The Absolutely, Positively MUST READ for February

If you loved the worst of the "emergency" COVID lock-downs, you'll love the likely climate 'emergency' (CE) the Biden Administration is considering. 

The highly respected, and truly bipartisan, Brownstone Institute has published a highly readable paper about what will occur if President Biden declares a CE. You won't like what will come after. Some lowlights:

But what does it actually mean for the president of the US to officially declare a “climate emergency?”

Most people don’t realize that under US law, a national emergency declaration triggers a set of emergency powers that allows a president to act without the need for further legislation.

The scope of these powers is difficult to summarize, except to say that if exercised to their maximum extent, they potentially encompass vast areas of American life.

We already have too many of these. 

For civil libertarians across the political spectrum, from left to right, a “climate emergency” should be a focus of concern.

Even environmentalists who may instinctively and understandably support the idea should be worried about the potential for the authoritarian model of “emergency” governance that arose during COVID-19 to overtake climate policy.

Before that, I might have supported a “climate emergency” without a second thought. Now, after three years of lockdowns, mandates, censorship and other heavy-handed policies, the trust is gone.

The leaders pushing for a new emergency who have failed to repudiate the abuses of the last one — even those with the purest of intentions regarding the environment — have lost credibility.

Environmental advocacy groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity have called on the Biden administration to invoke specific emergency statutes that would give him the power to:

• Ban crude oil exports.
• Stop oil and gas drilling on the outer continental shelf.
• Curtail international trade and investment in fossil fuels.

The entire essay will scare you to death.... as it should. As I see it, we are spending trillions without creating genuine solutions. I often think that is the goal because if we start decreasing the carbon concentration in the atmosphere, there is no reason for giant dollars to flow into Big Climate. 

If the Biden Administration creates the CE, gas will go north of $10/gallon, the electricity for your home will double or triple, and life will become much more costly and difficult -- all unnecessarily. 

Four ended up in the hospital after a battery 
burst into flames. 

Here is what we need to do:

1. A crash program to install hydro (in the limited locations where it is practical) and nuclear (preferably new generation). 
2. Stop the installation of additional wind. Stop the installation of current-generation solar but continue the R&D to see if solar can be made more competitive.
3. Do not retire any additional nuclear or fossil fuel plants until #1 is accomplished. 
4. Stop the tax subsidies for electric cars. The grid cannot handle them, they catch (difficult to extinguish) fire, and they are so heavy they create excess wear and tear on roadways. If there are to be more charging stations, fine, but those should be private-sector projects with no tax money involved.

The United States is already doing more than its share with regard to cutting greenhouse gas. If we accomplish items 1-4, we'll be in great shape and will accomplish far more than any politically-based climate emergency.