America's Coming Green Nightmare

Brandon J. Weichert10 Sep, 2023 5 Min Read
It came from California...

The United States has begun an historic shift away from reliance on traditional fossil fuels to meet its massive energy needs to relying on what the scientific community and Administrative State describes as "clean energy." Wind and solar power are two of the biggest purportedly "clean" energy production technologies that the U.S. government favors. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), about 41 percent of all American energy came from these "clean" sources in 2022-23.

The WEF anticipates that, thanks to the policies of the Biden administration, the country will continue shifting to a greater reliance on "clean energy" over the next decade. What neither the WEF nor the Left-wing proponents of this transition will dare to mention is the cost involved, and how ordinary American workers will be made the bear the brunt of those costs.

No, we can't.

In recent years, the Biden economy has been a sclerotic disaster involving a cost-of-living that has been far higher for most ordinary Americans. The administration has blamed those costs on the supply chain disruptions caused by the onerous lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 as well as the Russo-Ukraine War. What is often left unsaid, though, is that the Biden administration's exorbitant spending has contributed mightily to the abnormally high inflation rate the country has experienced in the last three years (and the subsequent raising of national interest rates by the Federal Reserve to combat the high inflation rate).

Last year, the administration and its Democratic Party allies in Congress authorized nearly $5 trillion in additional government spending as part of the party's push to revitalize America's infrastructure. Forcing Green energy on the American people via the spending bill was a large component of that push. These Green policies, more than anything, have added to America's financial woes in the last three years.

With those new Green policies will come generally higher costs on all products for average Americans as well. It will also likely mean that whatever "Green jobs" are created, they will not be plentiful enough to replace the old industrial jobs are eradicated by the transition. Further, in order to create those Green jobs, the U.S. government will have to splurge billions of tax dollars in order to get those industries going. In the current economic environment, that would be highly debilitating to ordinary Americans, who are already feeling the economic squeeze because of profligate government spending.

California, the fifth-largest economy (in GDP terms) in the world, has pioneered the transition away from "dirty" fossil fuel energy production to "clean" sources. California, however, is the canary in the Green New Deal coal mine for the United States. Once the pinnacle of the middle-class American dream in the mid-twentieth century, 50 years later, because of short-sighted Democratic Party policies, California is a socioeconomic wasteland of significant wealth disparity.

The bourgeoise liberals who run California think nothing of the costs to ordinary Californians that their virtue-signaling fantasies of a California (and, eventually, an America) run entirely by wind and solar power will entail. Whatever makes them feel good about their own conspicuous consumption--without actually having to pay a price for their delusions, of course.

One of the many horrible ideas that California's Democratic Party Governor Gavin Newsom has foisted upon the Golden State was his proclamation that by 2035, the state will ban all new gas-powered vehicles. At the same time, any new SUVs and pickup trucks sold in California between now and 2035 will have to produce zero tailpipe emissions. All this will do is make cars nearly unaffordable for most Californians. For the record, California is one of the most car-dependent states in the country.

Gotcha, suckers!

What about Electric Vehicles (EVs)? They cost an average of $10,000 more than do gas-powered cars. Sure, one can apply for the requisite tax credits that the government is offering to people who opt for purchasing an EV over a traditional gas-powered car, but at most that'll net you $7,500 from the feds, leaving you to make up the difference. Plus, the cost of maintaining those vehicles is on average more expensive than gas-powered vehicles.

Let's not forget that in California, the state has been increasingly subjected to massive, rolling blackouts because its energy grid is far too overburdened to handle all the increased demand on it, thanks to everyone trying to charge their increasing numbers of EVs. Meanwhile, the state's weakened grid itself is being "upgraded" from being powered mostly by fossil fuels to being powered by those purportedly cleaner energies, such as wind and solar. Of course, wind and solar power both suffer from intermittency (meaning they don't always work), but this doesn't seem to matters to the solons in Sacramento.

Furthermore, because the alternative energies are not as reliable or efficient, they cost more. And if most Californians are being made to transition to EVs, and if the power grid is energized mostly by wind and solar power, Californians will be paying more for less efficient energy production. All that will harm California's economy and hurt ordinary Californians even more.

Things are so bad in California with Newsom's quixotic quest to make the state totally green that Newsom is quietly trying to reverse his anti-fossil fuel stance without admitting the "Green" transition is a total failure. Recently, the governor authorized an expansion of what left-wingers say is a controversial new natural gas production facility. That's because the Democrats running California understand that if they embrace fully their party's platform, they will destroy California's economy and risk their own political futures. And, as we all know, as California goes, so goes all of America.

Affordable and reliable energy is the basis of the American economy. More importantly, it is the sine qua non of our national security. Without easily accessible energy for all, nothing will work. Everything will be more expensive. And we will all be more dependent on inherently unreliable foreign sources of energy subject to the winds of politics and war.  Taken together, then, America's competitive advantages over the rest of the world will wither away.

Last stop, everybody out.

Rather than seeking the accolades of anti-American globalists, such as Klaus Schwab, for self-destructing America's energy advantages and security, Joe Biden must reverse these terrible Green policies. Otherwise, much like California is currently experiencing, the country's economy will decline.

Washington must encourage whatever policies will benefit the most amount of our citizens while enhancing America's national security. That won't -- and can't -- come from the Green sector.

Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst. He is a Defense & National Security Reporter at the National Interest. In 2023, Weichert had a syndicated column at MSN. His writings have appeared at The Washington Times, Asia Times, The American Spectator, American Greatness, and 19FortyFive.com. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (Republic Book Publishers). His fourth book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is due out October 22, 2024, from Encounter Books. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

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2 comments on “America's Coming Green Nightmare”

  1. “What about Electric Vehicles (EVs)? They cost an average of $10,000 more than do gas-powered cars.”
    .
    You’re being too generous with averages. A comparably equipped ICE Camry is $20,000 cheaper than the entry-level Tesla. At $5.00 per gallon, $20,000 buys 4,000 gallons of gasoline. At an average 30 mpg, 4000 gallons of gasoline will take the ICE Camry 120,000 miles. Granted, automobile value is among the most subjective of all consumer goods, but it’s pretty hard to steer a shrewd, discerning consumer away from 120,000 of free transportation in favor of a status fad that more and more emphasizes one’s jackass credentials.
    .
    “Who's goin' to ride that [electric] chrome three-wheeler?
    Who's goin' to make that first mistake?
    Who wants to wear those gypsy leathers?
    All the way to Fire Lake”
    —“Fire Lake” by Bob Seger

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