Expect Kamala Harris’ Justice Department to wage Green New Deal lawfare if she is elected president on Nov. 5. [emphasis, links added]
As with every last issue about this election, Harris has not said much about the substance of her climate policy. But a review of her record suggests she’d be amenable to unleashing the Justice Department on energy providers, and her conspicuously quiet allies on the climate left are optimistic she’ll do just that.
Unleashing the Justice Department on American energy companies means hurtling this country deep into the last century.
Traditional energy sources are essential for the world’s historic quality of life most Americans enjoy. Litigation will drive prices up.
The lawsuits will also strongarm a transition to electric vehicles, stoves, and water heaters that will remain unpopular with most people because they aren’t affordable and don’t work as well as gas-powered alternatives.
Green New Deal lawfare unfolding at the state and local levels all over the country [is] to force those appliances onto an unwilling public through settlement terms or public spending funded by big money verdicts.
Harris is already aligned with climate lawfare. Harris investigated whether Exxon “repeatedly lied to the public and its shareholders about the risk to its business from climate change” during her tenure as California attorney general, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The probe did not result in a lawsuit, though she was supportive of legal claims targeting energy providers as a presidential candidate.
Harris parroted claims typical of climate lawsuits during her ill-fated 2020 bid. She accused energy providers of concealing inside information about emissions, much as tobacco companies were accused of misleading customers about the health consequences of smoking.
“You should be really prepared to look at a serious fine or be charged with a crime,” Harris said at a 2019 town hall in South Carolina. She made a similar remark in an interview she gave to Mother Jones.
Harris has of course renounced much of her 2020 platform, but climate cultists sense she remains willing to pursue energy providers in court.
A coalition of alarmist groups is pushing Harris to direct the Justice Department to investigate the industry, calling such a probe “long overdue.” Democrat partisans like Sheldon Whitehouse and Jamie Raskin are similarly pressuring the DOJ to take this step.
One step the DOJ could take – and the climate left is already calling for it – is to open a probe under the anti-mafia statute, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
That means holding defendants liable not just for emissions, but also for political speech and actions that support a pro-gas energy policy. Democratic lawmakers favorably discussed this avenue in May as a former DOJ official testified to the Senate Budget Committee.
Climate plaintiffs are already mapping their plans for spending money that climate lawfare delivers.
How would anti-energy lawfare cash out for the average American? The cost of settlements or big-money verdicts will inevitably reach consumers across numerous points of service.
Everything will cost more. You’ll notice this most when paying an energy bill, filling up your tank, or buying a plane ticket.
But cheap and abundant energy is essential to all businesses, and there will be hidden penalties everywhere.
Moreover, the climate plaintiffs are already mapping their plans for spending money that climate lawfare delivers.
These plans include investments in EV charging infrastructure, mandated electric appliances in new builds, and even repurposing neighborhoods to create 15-minute cities.
This is social reengineering by lawsuit, a foisting of lifestyle choices on unwilling participants.
With preelection forecasts favoring a Republican takeover of the Senate, it’s quite likely a President Kamala Harris would not move landmark climate laws through Congress.
That means she would have to think creatively about bird-dogging energy companies, and siccing the Justice Department on them is a likely step.
Read more at RealClearEnergy
“…repurposing neighborhoods to create 15-minute cities.
When you’re in your 80’s, and use a walker, that becomes a 90-minute city, if the weather cooperates.
Just checked a couple of web sites. Average walking speed for 20-29 year old men: 3.0 mph. For 80-89 years old it drops to 2.1 mph. So a youngster in 15 minutes will cover 3/4 of a mile. A circular city: 2.25 sq miles diameter. I make it 2.25 sq miles. (see below – wrong) Allow about 20% for streets and passageways: -.45. Usable for living space/ businesses: 1.80 sq miles. The average ratio between residential and business square (or even cubic) feet – I haven’t a clue.. Building heights will have to factored in.
Population density – New York City: 26,000/sq mile.
It just struck me – 15 minutes. If I live close to the boundary, I still have to get to the opposite side in 15 minutes. So, diameter: 0.75 miles. Someone else want to take a crack at it? It’s 2225 hours local, I’ve had it for the day…..
Will it be that as you breath in, your neighbor has to breath out? Good night…..
Next morning.
2.25 sq miles diameter.???
I was tired…..
We don’t need these UN/DNC/Globalists running this Country we need to pull out of the United Nations period and moved them to Beijing without America to finance their Crimes Against Humanity
The Trudeau/Guilbeaut/WEF cabal have laid out their plan for Alberta’s energy production. Fortunately, we can relax, knowing that Liberals will be voted out before it becomes law. I’m on edge about today’s American election. If the GOP wins, the Keystones XL pipeline might get completed. Canada needs the income from Alberta’s bounty. Trudeau famously admitted that he doesn’t worry about finances. Socialist dolt!