It’s not about the climate. (And it sure as hell isn’t about you.)
John Kerry, United States special presidential envoy for climate, discusses on a podium at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
On prior occasions in this space (including here, here and here) I have opined that a small cabal of mostly Ivy-educated, mostly coastal and mostly Democrat – with some squishy RINOs thrown in for appearance — elites have been sticking it to ordinary Americans for at least the past 30 years.
An unholy alliance has formed between and among entrenched Washington politicians, the permanent Washington bureaucracy, the marquee names in media and show business and CEOs of once proudly capitalist and pro-American companies. The goal of this alliance has been and continues to be the accumulation of wealth and power at the expense of ordinary Americans – that is, the people in the derisively named “flyover country” who go to work every morning to feed their families, cover the mortgage payment and pay their taxes.
This alliance exists largely outside the reach of the ballot box and is mostly exempt from the critical scrutiny that a properly functioning news media would provide.
Month-in, month-out, year-in, year-out, people in the great American middle class have suffered silently as, by increments, their wealth, status and prospects have eroded.
But a potential clash is brewing.
Ginned up fears of a world-ending “climate crisis” are driving the pursuit of a “green” agenda that will have an enormous impact on the wealth, mobility and ultimately the happiness of ordinary Americans.
The climate crisis crowd is divided into two camps. On one hand are lefty academics, celebrities, heads-full-of-mush college students and opportunistic politicians. Call this camp the “true believers.”
The other camp consists of the elites – the C-suite executives, top Democrat politicians, scientists cashing in on agenda-driven climate “research,” and uber-rich greenies who all agree with Treasury secretary Janet Yellen when she says that global warming is, “…the greatest economic opportunity of our time.”
As always, the true believers serve as useful idiots to the elites.
Left to their pursuits, the elites stand to further enrich themselves while simultaneously immiserating the poor, the middle and the working class. The green agenda seeks to have the hoi polloi living in smaller homes, consuming more expensive food, producing fewer offspring and having less mobility while the elites live in gated coastal enclaves and travel by private jet.
The push by the Biden administration and by states like California to curtail the availability of gasoline-powered cars in favor of more expensive EVs will eliminate tens of thousands – McKinsey & Company estimates 30 percent – of U.S. manufacturing jobs. Basic transportation (read: freedom of movement) will be less affordable for a huge swath of the American populace, forcing increased reliance on government-provided public transportation.
All the while China will be laughing. China controls most of the critical raw material inputs for the manufacture of EVs. So, too, will Warren Buffet, who is a major shareholder in BYD, China’s state-owned EV manufacturer. So will the CEOs of the American corporations, banks and hedge funds who are leveraging U.S. government (read: taxpayer) subsidies for “green energy” into profits for themselves and their respective institutions. So will leftist politicians, to whom an ever increasing cohort of government-dependent Americans will be electorally indebted for the necessities of life.
As the rising cost of basic transportation, food and housing makes ordinary Americans poorer, China and America’s corporate, academic and political elites get richer.
There’s nothing wrong with EVs competing in the marketplace for transportation. The same for policies that promote efficient energy production and usage together with responsible stewardship of the planet.
But that’s not what’s happening. What’s happening is cynical manipulation of Western economies that uses the “climate crisis” as an excuse for the purpose of enriching the few while impoverishing the many.
It remains to be seen if the many will obligingly stand for it.
Great column Mr. Gleiser.. kudos sir!
American citizens should be clear about one thing. The few “pushing” this climate agenda have a “hate for AMERICAN fossil fuels” as fossil fuel is the inherent strength and natural resource wealth of The United States. For our nation has abundant COAL, OIL, and NATURAL GAS.. Marxist communist China does NOT. Importantly also to note, as you mentioned in your column, the U.S. auto, suv, and truck industry is inextricably linked to low cost gasoline and diesel fuel.. something “greenies” are working hard to sabotage via destructive EPA policy which harms independent truck operators and everyday drivers.
Low cost diesel, jet, and gasoline, such as during Trump’s term, was a boon to the The United States, strengthening our position on the world stage, keeping China and the Russian Federation in check and apart. As well, low prices at the fuel pump afforded all American Citizens great autonomy and FREEDOM and that’s ALWAYS a good thing. Oppose any candidate who doesn’t support that position.
The evil forces “pushing” this so-called climate benefiting agenda DESPISE our nation as Founded 1776 because we are Citizens with God given Rights, not serfs to be stepped on by the WEF, WHO, and the Marxist left aka Democrats foisting this totalitarian “green lie.”
If you want the GOOD THINGS back, and to start our country going in the right direction and out of the ditch, vote conservative Republican i.e. Trump 2024 and for those who are American fossil fuel friendly.
Remember, to the Democrats, election day is a 45-60 day process in some states. Republican voters cannot wait, but must cast their vote ahead, not just matching, but besting dems move for move and then some, to win.
Ah, John Kerry/ Genghis Khan, married money which makes him one of the most intelligent people on planet earth. ALL HAIL THE CLIMATE CZAR! Wonder what Al Gore thinks of him in private? Remember the Czars I have mentioned before; all what, 32 of them? This topic is only one; but one of the most lucrative to a few. How many people remember Solyndra from the Obama era? They were given something to the effect of $800 million tax dollars to make solar panels in California and suddenly went bankrupt and the money disappeared like a puff of smoke never to be accounted for again or questioned. Guess what!!! They are still around in California as a Green Energy company; huh! Climate Change Crisis, Chicken Little Effect, is a money making boondoggle of the largest and most evil kind. If we were smart, we would find out who those companies are, if they trade on Wall Street, and invest to make money off a lie. Face some facts, If Biden is elected again; we the conservatives are cooked gooses. Might as well cash in and try and beat them at their own game.
Only the Scientific and Engineering ignoramuses could ever be so stupid as to push for the “green energy” dogma with wind and solar as the “net zero” utopia to save the planet from the fake disaster “climate change” due to the carbon dioxide “pollutant” that is the FOOD for all plant life that we and animal life must consume to stay alive. Furthermore, INTERMITTENT power sources of wind and solar CANNOT support a modern society that must have BASE LOAD CONTINUOUS DUTY ELECTRIC POWER without forcing us into slave-like poverty for the bulk of society. Hello! Isn’t that the goal of these Criminal Communist Collaborators? Beware of Communist inspired false dogma that distorts reality in order for us to commit National suicide while Communism replaces our Constitutional Republic WITHOUT A SHOT!
It should be noted, once upon a time, not so long, any person in the U.S.A. who “actively engaged with*” (*i.e. worked for) Communist/Marxist groups seeking to subvert The Constitution was a crime as such was considered to be the commission of TREASON aka the wanton undermining of Freedom, and the Rule of Law of our Republic.. thus a direct attack upon our capitalist free enterprise American way of life known to those of us who love “her”.. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, as founded 1776.
Such traitorous betrayal of our cherished Constitutional Republic formerly warranted imprisonment or DEATH such as in the case of communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1953) who passed national security secrets to the Marxist Soviets regarding nuclear weapons research endangering us all. Such individuals are enemies of America, or to say another way most adamantly.. “NOT A FRIEND OF ANY AMERCAN” in any way, shape, or form. I completely concur.
TODAY, currently, how is it, that our Nation tolerates and seemingly “gives” “such sketchy people” at the HIGHEST levels of the current executive branch administration of our own federal government “a pass?” , especially in view that we cherish our Country which is rooted in LAW and ORDER?
I know we have VERY GOOD people of similar levels of highest authority in the federal government who OPPOSE “these sketchy individuals,” who could do something, but again, seem to just “pull down the window shade” like Wile E. Coyote, hoping that the whatever something bad which is about to happen.. thou glaringly eminent.. won’t. I say, don’t close your eyes or grovel in despair as “some” may do, but “STAND!” Write a letter (.63 cents is all a stamp costs) or write an email, call, text, and fax. One person CAN make a difference!
If you’re an honest man or woman, an individual of goodwill in a position of AUTHORITY, and can do something positive such as.. being a whistle blower (someone who has discovered actual wrongdoing) or.. doing your job as a lawful prosecutor, judge, or peace officer, please act by raising your important voice for GOOD against those who espouse the evil-minded collectivist woke Marxist system of CCP China, for nothing virtuous or of The Truth can come from such darkness.
Marxism/wokeism/communism, one in the same, have NO PLACE in the U.S.A., as our Citizens deserve better and will fight for the best.. Faith, Family, and Freedom, as our long held Christian heritage and culture has yielded us countless blessings over our 247 years. God bless America always and forever more.