Calls for “Climate Policies” are Frequently About Something Else

September 8, 2021

There’s a saying in politics, “never let a good crisis go to waste.”  That motto must have been going through the head of President Biden yesterday, as he used a tour of hurricane-damaged areas in the Northeast to push his climate initiatives. CNN reports:

But the President also adopted a more overtly political tone than might normally be expected for such visits, specifically linking Ida’s vicious power to the climate crisis, and arguing that wrecked homes made the case for his signature bills.

It’s not surprising to see the President use storm damage as a backdrop to push for his policy priorities, but voters should be leery. Last week, PTF noted a new survey that found many voters are susceptible to falling for misinformation about the costs and impacts of climate change.

On top of that, much of the Green New Deal being promoted by leading environmental activists has little to do with the environment or climate change at all. In fact, a previous CNN report looked at what is actually in the Green New Deal. Among other things, the article reports that the plan calls for:

• Guaranteed job, leave, vacation and retirement
• Strengthening and enforcing labor laws
• Providing high-quality education, including higher education, to all people of the United States
• Providing all people of the United States with high-quality health care, affordable housing and economic security.

Based on one’s politics, they may or may not support any of these initiatives. But it’s more than a little disingenuous to put them into a proposal that is supposed to be focused on the environment. Just like Biden’s infrastructure and spending bills, which basically turned into the eco-left’s wish list of anything and everything including GND climate policies.

So, when you see the Biden administration or others calling for new policies to address climate change, the wise thing to do is look into the details – which frequently have nothing to do with the environment at all.