{"id":1473405,"date":"2022-05-12T17:14:45","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T21:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1473405"},"modified":"2022-05-12T17:14:49","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T21:14:49","slug":"independent-candidate-for-california-governor-talks-progressive-policies-leaving-the-democratic-party-and-the-need-for-pro-human-environmentalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/independent-candidate-for-california-governor-talks-progressive-policies-leaving-the-democratic-party-and-the-need-for-pro-human-environmentalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Independent Candidate For California Governor Talks Progressive Policies, Leaving The Democratic Party, And The Need For \u2018Pro-Human\u2019 Environmentalism"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Findependent-candidate-for-california-governor-talks-progressive-policies-leaving-the-democratic-party-and-the-need-for-pro-human-environmentalism%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1473405&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/05\/Shellenberger.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">Michael Shellenberger is running for governor of California and is looking to beat Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, all while keeping with his liberal roots and looking to other solutions to problems that have plagued the state for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Shellenberger is the author of \u201cSan Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities,\u201d and he sees multiple problems with the structure of California and its policies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">He described to The Daily Wire how the homelessness crisis in California is a \u201c<span class=\"s1\">complete disaster,\u201d noting<\/span> how he discovered that European researchers call the so-called homeless encampments \u201copen drug scenes,\u201d which he said are essentially open air drug markets in which addicts live so they can be close to their drug dealers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">\u201cBasically every woman I interview in these camps has been sexually assaulted multiple times,\u201d he said. \u201cThe vast majority of people are using both methamphetamine and fentanyl, both highly concentrated synthetic versions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">Shellenberger said that while there is a lot of diversity of people \u2014 their stories, racial classes, socioeconomic classes \u2014 the uniting factor is the addiction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">\u201cThat\u2019s why they\u2019re there,\u201d he said. \u201cSome people have serious mental illness. Some people are just addicts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">He pointed to progressive policies as a main issue, saying that in progressive West Coast cities, and more and more in progressive cities across the country, \u201cprogressive policymakers have decided that it\u2019s more compassionate to let people just remain in the throes of late-stage addiction, living in tents, defecating publicly, engaging in prostitution, human trafficking, and sexual assault rather than require them to stay in shelters, require them to get drug treatment, require them to get psychiatric care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Housing First policy in California, Shellenberger said, is what has led to the homelessness \u201cdisaster.\u201d The idea behind the policy was to give a home to people who need a place to live. He said it \u201cdoesn\u2019t deal with the root problem, which is untreated mental illness and addiction.\u201d He said the only effective option is called \u201ccontingency management,\u201d which is essentially a practice of giving people a reward for abstinence, taking medicine, or going to work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">He said that progressives tend to have a \u201cbig blind spot\u201d regarding compassionate solutions that might have \u201cunintended negative consequences,\u201d and he also said there\u2019s a \u201cgrift\u201d happening at the same time, calling <span class=\"s1\">the Housing First policy a \u201cscam,\u201d saying that it \u201c<\/span>allows for much more money by the builders and the contractors to kick back to Democratic Party politicians in a form of campaign contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">When it comes to the climate, Shellenberger calls himself \u201ca pro-human environmentalist.\u201d He said there are essentially two sides, and pro-human environmentalists believe that people should protect the natural world so they can enjoy it, but also recognize modern vehicles are necessary. On the other hand, he said, some people are \u201canti-human environmentalists, who believe that humans are a cancer on the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">He said that California has been dominated by the anti-human environmentalist side, pointing out how \u201cwe\u2019ve been fighting to save our last nuclear plant,\u201d and there have been blackouts happening in the state for multiple years. He also pointed to the need for more power and the real human impact: \u201cWhen there\u2019s not enough electricity for air conditioners, people die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Shellenberger discussed the push for nuclear energy as a clean response to the energy crisis. He pointed out how nuclear energy can be used for desalination, to make fertilizer, and create hydrogen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">He said that nuclear plants are the correct environmental alternative and they are also a way <span class=\"s2\">to lower <\/span>energy costs, as is clear in Europe and Japan, which are keeping their nuclear plants running because \u201cwe\u2019re in the worst energy crisis in 50 years in part because climate activists \u2014 anti-human climate activists, I should say, not the pro-human side \u2014 <span class=\"s2\">h<\/span>ave repressed oil and gas development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWe need abundant energy in order to both lift people out of poverty, but also protect the natural environment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Shellenberger switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent last spring as soon as he completed writing \u201cSan Fransicko.\u201d He pointed out how \u201cthere\u2019s been a supermajority of Democrats\u201d in California, and said there\u2019s \u201cno way\u201d to blame Republicans for the \u201chumanitarian disaster on our streets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">He still has a lot of the same values he did before, but he said he \u201ccouldn\u2019t sleep at night continuing to be a Democrat\u201d after discovering what he did.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201c<\/span>I\u2019m a conservative when it comes to believing in the need for civilization. I\u2019m a libertarian when it comes to my love of freedom,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m a bleeding heart liberal when it comes to my compassion for the most vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cAnd I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a contradiction between those three things. In fact, I think they all need each other,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The primary for California governor will be held on June 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Shellenberger is running for governor of California and is looking to beat Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, all while keeping with his liberal roots and looking to other solutions to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":1482775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1473405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1473405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1482775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1473405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1473405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1473405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}