Bill Gates promises to add his own billions if Congress does nuclear power push

Re:Bill Gates promises to add his own billions if Congress d... by microcolonel on Saturday January 26, 2019 @04:37PM (#19008655)

The more effective way to get what you ultimately want is to offer everyone the opportunity to achieve it.

Imagine if, instead of making their case to the administration, the advocates of the FIRST STEP Act felt it was sufficient to criticize the administration, and then give up entirely.

I see no reason why, with the right pitch, the Trump administration would be especially resistant to an effort like this. It's not as though they oppose certain "green" policies because they're "too green"; they oppose them because they are costly for, and unpopular with, their base.

Real people are not your caricatures of them.

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Re:Bill Gates promises to add his own billions if Congress d... by m0zg on Saturday January 26, 2019 @04:44PM (#19008704)

You make it sound like First Step Act did not originate within the administration. Jared Kushner was the primary driver of it since day one.

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Re:Bill Gates promises to add his own billions if Congress d... by microcolonel on Saturday January 26, 2019 @04:52PM (#19008737)

Yes, but it enjoyed broad support, and was progressive in substance. The assumption that the Trump administration would be futile to engage with on what could be construed as a "green" cause seems to stem from a broader assumption that they are incapable of, or resistant to, progressive policy.

My point is that if you couch it in the same balanced terms, there's no reason why an equally progressive initiative in energy should be assumed to be futile.

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Re:Bill Gates promises to add his own billions if Congress d... by m0zg on Saturday January 26, 2019 @05:02PM (#19008796)

But it was the other way around: _the Trump administration_ (of which Kushner is perhaps the sharpest instrument; I had a media-distorted view of him until I watched some interviews -- dude is super smart) engaged with others in a bipartisan way to make this happen.

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Re:Bill Gates promises to add his own billions if Congress d... by microcolonel on Saturday January 26, 2019 @05:46PM (#19009047)

Certainly, I get that; but I don't see why a similar effort couldn't be conducted from the outside in. Clearly it would work better to convince somebody effective within the administration to champion it, but my point was mainly that they're not inherently that resistant to it.

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