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   From: NOT-SURE@idiocracy.gov   
      
   On 9/8/22 1:23 AM, zinn wrote:   
   > I sometimes wonder which policy of President Biden's has been or will be   
   > the most destructive of them all. There are so many possibilities.   
   >   
   > The American Rescue Plan of 2021 contributed to the record inflation of   
   > the past year. Biden's reversal of the Migration Protection Protocols,   
   > safe third country agreements, and other immigration policies enacted by   
   > the previous administration resulted in historic numbers of illegal   
   > entries along the southern border. The withdrawal from Afghanistan   
   > abandoned a nation of 39 million people to a murderous, medieval,   
   > terrorist-aligned mafia. Biden has pursued a renewed nuclear agreement   
   > with Iran despite that regime's support for militias that fire on U.S.   
   > troops, plots to kill U.S. officials on U.S. soil, and ultimate   
   > responsibility for the assault on Salman Rushdie. Just the other day,   
   > Biden announced a complex, unconstitutional, regressive, and inflationary   
   > scheme to forgive student debt. The words "moral hazard" are not in his   
   > vocabulary.   
   >   
   > Like I said: There are plenty of options for which Biden policy is the   
   > worst. Yet his biggest folly may turn out to be his green thumb. The manic   
   > Progressive quest to eliminate fossil fuels and preside over a "green   
   > energy transition" will make America dependent, unstable, poorer, needier,   
   > and weaker. Indeed, it already is doing so.   
   >   
   > Biden reentered the Paris Climate Agreement, canceled the Keystone   
   > Pipeline, stopped energy leasing on federal property, suspended leases to   
   > drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and spent hundreds of   
   > billions on green energy projects in last year's Bipartisan Infrastructure   
   > Deal and this year's Inflation Reduction Act. He wants to halve carbon   
   > dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 and "achieve a net-zero economy   
   > by 2050."   
   >   
   > Problem: You can't achieve these goals without massively raising energy   
   > prices for everyday consumers. Sure enough, as gas prices went up over the   
   > course of his term, Biden attacked the oil giants, pleaded with OPEC to   
   > pump more oil, tried to make nice with autocracies in Venezuela and Iran,   
   > and brought the Strategic Petroleum Reserve down to its lowest level since   
   > 1985. Recently the cost of a gallon of regular has ticked down and   
   > President Biden's job approval rating has ticked up. Of course, if Biden,   
   > Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and California governor Gavin   
   > Newsom (D.) have their way, in the coming decades there won't be any cars   
   > with combustion engines to fuel.   
   >   
   > Newsom's California offers a glimpse of the future. Not long after Golden   
   > State regulators announced a plan to forbid the sale of new gasoline-   
   > powered cars by 2035, and state legislators passed $54 billion in climate-   
   > related spending, officials declared a state of emergency and warned of   
   > rolling blackouts. As government-subsidized and meteorologically   
   > unreliable solar and wind energy displaces oil, gas, and nuclear on the   
   > electric grid, consumers must reduce usage and prepare for the worst.   
   > Among the ironies: To take pressure off the grid, commuters won't be able   
   > to charge their soon-to-be-government-mandated electric vehicles during   
   > peak hours. Stuck at home thanks to the clean energy economy? You can   
   > always hitch a ride on a black-market gas guzzler.   
   >   
   > Biden's and Newsom's goals, plans, and mandates may seem abstract. Their   
   > timetables may extend long into the future. But as Richard Nixon's   
   > favorite NFL coach liked to say, the future is now. It cannot be a   
   > coincidence that California's population declines as its government   
   > becomes more expensive and more intrusive, as zoning and environmental   
   > regulations increase the cost of living. The top destination for   
   > Californians is Texas. While the Longhorn State has electric grid problems   
   > of its own, its authorities believe in cheap energy from every possible   
   > source. The Texas economy is growing, along with its population.   
   >   
   > The same can't be said of Europe. The continent's climate solipsism is   
   > more acute than California's. Its dilemma is therefore more serious. The   
   > push for green energy in the United Kingdom and in Europe, along with   
   > decades of antinuclear paranoia in Germany, has left millions dependent on   
   > natural gas supplied by Russia. In the 1970s, Arab and Iranian governments   
   > wielded the oil weapon to wreak havoc around the globe. In the 2020s,   
   > Russia uses the gas weapon to extort its neighbors, fund its war machine,   
   > and threaten NATO with cutoffs, price hikes, shortages, inflation,   
   > political instability, and deaths from bitter cold.   
   >   
   > Sanctions on the Russian economy over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine   
   > have neither brought the war to an end nor Moscow to the negotiating   
   > table. European leaders project an uneasy confidence about what lies   
   > ahead. "Even if it gets tight," said Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor,   
   > on September 1, "we will probably get through the winter."   
   >   
   > Probably?   
   >   
   > This situation was not inevitable. But it was predictable. Europe's   
   > vulnerability is the consequence of swearing off oil and gas and nuclear   
   > energy in the quixotic pursuit of environmental purity. It is what happens   
   > when government plans collide with geopolitical realities. Europeans are   
   > paying the price for elevating Greta Thunberg over Elon Musk. The price   
   > may soon get higher.   
   >   
   > I don't deny global warming. And I am open to policies that reduce carbon   
   > emissions and that—most importantly—encourage technological innovations   
   > and adaptations to a changing world. You won't get anywhere by mandating   
   > the substitution of one form of energy over another. Instead, you should   
   > explore the alternatives while sustaining the very basis of global   
   > commerce: cheap and plentiful carbon energy.   
   >   
   > The best thing President Biden could do for the American economy, the   
   > American worker, and the world would be to drop his antipathy to carbon   
   > fuels. Resume leasing on public lands and waters. Approve pipelines,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)