The Implicit Threat of Climate Change

Climate change poses a profound threat to many things that right-wing ideologues believe in. Conservatives tend to champion individual freedom, private property rights, small government, free markets, and above all else, unfettered industrial capitalism. Industrial capitalism is an economic system predicated on the accelerating extraction and consumption of fossil fuels for energy, which is driving the climate change we face today. To accept this basic premise, one is compelled to question the wisdom of capitalism itself, which is a terrifying notion for conservatives. And it doesn’t take long to recognize that conservative values are inherently antithetical to the desperately needed actions to tackle global climate change.
~ from Cognitive Dissonance Is Fueling Conservative Denial by Rania Khalek ~

This paragraph offers yet another example of ascribing this philosophical position solely to "right-wing ideologues." The inference is that, if we merely could defeat the Radical Right, we would then live in a world of milk and honey.

Look at the terms Khalek lists off: "individual freedom, private property rights, small government, free markets and...unfettered industrial capitalism." We have heard most all those terms ad nauseam each time Barack Obama or, before him, Bill Clinton gave a major speech on the campaign trail or as the elected president. As I point out again and again, the main difference between the so-called Radical Right and the Liberals inside the Washington beltway -- on the majority of major issues with the exception of social issues -- is a matter of a few degrees, not a wholesale difference of opinion.

If we are at all honest with ourselves, the Democrats defend industrial capitalism almost as fiercely as the GOP. The Dems merely use softer sounding words and platitudes. But, at the end of the day, where we end up is in pretty much the same place: Climate change continues to accelerate and we're not doing a damn thing to slow it down, let alone reverse it!