Dan Rodricks: No, Biden’s energy agenda is not a threat to democracy | STAFF COMMENTARY

At age 73, Bill Barr is eligible for Social Security and Medicare, but I trust he’s been refusing those benefits. The former U.S. attorney general thinks the greatest threat to our democracy is “the collectivist socialist agenda,” so it would be the pinnacle of hypocrisy for Barr to simultaneously decry and enjoy the fruits of that agenda.

Then again, Barr is the man in the empty gray suit.

He once said Donald Trump “shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office,” but now vows to vote for him in November.

You’d think Barr, who was repulsed by Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, would see the former Republican president as a threat to our democracy.

But no, he told CNN, it’s “the progressive movement and the Biden administration” that pose the greatest threats.

Wow.

That seems like an absurdly extreme thing to say. What is it about the Biden administration that bothers Barr so much that he’d vote instead for a man who speaks of being a dictator and using the Department of Justice to exact revenge from political opponents?

Barr’s answer: “Telling people what kind of stoves they can use and what kinds of cars they have to drive and, you know, eliminating cars and so forth. Yeah, those are the threats to democracy.”

That’s not only absurd, but a lie: The Biden administration is not telling Americans what kind of stoves or cars they can buy. We hear so much of this stuff from Republicans — cynical assertions, wild exaggerations, outright lies, rationalizations for supporting Trump — that correcting the record becomes an exhausting exercise.

But let’s go down this path. I promise that it will lead to some useful information, and not just for Marylanders, but for Americans everywhere.

First, Barr’s reference to cars likely stems from the Biden administration’s push to see more Americans driving electric vehicles, part of a national effort to stem climate change. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022 by Congress without a single Republican vote, is packed with incentives for the purchase of certain electric vehicles.

No one is telling us what kinds of cars we have to buy, but the push toward electrification in how we travel — and how we heat and cool our homes, how we cook our food — is definitely there.

That push does not represent a threat to democracy.

It’s part of a comprehensive plan to deal with the threat to life on Earth.

And if the government does not set goals for dealing with climate change, who will? Exxon Mobil? General Motors?

Barr’s rejection of the progressive agenda to reduce greenhouse gas emissions makes him sound like a Neanderthal who still believes the environmental threat is exaggerated. He’s not alone. Republicans in Congress spend a ridiculous amount of time ridiculing efforts toward electrification, and right-wing media seems to relish the fact that EV sales have slowed in recent months. Apparently burning fossil fuels and continuing the degradation of Earth’s atmosphere is a way of “owning the libs.”

As for Barr’s mention of stoves — that stems from a debunked right-wing claim that the Biden administration intends to ban gas stoves. Nothing like that is happening. But the Inflation Reduction Act offers rebates or tax credits for installing or upgrading certain energy-efficient appliances, including stoves. Again, it’s part of the effort to stem climate change.

Getting the credits or rebates for electrification takes some work. You have to read about them to understand them, and it would help if more people who sell cars, appliances and heating systems have command of the facts.

I know: Converting to an all-electric life can be expensive and a pain in the neck. In that sense, some people will see what Bill Barr sees — a big inconvenience and an infringement on personal freedom.

But that’s so selfish and snowflakey.

Americans who care about the future, who understand that the clock is ticking on climate change, are the grownups in the room. They’ll accept responsibility to consider getting away from natural gas in their homes and gasoline in their cars.

In Maryland, there’s been progress on the home front, but not enough because energy companies and contractors are still pushing natural gas furnaces over electric heat pumps. That’s one of the key messages from the Office of the People’s Counsel, the public’s advocate at the Public Service Commission.

In a new report about the state’s efforts to promote energy efficiency, the OPC says improvements in energy use through the EmPOWER Maryland program last year saved “as much power as used in more than 700,000 homes in a year.”

That’s good, but far below the program’s potential, especially when it comes to heating and cooling homes; that’s where, by going electric, residential customers can see the biggest reductions in their bills and their greenhouse gas emissions.

The OPC report says utilities continue to undermine their customers’ economic interests as well as state climate policy by locking customers into gas appliances for 10 to 20 years. And they’ve even done this in thousands of new homes that could have been totally electric.

It’s a lot to think about, all of this energy stuff. Full electrification of an existing house will be costly, even with incentives. But its consideration is a responsibility of being an American citizen in the 21st century. No one will call you a threat to democracy if you dump your gas stove.