A quote from Rep. Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County (Asheville Citizen-Times, 6/6/02) regarding the reintroduction of the “Clean Smokestacks” bill underscores the futility of any hope for rational discourse about the legislation.
Rep. Nesbitt told the Citizen-Times, “we’re going to do something to clean up the air in our state, no matter what the cost.”
Of course, rational policymaking should always involve weighing the costs of any legislation against the benefits. If Nesbitt is prepared to ignore all costs, then that implies he is prepared to ignore all arguments that do not support his beliefs. It implies that no possible negative consequence, regardless of the severity, could make a difference in Nesbitt’s thinking on the issue.
This explains why Nesbitt and other supporters of the bill have never responded with counterfactual evidence to any of the bill’s detractors. The fact that the legislation will impose hundreds of millions of dollars in additional electricity costs on institutions like public schools and the state’s manufacturing industries, costing new teachers and new jobs, doesn’t matter. The fact that some studies suggest that further reductions in ground level ozone, beyond currently low levels, might lead to increases in skin cancer doesn’t matter either. The fact that science suggests that benefits from the bill will be miniscule or non-existent, again, just doesn’t matter.
This is the stance of a lawmaker caught up in the religion of modern-day environmentalism, and not someone who can be counted on as a rational decision-maker.
Cordato is resident scholar for the John Locke Foundation.