OPINION:
Another year, another prediction of the climate apocalypse. The latest United Nations report on global warming, released on March 20, proclaims “the world is likely to surpass its most ambitious climate targetby the early 2030s,” after which “climate disasters will become so extreme that people will not be able to adapt.”
This is, of course, extreme hyperbole. When prophets of climate doom indulge in rhetorical excesses like the UN Secretary General’s announcement of “a code red for humanity,” they open themselves to ridicule. And when the so-called experts lock themselves into predictions that later prove false, they call their supposed expertise into serious question.
Nevertheless, as a policymaker entrusted to represent a state that is uniquely impacted by the climate, I recognize there is a legitimate public interest in improving America’s environmental sustainability and adaptability. Far from denying the value of climate-conscious efforts, I have led them for years, including improvements to Florida’s coastal resilience through ecosystem restoration, flood risk reduction, and other nature-based solutions.
It exposes the Left’s slander that all Republicans want to do is “block climate action.” To the contrary, what common-sense Republicans like me want to do is block Democrats’ fake green agenda, because it is Democrat policies, not the GOP, that pose the greater threat to America’s environment.
For one, just look at how the Left’s renewables-only approach undermines efforts to create a truly sustainable domestic energy grid. People who are serious about increasing America’s climate resilience agree that we cannot operate on solar and wind alone, because in their current state, those technologies cannot supply enough power to keep our nation running. In recent years, transitioning from coal to natural gas, a comparatively green fossil fuel, has actually reduced U.S. emissions more than renewables have, while also reducing consumer costs. Expanding the natural gas industry and investing more resources in nuclear power plants are probably the two surest ways our leaders could lighten America’s carbon footprint and ensure energy affordability. And yet, President Joe Biden is actively trying to “end fossil fuels,” including natural gas.
Not only is that bad news for the environment, it would also have a severe price inflation effect. In a global food economy run by natural gas-based nitrogen fertilizer and diesel-fueled transportation, increased input costs can make the difference between the world’s poorest people being able to afford their next meal and their going hungry. It should be obvious that forcibly “ending” fossil fuels would kill many more people than global warming.
Similarly, forcibly transitioning to renewables would exacerbate unique threats that the “clean” energy industry poses to both basic human rights and the environment. Currently, most supply chains for renewables begin and end in poorer nations, where greedy companies regularly commit ethical and ecological horrors. Research from 2020 reveals “widespread child labor, the subjugation of ethnic minorities, toxic pollution, biodiversity loss, and gender inequality along the length of the supply chain” for cobalt, a key electric vehicle component. Until that changes, a renewables-only approach should remain unthinkable.
The craziness doesn’t end there, though, because Democrats’ green agenda is also strengthening China. This happens when federal subsidies intended to support the domestic renewable energy industry end up supporting Chinese companies. It happens when the U.S. government’s encouragement of solar panels and electric cars enriches the Chinese manufacturers whose intellectual property theft and economic bullying have allowed them to corner the market on those products. And it happens when Washington goes soft on China to encourage Beijing’s cooperation on the “climate crisis.”
This isn’t just problematic because the Chinese Communist Party is America’s foremost geopolitical adversary. It’s also bad for environmental reasons, because any climate “gains” that depend on shifting industry from the U.S. to China are no gains at all. China is the greatest source of greenhouse gases in the world, and those emissions are only set to increase, despite this administration’s talk of striking a climate deal with Beijing. Paradoxically, the best thing our nation can do to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions is to relight the fires of American manufacturing.
Democrats know this, but they are too beholden to multinational corporations and hedge fund managers who benefit from the status quo to care. President Biden even appointed their operatives to the highest levels of his administration. The Left has adopted the vocabulary of fanatical activists to greenwash and obfuscate its grift while it doubles down on cheap coal-powered and slave-driven foreign supply chains.
We do need a comprehensive, realistic approach to improve the environment and enhance climate resilience, but Democrats’ agenda is dangerous for America and the world. For that reason, I will continue to oppose left-wing laws tailored for ideologues, special interests, and Beijing.
• U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He is also a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, the Appropriations Committee, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, and the Special Committee on Aging. He was born in Miami, after his parents came to the United States from Cuba in search of the American Dream.
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