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Chris Christie Sides With the Koch Brothers on Climate Change

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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie likes to pretend that he’s a moderate, bipartisan straight-talker, but when it comes down to it, he’s a just as beholden to the Tea Party/Koch Brother agenda as any Republican. He governs a blue state, so cannot wear his extremism on his sleeve like, say, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, but his actions make it clear where his ideological allegiance lies. He repeatedly cuts pensions for public workers to “balance the budget” while refusing to raise taxes on the 1%. He attacks unions while pledging taxpayer-funded subsidies to massive corporate projects like Revel, a casino that failed spectacularly. He abuses his powers as governor to punish Democrats (see: Christie’s Bridgegate exploits). Against this backdrop, it’s no surprise that Christie opposes efforts to combat the dire threat of climate change.

To be sure, he has maintained a thin veneer of concern about the dangers posed by a warming climate. He declared in his first term: “When you have over 90 percent of the world’s scientists who have studied this, stating that climate change is occurring and that humans play a contributing role, it’s time to defer to the experts.” Not coincidentally, this quote comes from 2011, with a 2012 reelection looming. Achieving a blowout in a blue state required winning over centrists and even some Democrats, which meant feigning concern about climate change.

Alas, as is usually the case for Chris Christie, his actions speak louder than his bombastic words. In 2011, the same year he advocated “deferring to the experts,” Christie pulled New Jersey out of a nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a nine-state program established to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants through cap-and-trade. In a trip to Mexico in early September, Christie called the plan “completely useless” and insisted that, despite mounting pressure, he “would not think of rejoining it.” Christie claims that New Jersey should not participate in part because Pennsylvania – presided over by pro-fracking, anti-science Republican Governor Tom Corbett – is not a member and it would put his state at a disadvantage. If Christie truly took the warnings of scientists seriously, he would not rely on a pathetic “I won’t because they don’t” excuse when the cost of inaction is catastrophic.

But wait, Christie has other arguments: regulating greenhouse gasses sharply raises energy costs. Except that it doesn’t. The Analysis Group, a Boston consulting firm, shows a negligible increase of less than 1% from 2005 – 2011, the years in which New Jersey participated in the program. Any increases in energy costs were more than offset by $18 million in fees charged to acquire energy permits (no wonder the Kochs oppose cap-and-trade), which also had the benefit of raising much-needed revenue for New Jersey. The same report shows that economies in participating states have actually improved. So much for the stock Republican talking point that cap-and-trade eliminates jobs.

Christie’s opposition to bringing New Jersey into the RGGI is not only anti-science and bad economics; it’s also fundamentally undemocratic. 80 percent of New Jersey adults support government action to fight climate change (a sentiment influenced by the devastation of hurricane Sandy). The New Jersey state legislature has voted twice in favor of rejoining the initiative; both times it was vetoed by Christie. The New Jersey Superior Court ruled that by neglecting to hold a public hearing, Christie did not follow the necessary procedure to withdraw from the initiative. Christie finally met the requirement last month, years after an election in which public knowledge of the governor’s energy policy might have informed the decisions of New Jersey voters.

Not everyone disagrees with Christie’s decision, however. Tim Phillips, President of the Koch Brothers’ Super PAC Americans for Prosperity, voiced his approval: “We were exceedingly pleased that the governor got New Jersey out of the RGGI boondoggle. It’s something that A.F.P. in New Jersey worked hard on, and the governor listened, and we applauded him pulling out and applaud him for refusing to go back in.” It is clear that the Koch Brothers’ money, not the “experts” whose opinions Governor Christie disingenuously claimed to value so highly, inform his policy.

All this is especially tragic and infuriating given the massive devastation the state of New Jersey suffered at the hands of Superstorm Sandy. Christie loves to bring up the unsubstantiated risks of lost jobs and higher prices even as studies put the lie to his claims. He loves to quibble over small fines levied on absurdly wealthy energy companies. But he passes on an opportunity to fight climate change and help reduce the risk of extreme weather events that actually wreak havoc on the economy and the lives of the people he has pledged to serve. Such is the state of “moderate Republicans” circa 2014.