The Climate Crisis Is a Cost-of-Living Crisis

Donald Trump is perceived by a large chunk of the electorate as a relatively good economic policymaker, says Julian Zelizer .

Zelizer : Trump ’s hostility to climate action also threatens to saddle ordinary people with rising energy, food, housing bills for years to come.

He says climate change damages grow exponentially with warming and inflation.

Climate change is already being experienced as a pocketbook issue, says Julian Zelizer .

Zelizer: The left should make clear the economic stakes of climate action.

He says a windfall profits tax, stronger antitrust enforcement and targeted price controls can lessen the power of price-gouging corporations without hurting workers.

The left must also make clear that inflation will result in greater public investment in public investment.

This is especially true among working-class voters, who researchers have found respond well to left-populist criticisms of billionaires and corporate wrongdoing. It wouldn’t hurt to add a new argument to the repertoire: Global warming is already making your life more expensive. Among other things, curbing planet-heating pollution and investing in green public goods is about protecting you and your loved ones from catastrophic disruptions while moderating the costs of essentials. Anyone who doesn’t take the climate crisis seriously doesn’t care about your material well-being..