In my previous column, I described the socialistic character of the greens’ masterplan for American society in the name of “climate change.” In one important way, the current green iteration of socialism is like prior versions: It clearly demonstrates the...
The post The Green Version of Socialism appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.
In my previous column, I described the socialistic character of the greens’ masterplan for American society in the name of “climate change.” In one important way, the current green iteration of socialism is like prior versions: It clearly demonstrates the incompetence of top-down economic central planning. In another way, though, it is strikingly different: There is virtually no rhetoric about uplifting the poor.
Let’s examine the incompetence issue first.
Consider:
Other than some pro forma clichés from a few “climate justice” groupies about how the poor should be spared the costs of addressing climate change, we hear virtually nothing about how Team Biden’s green agenda will actually help the poor. Instead, what we have had is a barrage of green policies that mercilessly and relentlessly hammer the poor.
Low-income folks have been smacked with the inflation unleashed by the Biden spending binge to wage his war against fossil fuels. In the first three years of the Biden presidency, the price of heating oil has risen over 60 percent, gasoline 37 percent, and electricity 27 percent. Not surprisingly, since energy costs are embedded in virtually every other consumer price, prices in general have risen substantially, too. The poor have been taking it on the chin.
And there’s more economic pain on the way: The Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been issuing regulation after regulation mandating increased energy efficiency for stoves, refrigerators, hot water heaters, freezers, dishwashers, air conditioning units, heat pumps, light bulbs, etc. Maybe the good folks at the EPA view such items as luxuries, but to the average American today, they are necessities. The EPA’s regulations will jack up the prices of these modern amenities, in some cases by hundreds or thousands of dollars — far more than any savings from (hopefully) cheaper electricity. That can’t help but hurt the poor the most.
The greens warn us about the alleged danger of increased heat deaths due to global warming. Then by what logic do they pursue policies that dramatically raise the prices of electricity and of air conditioning units, which are human beings’ primary line of defense against heat? Don’t be surprised if you start to encounter occasional heart-tugging reports about poor Americans having to choose between keeping the A/C on and eating three meals per day.
Not only is green socialism aggressively and shamelessly making the poor worse off, the green central plan adds insult to injury by doling out subsidies to upper-income Americans. EVs are unaffordable to poor Americans, but Uncle Sam gives thousands in tax breaks so that richer Americans will buy them.
Similarly, government subsidies incentivize well-to-do Americans to install solar panels on houses. A wealthy friend of mine in Florida received a generous tax break to put solar panels on his roof. Those tax-subsidized panels add to the value of his house. Plus, he receives a monthly payment from the electric utility company because the panels enable him to sell more electricity to the utility than the utility sells to him. Think about it: Poorer Americans are struggling to pay today’s higher electric bills, while richer Americans enjoy an additional income stream from their local power company thanks to taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Biden’s green version of socialism is typical in its display of arrogant self-righteousness matched by colossal economic ignorance. Meanwhile, the green agenda is rushing our society toward a totally unnecessary economic crisis made more tragic because of an oh-so-avoidable humanitarian crisis caused by green policies unfairly crushing the poor.
READ MORE from Mark W. Hendrickson:
Climate Change Socialism on the Attack
The US Is No Longer a Trustworthy Ally
Without the Never-Trump Vote, Trump Can’t Win
The post The Green Version of Socialism appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.