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Elections aren't referenda

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:21 pm
by miniboes
Had a discussion about this with Red the other day and he asked me to make a post about it, so here it is:

Elections are coming up in the Netherlands. This one is for the provincial government, which in turn elects our senate.

I'm not a single-issue voter, but climate change and the policy to deal with it weighs heavier than anything. On climate change, the political landscape can be summarized as such (these are categories, not individual parties)

Greens: Close our one nuclear plant, heavily invest in renewables, abolish factory farming, carbon tax
Moderate: Don't close the nuclear plant, heavily invest in renewables but no additional nuclear, tone down agriculture, carbon tax
Slackers: Don't close the nuclear plant, don't hurry too much with renewables, no additional nuclear, don't target agriculture, no carbon tax
Deniers: Don't close the nuclear plantt, don't invest anything in energy transition at all, allow for additional nuclear, don't target agriculture, no carbon tax

Many of us here agree nuclear is our best and perhaps only bet at preventing catastrophic climate change. Does that mean I should vote for the deniers?

I'd argue it doesn't, and the reason is that this election isn't a referendum on nuclear energy.

If I vote for one of the Deniers, I do that only because of their stance on nuclear. And that stance is that they won't actively oppose new plants, not that they want to invest in nuclear or encourage it in any way whatsoever. They'd leave it up to the market, a market that, in the Netherlands, is not keen at all to build nuclear plants (due to widespread opposition).

But that is not what my vote conveys; my vote is a vote for their entire programme. One that includes completely cancelling the moderate climate policy that is soon to become law. One that includes leaving the european union, one of the most important institutions in combatting climate change. After all, climate change is a global issue that our one country can't deal with.

What will happen if one of these parties gets into power is not the nuclear transition i want, just a lack of any sort of transition. 4 years of denying the problem even exists, and continuing to use gas and coal. That isn't helpful. If they further promote euroscepsis, it's actively harmful.

Better than to vote for the moderates who, while their policy is not ideal, at least recognize and seek to deal with the issue at hand. Who I can trust to, on the international stage, advocate for international cooperation in combatting climate change. Who may not invest in nuclear, but will not ban nuclear or prematurely close our plant either.

And best of all, one of the moderate parties is internally divided on nuclear. Best of all is to get involved there to try and sway people, as I've been doing.

So yeah, there's your post @Red. CMV if you disagree :)

Re: Elections aren't referenda

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 8:17 pm
by Jamie in Chile
Don't for the deniers. They will probably have dumb policies in other areas for starters, and possibly won't actually carry out a big nuclear programme (?).

I would vote green or moderate...based on the available info.

Re: Elections aren't referenda

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 8:55 am
by brimstoneSalad
Sounds like your vote for the moderates, and working from within to change their stance on nuclear, is the right call.