The apocalyptic talk about climate change is nothing more than a diversion tactic by the government, the radical Left, and its mainstream press. The many laws, trillions in federal appropriations and tax credits, and the unworkable proposals to address climate change will not slow the rise of the oceans or heal the planet. Lobbying for more climate regulation is to enhance the power of the authoritarian state, not protect the environment.
The radical Left has the world obsessing over whether we have 10, 20, or 50 years before the eve of destruction. The hysteria gives the government the excuse it needs for more controls over the energy we use, the products we purchase, the homes we live in, the food we eat, and since the pandemic when we can leave our homes. However, the data supporting the climate studies are rarely released so scientists can test the reproducibility of the studies.
Citizens of the United States already live under a legal framework that contains over 3000 separate criminal offenses in 50 titles of the U.S. Code, 23,000 pages of federal law, over 200,000 regulations, and almost daily Executive Orders that usually limit those actions deemed objectionable to the kakistocracy. Additionally, the government has in reserve 136 emergency laws allowing it to assume control over industrial production, communications and banking, and most aspects of commerce. Most of these emergency laws are effective when the president declares them effective.
“Predictions of apocalyptic events that would result in the extinction of humanity, a collapse of civilization, or the destruction of the planet have been made since at least the beginning of the Common Era.” So far, the planet still exists. George Orwell noted – “People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their wishes, and the grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.”
In the case of climate change, those who foresee the future believe that capitalism is a cancer on the earth, humans must go, truth is irrelevant. The Left’s Little Red Book on Forming a New Green Republic captures the many statements by the Left espousing these goals. One of its leaders, Prince Phillip, calmly states, “If I were reincarnated, I would wish to be returned to earth as a killer virus to lower human population levels.” Perhaps Covid-19 gave him his wish?
The thumbprint of the radical Left is everywhere. In one year, the Biden administration used executive power to shut down the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska, the Keystone Pipeline, and the EastMed natural gas pipeline that would supply gas to Europe. Without energy, the world crumbles, but that is a tactic the radical Left uses to achieve its agenda.
By shutting down U.S. energy supplies, Biden harms the security and economy of the U.S. The U.S. is forced to rely on terrorist states (Russia, Saudi Arabia, and now Iran and Venezuela), to produce dirty fuels so that we can chug along. Unless there is an ulterior motive, no sane world leader would ever put his nation at the mercy of terrorists.
The radical Left plays the federal regulatory system like a grandmaster pianist. With Citizen Suit provisions incorporated in all environmental laws, the Left routinely blocks industries needing federal permits.
Wielding the power of the citizen suit provisions, the radical Left uses the Clean Water Act to regulate farming and home building since water flows over the land. The Left uses the Clean Air Act to deny permits to almost any activity having air emissions, which includes manufacturing, energy production, and transportation. The National Environmental Protection Act is used to stall permits for years, sometimes decades, merely by alleging a thousand-page environmental impact statement is not sufficiently robust.
In addition to impeding economic development, the radical Left forces government to regulate almost every item in the home, including dishwashers, washing machines, showerheads, toilets, ceiling fans, light bulbs, heating and air conditioning units, stoves, ovens, refrigerators, and conventional cooking products. Seventy-four regulatory standards cover these products. Another 15,000 products, from coffee pots to ink cartridges, are regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Now the radical Left wants to ban many common foods, including sugar, chocolate, coffee, meat, palm oil, soybeans, mineral water, plastic bottles, fish, especially salmon, rice and cereal, and any fruits and vegetables that require water.
Another radical Left group identifies the top 10 foods that harm the climate: lamb, beef pork, chicken, turkey, salmon, canned tuna, cheese, eggs, and potatoes.
But for plastic packaging that preserves our food, the radical Left has 25 reasons for banning it. They also want to ban soda straws – but say nothing about billions of pounds of plastic and polysilicon solar panels embedded with toxic metals.
Now the radical Left is demanding the Federal Reserve break up banks if they make loans or investments in operations that harm the earth.
These restrictions rest on a political narrative that our way of life will result in an apocalypse. The apocalypse narrative disguises the government’s real agenda – a more authoritarian government.
It’s all about authoritarian control, stupid!
The only appropriate summation of this article is to quote David Forman, a radical Left environmental movement founder. Forman states, “Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental.”
Based on the hypocritical actions of many of the Left’s leaders, like Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Lori Lightfoot, AOC, Nancy Pelosi, Stacy Abrams, and hundreds of others, it should be assumed they would be exempt from Forman’s phase-out.
William L. Kovacs has served as senior vice-president for the US Chamber of Commerce, chief counsel to a congressional committee, and a partner in law DC law firms. His book Reform the Kakistocracy is the winner of the 2021 Independent Press Award for Political/Social Change. His second book, The Left’s Little Red Book on Forming a New Green Republic, quotes the Left on how it intends to control society by eliminating capitalism, people, and truth.
This article was initially published in Townhall, March 22, 2022.
