The evidence of dire harm from extremist climate change policies is building, and not a moment too soon.
President Biden’s “Climate Change Emergency” executive order, proposed as of this writing, could potentially give the White House direct oversight not only over the entire American economy but over the daily lives of every inhabitant of the nation.
According to The New York Times, John F. Kerry, Mr. Biden’s international climate envoy, said in an interview that Mr. Biden is ‘very close’ to taking that step and that the debate within the administration is over when the declaration should be announced and how it should be deployed, rather than if it should be done.
Across the globe, unsubstantiated claims about the impact of human activity are providing political cover to those who seek enormous profits from transitioning to inadequate substitute energy sources and ransacking the economies of free nations to prop up radicals, giving them the opportunity to replace largely successful (and, as evidence strongly suggests, more eco-friendly) capitalist economies to failed socialist experiments.
There can be no question that, for the next several decades, wind and solar cannot provide more than a small fraction of energy needs. Making the matter worse is that most of the manufacturing of wind and solar equipment is performed overseas, largely in China.
But all that may not matter, for more immediate priorities for green-loving politicians are at hand.
Open Secrets discloses that “Close to $1 million of the alternative energy industry’s donations went directly to Biden…Such groups also spent proportionately more on outside spending than ever before, giving $3.9 million to primarily liberal outside groups.”
It’s a scandal with a rich legacy. During the Obama presidency, Vast federal funds were sent to a private company which supported Democrats. Newsmax Solyndra Scandal: 8 Facts About Barack Obama’s Green Energy Company Controversy | Newsmax.com reported that In 2009, the California-based green energy solar panel manufacturer Solyndra received a $535 million loan. It was revealed that the Office of Management and Budget officials felt pressured to approve the loan, despite an awareness of Solyndra’s financial instability. ABC News reported, “The deal later came under scrutiny from independent government watch dogs and members of Congress, which said the administration had bypassed key taxpayer protections in a rush to approve the funds.”
The Week The Solyndra scandal: A guide to the new revelations | The Week noted that “The family foundation of billionaire George Kaiser, an Obama fundraiser, is one of Solyndra’s big investors. The GOP says that Team Obama interfered to speed up the loan approval, cutting short due diligence so that Vice President Joe Biden could announce the loan at the Sept. 4, 2009, groundbreaking of a new Solyndra factory being financed by that government cash.”
Wikipedia notes that In September 2011 the company ceased all business activity, filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, Title 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, and laid off all employees. The company was also sued by employees who were abruptly laid off. Solyndra was raided by the FBI.
Soaring energy prices have not only made the costs of transportation and home heating and cooling unaffordable, it has triggered the worst inflation in half a century. Terrible enough, but its about to get even worse.
Sri Lanka offers a clear example. Climate extremists have dominated its government. In pursuit of their “green” goals, they banned chemical fertilizers. Vast swaths of land could no longer produce food, leading to a crisis. As the New York Post notes, “This is basically the Green New Deal in miniature.”
This coming winter, Europeans may face disastrous conditions due to their premature transition to green energy sources which are simply incapable of fulfilling their needs.
All of these hardships and scandals result from claims about global warming (from the same people who alleged that global cooling was going to be the problem previously) that ignore significant evidence of prior, naturally-occurring climate change. The planet has undone cyclical trends of heating and cooling without the help of factories or SUVs.
But in those prior periods, that took place without making politicians rich.