By Paul Driessen
Presidential candidate Joe Biden recently announced his “Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice.” While it might be viewed as a Green New Deal Lite, the plan would inflict enormous economic, environmental and societal pain on most of the nation, for no climate benefits.
First, as I’ve pointed out here
and elsewhere, Mr. Biden’s “climate emergency” exists in computer models and
alarmist reports, but not in the Real World windows. Tornadoes, hurricanes,
droughts, floods, melting ice and rising seas are no more frequent or severe
than humanity has experienced many times before.
Before we destroy our energy and
economic system, we need to see solid, irrefutable proof that we face an actual
climate crisis – and be able to debate and cross examine those who make such
claims. So far, instead of a debate, climate crisis skeptics just get vilified
and threatened with prosecution.
Second, anytime you hear the term “environmental justice,”
you know someone is trying to create a new category of victims, sow more
discord along racial and economic lines, and punish someone new in the name of
“justice.” While we still have pockets of pollution, America’s cars, air and
water have been cleaned up dramatically since 1970. Moreover, the best way to
prevent, survive and recover from any disaster is to have the energy, wealth
and technologies that fossil fuels continue to make possible.
Third, there’s nothing clean, green, renewable or
sustainable about wind, solar or battery power. Those technologies require
enormous amounts of land, concrete, steel and other raw materials – and many of
their most critical materials are extracted
and processed using child labor and near-slave wages for adults, with few
or no workplace safety rules, and with horrific impacts on land, air and water
quality.
Fourth, the Biden plan would cost many times the “$1.7
trillion in federal funds over ten years” that his talking points use to entice
voters: dollars, lost jobs, lower living standards and fewer freedoms.
The former VP would rejoin the Paris climate treaty; reverse
many Trump corporate tax cuts; seek or impose multiple mandates, “enforcement
mechanisms” and “legally binding” emission reductions; and at some point demand
cap-and-trade schemes and/or taxes on what he likes to call “carbon emissions.”
That term is intended to suggest dirty soot coming out of
smoke stacks. The actual emissions are carbon
dioxide, the life-giving gas that humans and animals exhale, and plants use
to grow and produce oxygen. The more CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere, the better and
faster crop, forest and grassland plants grow.
Mr. Biden would also impose tariffs on “carbon-intensive”
goods imported from countries that “fail to meet their climate obligations.”
That will quickly affect just about everything we eat, drink, drive, do and use
– because his plan would soon make it difficult for America to grow or produce
much of anything ... and China, India and other rapidly developing countries are not about to reduce their fossil fuel
use.
Every Biden Plan provision would increase the cost of living
and of doing business. The folks he hobnobs with – who will write, implement
and enforce these rules ... and bankroll his election campaign – won’t much notice
or mind the soaring prices. But middle and blue-collar classes certainly will.
Other components of the Biden Green New Deal multiply those
impacts and costs.
* His ultimate goal is to rapidly replace America’s fossil
fuels with industrial wind and solar facilities – to provide electricity for
factories, hospitals, homes, offices, data centers, vehicles and countless
other uses.
Modern industrialized societies simply cannot function on
expensive, intermittent, weather-dependent electricity. As Germany, Britain, Spain,
Australia and other countries have shown, that kind of energy eliminates 3-4
times more jobs than it creates – especially in factories and assembly lines,
which cannot operate with repeated electricity interruptions ... and cannot
compete with foreign companies that get affordable 24/7/365 coal-based electricity
and pay their workers far less than $15, $25 or $45 per hour.
* “Rigorous new fuel economy standards” would speed the rate
at which 100% of all cars and light trucks become electric.
This program would be supported by “more than 500,000 new
public charging outlets by the end of 2030,” to augment private charging
stations in homes and neighborhoods – paid or subsidized by taxpayers. It would
also require upgrading home and neighborhood electrical systems to provide far
more power for rapid vehicle charging, and longer hours of peak demand. Another
trillion dollars?
Extending mileage for (much more expensive) electric vehicles
would mean lighter, smaller cars ... and thus thousands of additional deaths
and millions of additional serious injuries. Dollar costs would soar. But how
do we quantify the cost of injury and
death tolls?
* Federal tax and environmental laws, subsidies and other
incentives would be used to persuade counties and communities to “to battle
climate change” by altering their zoning and other regulations “to eliminate
sprawl and allow for denser, more affordable housing near public transit.”
This would significantly impact suburban living and property
values. And packing more people into more apartment buildings would likely mean
diseases spread more rapidly and to more people.
* Other federal programs would provide subsidies and
incentives for home and business owners to reduce “the carbon footprint” of US
buildings 50% by 2035. battery disposal?
This could involve retrofitting them for improved energy
efficiency and/or replacing gas furnaces with electric heat or heat pumps – or
just tearing down and replacing entire buildings. More trillions of dollars.
* The Biden plan would also ban new oil and gas permitting
on public lands and waters.
This would lock up vast quantities of valuable, vitally
needed fuel. It would replace tens of billions of dollars of annual federal and
state government bonus, rent, royalty and tax revenue with tens of billions in subsidies for pseudo-renewable energy. It would eliminate millions
of jobs in the petroleum and petrochemical industries, in numerous companies
that rely on those industries, and in countless sectors of local and state
economies that depend on all that public land energy activity and revenue.
* Finally, a new transcontinental high-speed
(electricity-powered) rail system would connect the coasts – or at least a couple
of cities on each coast – for a few trillion dollars and with a lot of eminent
domain.
This is California’s costly “bullet train to nowhere” on
steroids. It would bypass numerous towns and cities, marginalizing many of them
and destroying trillions of dollars in property values – especially if his rail
system is intended to replace or significantly reduce air travel and long
distance driving.
The cumulative
electricity demand for all these Biden Green New Deal programs would be at
least double what the United States currently generates. It would mean wind
turbines and solar panels on scales that few can even imagine ... especially as
they are installed in less and less windy and sunny areas. And if all this
power is to be backed up by batteries – since coal and gas-fired backup power
generators would be eliminated – we would need billions of batteries ... and
thus even more land and raw materials.
Exactly how many turbines, panels
and batteries? On how many millions of acres? Made from how many billions of
tons of metals and concrete? Extracted from how many trillions of tons of ore?
In the USA or overseas, in someone else’s backyard? Under what child labor and
environmental standards?
After banning oil and gas permitting, would Mr. Biden open other federal lands to exploration,
mining and processing for the rare earth and other materials these massive
“renewable” energy systems will require? That would certainly create new
industries and jobs. Or will America just have to be 100% dependent on Chinese
and other foreign suppliers for all these technologies?
All of this smells of eco-fascism: state control of
companies and production, government control of our lives, and silencing and
punishing anyone who challenges climate crisis claims or green energy agendas.
Perhaps Mr. Biden can address all
these issues – at his next town hall meeting or press conference. Indeed, the
time to discuss these issues is NOW. Before we get snow-jobbed and railroaded
into actions we will sorely regret. Or maybe those of us who realize how insane
all of this is will just have to opt out -- and establish Biden-free zones and
climate sanctuary states where none of his policies and restrictions apply.
Paul
Driessen is senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow
(www.CFACT.org) and author of books and articles on
energy and environmental science and policy.
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