The Green Version of Socialism

In my previous column, I described the socialistic character of the greens’ masterplan for American society in the name of “climate change.” In one important way, the current green iteration of socialism is like prior versions: It clearly demonstrates the incompetence of top-down economic central planning. In another way, though, it is strikingly different: There is virtually no rhetoric about uplifting the poor.

Let’s examine the incompetence issue first.

Consider:

• The poster child for green socialism’s absurdity undoubtedly is the embarrassing report that $7.5 billion of government investment has so far only produced “7 or 8” EV charging stations.
• The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that power production from wind is declining even as subsidies to wind energy continue to rise.
• Late last summer, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) assessed the five greatest risks to the reliability of the USA’s electric power grid. The top-ranked risk was government energy policy, as the green fanatics insist on replacing time-tested energy sources (primarily fossil fuels) with less reliable and less affordable alternatives (i.e., solar and wind).
• Socialistic incompetence is obvious when some of the planners are pushing electric vehicles (EVs) that increase demand for electricity at the same time other planners are imposing green mandates that hamper the production of electricity. Even when the ill-considered detour into EVs eventually becomes a passé fad, today’s unreliable, supply-crimping electricity policies should be seen as working against a prosperous future. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cryptocurrencies, virtual reality, and who knows what other innovations will require massive increases in production of reliable electricity, but the greens are oblivious to this reality. Did they not learn that the unprecedented economic progress of the past century-plus was a result of harnessing electricity?
• And let us not overlook the horrific environmental costs of green socialism. Besides being an economic boondoggle, wind energy in particular is causing an environmental catastrophe. Besides killing right whales, wind turbines kill millions of bats, birds (some endangered species) and insects every year. Yet, environmentalists, who once cheered when Uncle Sam would impose a huge fine on an oil company if a couple of dozen birds perished on their property, now call for the number of wind turbines to be massively increased. Greens, who squeal with indignation if a natural gas company lays a 36-inch pipeline anywhere, now call for 100-mile-wide swaths of natural habitat to be cleared to make room for ever-more turbines and the mind-boggling quantity of transmission lines needed to convey electricity from remote countryside to crowded cities. Plus, wind turbines collectively shed tons of microplastics annually with as-yet unknown consequences to human health through the air we breathe and the water we drink.

What About the Poor?

Other than some pro forma clichés from a few “climate justice” groupies about how the poor should be spared the costs of addressing climate change, we hear virtually nothing about how Team Biden’s green agenda will actually help the poor. Instead, what we have had is a barrage of green policies that mercilessly and relentlessly hammer the poor.

Low-income folks have been smacked with the inflation unleashed by the Biden spending binge to wage his war against fossil fuels. In the first three years of the Biden presidency, the price of heating oil has risen over 60 percent, gasoline 37 percent, and electricity 27 percent. Not surprisingly, since energy costs are embedded in virtually every other consumer price, prices in general have risen substantially, too. The poor have been taking it on the chin.

And there’s more economic pain on the way: The Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been issuing regulation after regulation mandating increased energy efficiency for stoves, refrigerators, hot water heaters, freezers, dishwashers, air conditioning units, heat pumps, light bulbs, etc. Maybe the good folks at the EPA view such items as luxuries, but to the average American today, they are necessities. The EPA’s regulations will jack up the prices of these modern amenities, in some cases by hundreds or thousands of dollars — far more than any savings from (hopefully) cheaper electricity. That can’t help but hurt the poor the most.

The greens warn us about the alleged danger of increased heat deaths due to global warming. Then by what logic do they pursue policies that dramatically raise the prices of electricity and of air conditioning units, which are human beings’ primary line of defense against heat?  Don’t be surprised if you start to encounter occasional heart-tugging reports about poor Americans having to choose between keeping the A/C on and eating three meals per day.

Not only is green socialism aggressively and shamelessly making the poor worse off, the green central plan adds insult to injury by doling out subsidies to upper-income Americans. EVs are unaffordable to poor Americans, but Uncle Sam gives thousands in tax breaks so that richer Americans will buy them.

Similarly, government subsidies incentivize well-to-do Americans to install solar panels on houses. A wealthy friend of mine in Florida received a generous tax break to put solar panels on his roof. Those tax-subsidized panels add to the value of his house. Plus, he receives a monthly payment from the electric utility company because the panels enable him to sell more electricity to the utility than the utility sells to him. Think about it: Poorer Americans are struggling to pay today’s higher electric bills, while richer Americans enjoy an additional income stream from their local power company thanks to taxpayer-funded subsidies.

Biden’s green version of socialism is typical in its display of arrogant self-righteousness matched by colossal economic ignorance. Meanwhile, the green agenda is rushing our society toward a totally unnecessary economic crisis made more tragic because of an oh-so-avoidable humanitarian crisis caused by green policies unfairly crushing the poor.

READ MORE from Mark W. Hendrickson:

Climate Change Socialism on the Attack

The US Is No Longer a Trustworthy Ally

Without the Never-Trump Vote, Trump Can’t Win

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