Is Red the New Green? Right-Winger's Support for S.F. Parking Policy Suggests So.

But can Rover end global warming?

​In the debate over what to do about global warming, almost nobody has a coherent position on the issue -- leftist greenheads hate market-based solutions even though they work. Right-wing Luddites profess the climate change problem doesn't even exist.

Could this dissonance become strong enough to provoke a polar magnetic field shift in earthly politics, in which right-wingers end up taking the lead proffering effective solutions to the climate-change problem? Recently statements by a deep-red Southern California politician suggest such a cosmic shift may be in the making.

San Francisco is in the process of rolling out a pilot program called SFPark, in which parking in a congested area at a busy time of the day would cost more than parking later in the afternoon far from downtown. Parking will be priced according to supply and demand, in other words.

Advocates of demand-based parking meter rates say such policies could have a collateral effect of making people less apt to drive during peak hours, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. "This is a very interesting idea, and it's actually refreshing to see a city like San Francisco actually trying to implement what could be considered a capitalistic approach," wrote John Stammreich, Republican candidate for the Los Angeles-area 28th State Senate district.

Stammreich boasts on his campaign Web site of speaking at "Tea Party" protests at the L.A. Federal Building. But that doesn't mean he opposes San Francisco's efforts to clean the air through earth-friendly parking strategies. In a comment on a PublicCEO.com story about the SFPark program, Stammreich wrote, "If a downtown lot is regularly full, it should try to maximize its revenue; if one is regularly vacant, it should try to find a lower price that will increase revenue as well. San Francisco, unlike Los Angeles, actually has multiple public transportation opportunities. I've rarely rented a car when visiting there due to how efficient and convenient the BART system is."

Compare Stammreich's rabid-right-wing, yet earth-friendly perspective with car-crazy Oaklanders, who recently raised hell regarding increased parking charges in that Democratic-leaning town.