[jaredklewis]

I can't find anything in the parent comment that suggests a lack of sympathy for working class people or an attempt to put any blame on them.

There are countless policy choices that can help the less fortunate, the great majority of which are not incompatible with gas or energy being more expensive.

For example, I'm not a huge fan of agricultural subsidies, not because I want food to be more expensive, but because of the negative environmental and health effects they've had. But the money the government pays to farmer giants could instead be redistributed to poor people and (IMHO) help them a great deal more.

Likewise, revenue from taxes on things like gasoline could mitigate the effects of higher cost for low income families, which still encourage upper classes to invest in clean energy.