment.
I agree that the US needs to put more money into technology to combat carbon emissions, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't also enact regulations such as carbon caps, increased gas mileage, and greener building codes. It's going to take more than one path forward to get us out of this mess.