The Patriot Post® · The Futility of Biden's Climate Act
President Joe Biden has some big plans for tackling climate change, or rather radical leftists have voiced through their puppet Joe Biden big plans to tackle climate change. Naturally, these plans are totally unrealistic, calling for massive changes in consumer and commercial behavior that are not feasible without demolishing the nation’s economy. And even if the ecofascists manage to pull it off, the positive impact their policies would have on the climate would be negligible.
Take Biden’s latest call for a border carbon adjustment. This plan would establish what essentially amounts to a tariff on foreign goods entering the country that are carbon intensive. It would apply to goods such as steel, aluminum, glass, and certain agricultural products, which release large amounts of CO2 during production. The idea is to force China and other countries “failing to meet their climate and environmental obligations” to toe the climate line.
The big hurdle for this carbon tariff is that there is no domestic carbon tax with which to connect it. The U.S. has yet to enact a carbon tax on domestic manufacturers to force them to reduce their carbon footprint. Economists point out that it would be extremely difficult to establish a reasonable carbon tariff if there was no domestic tax to pin it to. Additionally, other countries would not take kindly to the U.S. taxing them for their carbon-related production if it were not taxing its own producers. Such an action could lead to an environmental-related trade war.
Biden and his ilk are sorely mistaken if they believe that a carbon tariff will bring China to heel on climate change. Other than paying lip service to the idea of tackling climate change for the sake of its international image, the communist state has zero interest in a cleaner environment.
Well, unless there’s profit to be earned by forcing Uyghur slaves to make solar panels.
China produced more greenhouse gases in 2019 than all of the developed nations of the world combined. This was revealed in a new study by the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm focusing on Chinese and Indian economic development and impact.
China’s greenhouse gas emissions have tripled since 1990, and it now accounts for 27% of all GHG emissions. The U.S. is a distant second at 11%, with India and the EU each accounting for roughly 6.5%. China’s massive industrial and military buildup over the past 30 years is the cause of this spike. In their bid for international hegemony, the ChiComs have cast aside any concern for the environmental impact of their near-term activity.
Beijing’s apologists are quick to point out that this economic boom happened relatively recently, letting the ChiComs off the hook for the damage done to the environment historically. And because China is the world’s most populous nation, it’s unavoidable.
Hogwash. China does not deserve to be held to a different standard, just as it does not deserve to still be labeled as a “developing nation” by the World Trade Organization. Even teenage climate guru Greta Thunberg is disgusted. And when you’ve lost Greta…
Sad to say, Biden is paying lip service to climate change much like China is, which should come as no surprise. Such behavior is stock-in-trade for leftist politicians. The president talks a good game about how we will cut emissions and halve GHG output and minimize pollution and slice and dice other climate-related numbers. In the end, though, the will to change behaviors and the innovation to develop clean technology and business practices can’t be mandated into existence. More progress will be made if government just got out of the way. And isn’t that generally the case?