It was back on June 4 that I posed the eternal question, “Will The Democratic Candidates Ever Notice That The Climate Change Thing Is Over?”
That post noted that the Democratic candidates for President had begun a kind of bidding war over who could put forth the most extreme proposal to shackle the American economy in the name of climate salvation, while at the same time “out in the rest of the world” they were “laugh[ing] at this spectacle.”
Among the data points cited in that post were that China was seeking reductions in the price of coal in order to spur consumption of electricity and that in Australia a national election had just been lost by the party that made a principal issue out of its opposition to a huge new coal mine in Queensland.
In the three months since early June, things have only gotten sillier.
- The Statistical Review of World Energy 2019 from the BP oil company came out. A summary of it in Forbes on June 28 noted:
“Coal consumption in most of the developing world continues to grow. The Asia Pacific increased consumption [in 2018] by the most overall, but its 2.5% growth rate lagged Africa’s (+3.9%) and Central and South America (+3.7%).” - The annual Google billionaires’ climate summit was held in Sicily at the beginning of August. From Euronews:
“114 private jets flew into the Italian Verdura Resort, according to the Italian press, and many of the elite guest lists arrived in multi-million-pound yachts. With stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Barack Obama and Prince Harry in attendance, reports Jim Dobson at Forbes, they were hardly going to be hitch-hiking…” - With the Australian election won by pro-development forces, the giant ($16.5 billion) Carmichael/Adani coal mine project in Queensland resumed its march toward final regulatory approval.
- In late August former President Barack Obama plunked down just under $15 million for a beachfront mansion in Martha’s Vineyard, maybe 10 feet above mean high tide, revealing just what the ex-Pres really thinks of his own rhetoric about impending climate-induced sea-level rise.
So then, by now, at least some of the Democratic candidates must have noticed that the climate change thing is over, right? Don’t be ridiculous. In fact, back in June, the bidding war of insane “climate” proposals was only getting started.
Now, the run-up to CNN climate “town hall” provided the impetus for a round of new and ever-more-extreme bids, each one promising some new impoverishment of the American people in the name of appeasing the climate gods:
- Cory Booker put out a plan on which he placed a $3 trillion price tag over 10 years. From a summary at Politico:
“Booker’s campaign says his plan would ‘directly invest over $3 trillion dollars by 2030.’ That price tag includes $1.5 trillion for clean energy, energy storage, and electric vehicle technologies; $100 billion toward boosting existing sustainable agriculture practices; $400 billion to fund Moonshot Hubs in each state for research and development of new technologies; and $300 billion in climate resiliency and disaster relief.”
In other words, $3 trillion taken away from American taxpayers, leaving them $3 trillion poorer, and then completely wasted on providing energy that could and would have been provided without any need for government spending at all. - Not to be out-”planned,” Elizabeth Warren also put out a pre-town-hall climate plan, also with a supposed $3 trillion price tag. And where is the money to go?
“My Green Apollo plan to invest $400 billion over ten years in clean energy R&D will spur innovation…My Green Manufacturing plan to invest $1.5 trillion over ten years in federal procurement of American-made clean energy products will fund the transition for federal, state, and local governments…And my Green Marshall Plan will commit $100 billion to support the export of American-made clean energy products so that we can help other countries cut their emissions too. [And] I’ll commit an additional $1 trillion over 10 years…to subsidize the economic transition to clean and renewable electricity, zero-emission vehicles, and green products for commercial and residential buildings.”
Again, a program to accomplish nothing more than impoverishing Americans to the tune of $3 trillion. - But nobody out-bids Bernie Sanders. $3 trillion? That’s peanuts! Bernie put out a pre-town-hall plan with a price tag of over $16 trillion. It goes on interminably — 35 pages — with endless faux precision as to amounts of spending to accomplish meaningless or fantasy tasks. In this short blog post, I can only give some examples:
$30 billion “to decrease the cost of solutions like batteries” . . . ; $500 billion “to research technologies to fully decarbonize industry”…; $150 billion “to fully decarbonize aviation and maritime shipping and transportation” (fossil-fuel-free airplanes? nothing to it!)…; $200 billion to the “Green Climate Fund for the equitable transfer of renewable technologies, climate adaptation, and assistance in adopting sustainable energies”…; $40 billion for the “Climate Justice Resiliency Fund”…; $150 billion to build “resilient, affordable, publicly owned broadband infrastructure”…
That’s just scratching the surface, but you get the idea. It is not an exaggeration to say that every one of Bernie’s spending proposals is a total boondoggle or fairy tale that will accomplish nothing more than replacing more reliable and cheaper energy with more unreliable and expensive energy.
The American people end up poorer by about one full year’s GDP, and that’s before you consider dealing with periodic blackouts and trying to fly in windmill-powered airplanes.
And then, the town hall. Of course, it was clear even before it started that every one of the ten participating candidates endorsed the idea that there is a “climate crisis”, which can be promptly solved by imposing sufficient punishment and impoverishment upon American citizens for their sin of prosperity.
Reverend Pete Buttigieg may have expressed it best (from the summary of the town hall in the New York Times):
“This is less and less about the planet as an abstract thing and more about specific people suffering specific harm because of what we’re doing right now. At least one way of talking about this is that it’s a kind of sin.”
What is the atonement that must be imposed? All the candidates were on board with some form of higher prices for carbon-based fuels and/or carbon taxes or a cap-and-trade scheme.
In other words, increase your price of electricity and gasoline by double, triple, quintuple, or whatever it takes until you can’t afford it anymore and you stay home and freeze in the dark.
Or, end fracking. That has the explicit endorsement of at least Sanders, Warren, and (at the town hall) Harris, who said: “There is no question that I am in favor of banning fracking.”
The fracking revolution has brought the price of crude oil down from well over $100 per barrel in 2014 to about $55 today. That’s a saving of over $50 per barrel or close to $400 billion per year for the 7.5 billion barrels of oil that we consume.
Add in the comparable savings for the decline in the price of natural gas, and you could be approaching $1 trillion per year of enrichment of the American people from fracking.
And that’s before you count the accompanying decline in the influence of all the most malign actors on the world stage, from Russia to Iran to Saudi Arabia.
I’m old enough that I can remember when political candidates thought that it was their job to propose policies that would enhance the prosperity of the people, let alone to make the world a safer place.
Actually, Donald Trump still does think that. When did all the Democratic candidates go so completely insane?
Read more at Manhattan Contrarian
David Lewis well it’s not hidden any more . That’s why we can longer see these people as Democrats . GREENOCRATS maybe . They are playing to a base and insiders that has all but assumed control of the party . Nancy who ?
I would like to see how union executives try and further justify support of a party that openly attacked union members (coal workers ) last election and now have doubled down . If I was paying dues they would be out if they kept working against my interests . Do they like the rights and wages in communist countries ?
Note Reverend Pete Buttigieg statement
“This is less and less about the planet as an abstract thing and more about specific people suffering specific harm because of what we’re doing right now. At least one way of talking about this is that it’s a kind of sin.”
Note that he even says this is less and less about the planet. He believes our current life styles are a sin. We need to be punished for this sin and I assume the candidates’ proposals are a way to do so. This is one of many hidden agendas in the climate change movement.
CNN facilitated the coming out party of the Green Party USA . Forget Democrat’s, they are history , this program was the first major step in re branding a party ripe for take over .
All ten participants see climate change (undefined) as their number 1 priority despite what the American public see’s as the priorities . That is typical Green Party strategy .
“Dems Race to Impoverish Americans”
The truth of it is the Climate Change town hall was a re branding facilitated by CNN . Substitute Green Party and you are getting the picture .
As a two Party system in the USA the only way the Green Socialist Party could
obtain power was to hijack the Democrat Party and that is exactly what they have done .
Just look at what those people said .
Nationalize energy
Increase abortions
Ban plastic
Ban fracking of oil and gas
Impose carbon taxes
Destroy the USA economy as if fighting WW2
Seriously you couldn’t make this crap up .
If Biden is the guy he will be nothing but a wooden figure head with a string in his back .
Bernie is just to strong a personality and a communist. They couldn’t push him around .
Warren says she is a capitalist . She also said she was an Indian . No chance .
If the two B’s falter which they will Steyer comes up the middle appearing as less of a nut bar .
Who knows…. but forget the Democrat Party it’s toast other than name brand recognition only . It’s now effectively the USA Green Party . If they did win watch for the official name change . Doesn’t that partially make other things make sense .
They believe their “existential ” threat is so important they will lie cheat and do absolutely nothing for the American people unless they get power, then the real fun begins . Some of the MSM goals are completely aligned . CNN , NY Times, LA Times , MSNBC are the chief promoters .
No more illusions the American public is dealing with the socialist Green Party .
Global Warming Climate Change is the biggist scam in the history of all mankind like other scams like Evolution its all a big big lie
In the “good old days” that never were, ‘sane’ members of the public could go view the lunatics interacting in Bethlem hospital, in the UK.
Now we just look at our politicians.
We live in the most interesting of times.
JD.
I am so grateful Al Gore invented the internet or approved it . Can you imagine if your only “news ” source was the NY times , LA times or something like the Guardian . Oil and gas executives would already be swinging from trees .
These MSM publications are selling a false narrative that humans can set the earth’s temperature by reducing a trace gas that itself when in abundance increases plant and tree growth . Really” all the news fit to print ” ?
This is like telling readers that the bridge they cross regularly is fully repaired when the news outlet knows full well the center span is actually missing . Reader abuse and their numbers show it .
The reason for the freedom of the press was the people would hear the truth, at least from some of the newspapers. This has clearly failed. We have all of the mainstream media telling the same lie.
Unbelievable!….. The release of the interview from the Finnish Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO),
https://mailchi.mp/04d5b7dfa643/wmo-secretary-general-warns-against-climate-doomsters-and-extremists-174969?e=de1a17e1c9
….just about sums this whole Climate Change debacle….. The gonzo’s of the press corps have blindly championed the Climate Doomsters and Extremists, who have hijacked the whole climate agenda, championed by the experts of the elite left. As with other “crises” advocated by the same people, they drive their ideas harder and harder with more and more ridiculous claims, as they don’t seem to be getting their message through to the silent majority. In the end, as has happened before, such religiosity induces an implosion of their cause because their dogma reaches such outlandish heights, that no one can believe it. Lets hope this is again happening.
These Democrats can all be summed up under the song IRRESPONSIBLE because they are Irresponsible more regulations more red tape all that paperwork and all to appease the Eco-Nazis/Watermelons
Climate alarmist were lying then and they are lying now. The CNN climate town hall Wednesday night was nothing more than an attempt to reframe climate change, “the climate crisis”, as a moral imperative and a faith” issue.
Pete Buttigieg said that to “connect with Republicans in places like Indiana on climate issues, Democrats would be wise to use the frame of faith.”
After 50 + YEARS OF “SCIENTISTS SAY” headlines you would think “Climate alarmism” (global cooling – global heating – climate change –climate crisis) was based in science. Physics specifically.
But according to mayor Pete, WE are missing the moral dimensions of this because, “frankly, every religious and nonreligious moral tradition tells us that we have some responsibility to stewardship, some responsibility for taking care of what’s around us not to mention taking care of our neighbor,”
The only faith displayed is in their own arrogance. These wanna-be leaders do not see the hypocrisy of preaching morality while promoting a bald face lie.