Opinion Conversation The climate, and the world, are changing. But, to quote from вЂњ Only Murders in the Building,вЂќ HutchinsonвЂ™s testimony вЂњsends the investigation in a whole new direction.вЂќ Am I being too cynical?Д«ret: Until last week, no. And I just donвЂ™t think thereвЂ™s an appetite for trying to prosecute a former president for stuff he did while he was still in office. But IвЂ™ve sadly gotten used to the idea that he can do almost anything and still keep his very, very large fan club of voters.Д«ret: Truest words ever spoken by Trump: вЂњI could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldnвЂ™t lose any voters.вЂќ Gail: Well, we certainly had some вЂњHoly cow - did you hear what Donald Trump did?вЂќ moments. Did we just have a вЂњthis changes everythingвЂќ moment? Trying to put coal out of business is just a big fat political gift to Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy.ДЄside from the court, Gail, last weekвЂ™s big news enchilada was Cassidy HutchinsonвЂ™s testimony before the House committee investigating Jan. But Democrats need to figure out a set of climate-change policies that donвЂ™t threaten peopleвЂ™s wallets, jobs or businesses. I hold no particular brief for the coal industry per se. 1 priority, they should do so openly rather than sneak regulatory actions that they canвЂ™t get through Congress through the E.P.A. In case you ever wonder about my worship of the works of Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Gary Becker and Ronald Coase.Д«ret: If congressional Democrats - whose majority happens to hinge on a certain senator from West Virginia - want to make a case that global warming is the countryвЂ™s No. I have sympathy for the folks in the middle here, but not so much for the barons.Д«ret: I grew up listening to my fatherвЂ™s complaints about the way the Mexican government did business with the private sector.

Gail: I think I told you that my father worked for a utility company, and I remember the agony he went through trying to deal with both the government regulators and the folks we called вЂњthe coal baronsвЂќ in West Virginia. That hasnвЂ™t happened because - gee, I guess the congressional majority feels global warming is a big deal.Д«ret: The case hinges on an interpretation of the word вЂњsystem.вЂќ The Clean Air Act requires power plants to adopt вЂњthe best system of emission reductions.вЂќ The courtвЂ™s conservatives took вЂњsystemвЂќ to mean emission-controlling technologies at the plants themselves, not a vast regulatory mechanism that puts the entire American coal industry on a swift path to extinction. is going too far, it has the power to override said regulations at any time.

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