Climate activists who want to be “ unburdened by what had been” will eagerly support Vice President Kamala Harris as President Joe Biden’s replacement. But her long-held climate beliefs should concern everyday Americans.
Prior to becoming vice president, then-Sen. Harris was an original backer of the Green New Deal. Harris claimed climate change is “an existential threat” to the United States worth sacrificing first-world living standards and tacking on a litany of progressive wish-list items such as free housing, universal healthcare, and free higher education.
And if you think Harris might have moderated her views, the Biden-Harris administration has been committed to a net-zero economy by 2050 , an economically and environmentally unsustainable path.
Harris will continue Biden’s war on energy. In 2019, Harris declared in a CNN town hall that she favored a fracking ban before flip-flopping on the subject. This won’t sit well in swing state Pennsylvania, home to the Marcellus Shale and 423,000 oil and gas jobs.
Harris has said she believes in “science fact ,” except she and Biden paused future liquefied natural gas export projects after consulting TikTok climate activists. Natural gas is abundant, clean, and safe to use, unlike intermittent and heavily subsidized sources solar and wind, but it remains out of favor with extreme climate activists, including Harris.
The solar industry isn’t doing well, even with Inflation Reduction Act subsidies and a regulatory regime giving it a competitive edge. A major residential solar installer is expected to declare bankruptcy soon, adding to dim prospects for the fledgling industry. Wind isn’t doing well, either, with onshore wind electricity generation witnessing the first-ever decline in wind speeds, by 2.1%, since the 1990s. The Biden-Harris administration’s goal to produce 30 gigawatts of electricity from offshore wind is untenable and likely doomed .
Harris sees climate policy as a way to advance redistributionist policies, not as a way to power society safely. If elected president, she’ll maintain the existing Justice40 initiative that gives 40% of federal investments to underserved communities under the guise of fighting climate change. The Clean School Bus Program , a Harris priority aligned with Justice40, has only delivered 60 school buses for $5 billion.
Environmental justice programs are wrought with corruption and don’t help those affected by pollution. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) revealed 90% of spending for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program, falling under the initiative, was used on overhead costs instead of helping underserved communities.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A Harris administration would deprioritize our energy needs by putting equity and indigenous knowledge considerations above cutting red tape and deregulation, dooming projects never to come online. Equity considerations have already derailed the Department of Transportation’s goal to install 500,000 public electric vehicle charging stations nationally by 2030.
Our nation is in dire need of leadership on energy matters to unburden us from climate alarmism. A President Harris would put the U.S. on a path to energy insecurity and grid instability to chase elusive green dreams.
Gabriella Hoffman is a senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Voice. Follow her at @Gabby_Hoffman .
Local News
