My latest at the Washington Examiner. Please support Junkcience.com!
Late summer and fall will likely see congressional action on two major pieces of legislation addressing climate: the trillion-dollar infrastructure plan and the $3.5 trillion Democratic wish list, which Democrats intend to force through the Senate with a tiebreaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris.
There are a lot of reasons for Republicans to oppose both bills vehemently. And those reasons can all be summed up in one word: China.
China both defines the futility and the danger of this legislation and the entire climate agenda. And futility plus danger just equals foolishness.
With respect to futility, the International Energy Agency just came out with a new report that states quite clearly, “We estimate … implementation of the economic recovery measures announced to date would result in CO2 emissions climbing to record levels in 2023, continuing to rise thereafter.”
That comes on the heels of another IEA report that concluded that electricity demand in the post-COVID-19 world is rebounding so strongly that it can only be met by more fossil fuel electricity generation.
Much of this growth in emissions is because of China.
In addition to China’s general plan to increase coal and gas burning, a heat wave has convinced Chinese leaders that they need to increase coal-burning even more. With coal prices at record highs, China has “vowed” a massive buildup of coal reserves and plans to increase coal production for the rest of this year by 110 million tons, about 20% of total U.S. coal production.
Although China is a world leader in solar panel and wind turbine manufacture, allegedly competitive with coal in terms of affordability, its real-world needs call for burning more coal, which incidentally is needed to make all the solar and wind equipment for export.
Climate alarmists are trying to make much of China starting a new emissions trading system. But the goal of the system is not to reduce emissions; the goal is to improve the efficiency of its inefficient coal plants so it gets more electricity from the coal it burns.
All this is in line with China’s long-term goal of becoming the world’s sole global superpower by 2049. And President Joe Biden and the Democratic bills are playing right into China’s hands.
Biden’s infrastructure bill would provide money for a network of electric vehicle charging stations. The $3.5 trillion monster bill would, among other things, require a so-called clean energy standard mandating that utilities abandon clean and affordable coal and natural gas and invest in expensive and unreliable wind and solar. Moving past questions about the expense and feasibility of green technology, another IEA report details how alarmingly dependent on China is all the green technology for wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles.
The Biden administration has offered no solution for how to avoid becoming dependent on China for green technology.
And China plans to use this dependence against opponents. Last fall, China announced a law that would ban exports of strategic materials for national security reasons.
China is already using its economic leverage to tame mere critics. When Australia criticized China for its handling of COVID-19, China retaliated with trade embargoes and restrictions. Australian coal barges, for example, spent months stranded in Chinese water unable to unload and unable to leave. This spring, China successfully threatened Japan not to join with Western nations on sanctions related to Chinese slave labor practices.
What responsible politician in their right mind would vote for legislation that will accomplish nothing but put us at the mercy of our purposefully aggressive global adversary?
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has detailed the scorched-earth tactics he would use to protect the filibuster in the Senate. Inspired by the Texas Democratic skedaddle out of the state, Sen. Lindsey Graham said about a vote on the $3.5 trillion package, “You got to have a quorum to pass a bill in the Senate. I would leave before I let that happen.”
None of that is very collegial, but it may very well be necessary for Republicans to break some Senate china.
Steve Milloy publishes JunkScience.com and is the author of Scare Pollution: How and Why to Fix the EPA.
If there is a need for charging stations, private industry would build them. They could be places at existing gas stations of restaurants. There is a nearby Tesla charging station at a shopping center. I have never seen a Tesla parked at the station. The local Nissan dealer has a charging station. When I go for service, it’s always empty.