Weekend Reads 2/23/19

Americans Won’t Buy the 'Green New Deal,' But Republicans Need Alternatives

Republicans in Congress should not take this moment for granted because, for too long, conservatives have lost control of the narrative on environmental issues. This is true, despite the Republican majority working steadily for the past two years, passing legislation and appropriations that offer tax incentives for clean energy development and increased spending in low to zero carbon energy research and development.

The Bizarre Planets That Could Be Humanity’s New Homes

The first question: Where would humans settle on a tidally locked planet? When I started working on my book, the clearest answer appeared to be the terminator, the strip of twilight between the dayside and the nightside. “That might be the Goldilocks zone,” neither too hot nor too cold, but stuck “between eternal dusk and eternal dawn,” says Daniel Angerhausen, an astrophysicist at the Center for Space and Habitability at Bern University.

Millennial socialism

If the left’s diagnosis is too pessimistic, the real problem lies with its prescriptions, which are profligate and politically dangerous. Take fiscal policy. Some on the left peddle the myth that vast expansions of government services can be paid for primarily by higher taxes on the rich. In reality, as populations age it will be hard to maintain existing services without raising taxes on middle-earners.