Governments that ignore economic realities and instead attempt to impose a political ideology on their nation’s economy will, even in the best case, raise the cost of living for their people while falling short of their utopian goals. In the worst case, their actions will bring about famine and poverty. This was one of the most important lessons we learned from the Cold War: Centrally planned economies guided by ideology cannot stand against economies which embrace the free market.
The fact that Communism and other collectivist, ideologically driven economies utterly failed has unfortunately been forgotten by far too many today. The delusions inherent in woke, green energy policy demand a similar subservience of national security and economic policy to the all-encompassing demands of progressive green activists. This now threatens even the healthiest economies, with the consequences of these delusions hitting countries around the world, regardless of their economic size.
In Sri Lanka, the government issued a mandate that all chemical fertilizers would be done away with, instead demanding that only organic fertilizers be used. This directive was written in accordance with Environmental, Social, and Governance guidance (ESG) that the Sri Lankan government decided to embrace completely, with little regard to the actual functioning of their economy. Never mind that the climate activists gave the country a near-perfect ESG score of 98 last year (America’s was 51); the results of this move have proved disastrous. Farm yields fell drastically, and the country went from a net exporter of rice to a net importer within a year; it is right now facing a famine. Rice and vegetable prices in the country have skyrocketed, and massive protests have resulted from shortages in food and gas. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa recently fled the country, resigning shortly thereafter.
Larger economies have not been spared, either. The Netherlands is the second-largest exporter of agricultural goods in the world, and agriculture is the most important driver of the Dutch economy. Despite this, the Dutch government told its farmers that they needed to reduce their nitrogen oxide emissions drastically, requiring a 30% reduction in livestock to do so. This cow-towing to the green-climate gods came with predictable results: The Dutch farming industry has been wrecked, forcing many of the companies there to outsource farming production, with smaller farmers being unable to even meet the demands of the regulations without going out of business. Massive protests have come in the wake of these disastrous policies, and farmers across the EU are joining the Dutch as they cry out against similar regulations in their own countries.
It’s not just about the economy, though. Green energy policies have real, serious implications for national security as well. I know from my days as Secretary of State that energy security is an essential element of our national security. When the United States and our allies are dependent on foreign entities for our oil and gas, we are put at a serious disadvantage. Yet this is exactly what climate ideologues demand today: In Germany, leadership boasts about their country’s emissions reductions while all they really did was outsource their energy industry to Russia while shutting down all their nuclear power plants. This made the most powerful economy in Europe dependent on Vladimir Putin, even as he made clear his ambitions regarding Ukraine. In the Trump Administration, we worked hard to ensure Germany was not dependent by blocking the completion of the Nordstream II pipeline. Upon taking office, the Biden Administration collectively shrugged its shoulders and allowed the pipeline to be completed – months later, Putin invaded Ukraine, having all the leverage he needed over the most powerful European economy.
Herein lies the great hypocrisy inherent in green energy policies. Elites at the top choose to outsource the production of oil and gas – to Russia, to the Middle East – and then claim their nations are in fact clean and green. The Biden Administration is doing the same thing here at home; our domestic oil and gas producers have been crushed and throttled by regulations, while President Biden begs OPEC to produce more oil. Who pays the price for these delusional policies? It’s the working class – the farmers and families who can’t afford to continue putting food on the table as prices skyrocket. Green energy is a lie, one which is crushing our people, giving power to our adversaries, and enriching only the elites who peddle this fiction.
The American people must wake up from these delusions and lead the way forward. We have to embrace our own domestic oil and gas industries, in addition to nuclear power and, yes, coal. What we produce here is far cleaner than what comes out of Russia.
It gives us independence from, and leverage over, our adversaries, while also giving us the ability to help our allies and partners not be dependent on our adversaries. We must restore this independence and encourage our partners and allies to embrace it as well.
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Answers In Genesis explained that, despite public perceptions, the majority of climate scientists do not believe we are in a “climate crisis.”
“In reality, only a small sampling of climate scientists believe we are facing imminent doom,” the AiG article explained. “Furthermore, thousands of scientists with climate-related degrees have sent letters and signed petitions arguing against a climate crisis, further emphasizing that the scientific community can’t reach a consensus on the issue.”
“So why all the insistence on anxiety and panic?” the article urged.
“Secular scientists approach the climate debate from an unbiblical perspective, believing that humans alone manage the rising temperatures,” AiG insisted. “Certainly when we have clear evidence that we are abusing creation, we should take actions to correct it. But Christians know that God designed our magnificently complex climate and has promised that the present earth will be inhabitable until he creates a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17).”
When humans look at God’s creation, the response should be reverence to the One who created it. Romans 1:19-20 explains that the incredible creations of God cause humans to be without excuse about His existence. This same chapter, however, states that our culture has deliberately chosen a very different path in their collective rebellion against God: Worshiping the creation, rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25).
