The Patriot Post® · Democrats Are 'Green' Energy Hypocrites

We’ve got to hand it to Joe Biden: He’s all in on “green” energy.

In fact, Biden’s only solution to skyrocketing gas prices here at home is urging us to stop using so much of it.

Most Democrats are on board with Biden’s plan. Indeed, Democrats who have been pushing us to “go green” in recent years keep trying to sell us on a future in which windmills and solar panels will power the country, and electric cars will replace our current internal combustion dinosaurs.

With this in mind, would it surprise you to learn that many of the greenest members of Congress are getting filthy rich off the fossil fuel industry?

It’s true. “Some of Congress’ most passionate advocates for tackling climate change have a different green issue when it comes to fossil fuel markets: money,” The Washington Times reports. “With sharp rises in energy costs in recent months, several Democrats in Congress or their spouses have made financial investments in energy companies with large fossil fuel portfolios.”

The Times adds, “In one instance, Rep. Lois Frankel of Florida, an environmental champion and strong supporter of the Green New Deal, ditched her stake in a solar energy business and invested as much as $60,000 into fossil fuel companies.”

Of course, one of the benefits of a free society is that people are allowed to invest their own money as they see fit. If the congresswoman happens to strike it rich by investing in black gold, well, good for her.

But it does raise a couple of interesting questions. First, if Democrats like Frankel really believe that our future is in green energy, why don’t they put their money where their sanctimonious green mouths are — in green energy investments? And second, do they really think solar-powered factories are the wave of the future, or are they merely playing along cynically in order to appease their left-wing colleagues and voters?

Actions tend to speak louder than words.

After all, green initiatives have resulted in cutting back domestic oil and gas production, regulating fracking, and leaving Europe dependent on Russia for energy. Even worse, given Vladimir Putin’s savage and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, is that instead of the U.S. filling the European energy void, we’ve decided to be dependent on Russia, too.

Essentially, Democrats are punishing Americans by forcing them to either spend money they don’t have on an electric car or pay $4 a gallon at the pump. And at the same time they’re telling us to “go green,” they’re reaping the benefits of their own fossil fuel investments.

At least 22 congressional Democrats directly support companies that rely on fossil fuels while at the same time receiving praise for embracing the Left’s radical climate agenda and enjoying an exalted status in the League of Conservation Voters’ environmental rankings. According to Business Insider: “A plurality (nine) of the Democrats invested in Exxon Mobil. Eight invested in Dominion Energy, while six invested in each of Duke Energy and Chevron. Other energy-sector leaders that members of Congress invested in during 2020 include BP, ConocoPhillips, Consoldiated Edison, Exelon, Shell, and Valero Energy.”

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is the biggest hypocrite — or perhaps simply the most realistic one. Manchin serves on the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee and helps President Biden craft green initiatives while at the same time having hauled in “over $1 million in income from Enersystems, a coal brokerage firm the senator founded in the 1980s.”

Not surprisingly, most of the hypocrisy is on the Left. That’s because, as The New York Times reports, not a single Senate Republican supported the climate provisions within Biden’s moribund Build Back Better Act.

If we’ve learned one thing about the war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices here at home, it’s that fossil fuels power the world and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future — especially given that today’s inefficient and unreliable “green” energy fuel sources aren’t even remotely capable of meeting the world’s energy needs.

If solar panels and windmills could affordably power our factories and heat our homes, we wouldn’t need snake oil salesmen in Congress to convince us to buy into green energy. And if Democrats were being honest about the future of energy, they wouldn’t be subjecting us to all this hot air about sustainability and renewable energy.

In the meantime, we’ll just follow the money trail.