September 2019 Updates

"It's a universal law – intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility." –Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

Climate change activists have lately been testifying in hearings and staging many protests in Washington, and much of their behavior has brought the above quote to mind. The recent "climate strike" consisted of disrupting rush hour traffic and publishing the office locations of oil industry professionals. It should be noted that as a result of blocking traffic, the climate activists actually caused more CO2 to be released into the atmosphere, making their protest a remarkable display of ignorance about or indifference to the harm they were causing.

First of all, if these activists educated themselves, they would realize that the views they are pushing with empty rhetoric are largely unsupported by facts. On many occasions, expert climate change advocates have reluctantly admitted that even if the United States totally eliminated its carbon footprint, it would not impact climate change at all. In fact, in response to a question I asked in a hearing of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, three Democrat witnesses testified that totally eliminating all carbon emissions in the United States, or even worldwide, would not stop climate change. What's more, the United States is a world leader in reducing carbon emissions, while countries like China are belching out at least four times as much carbon than the United States. That begs the question, if the climate activists are really concerned about carbon emissions, why aren't they blocking traffic in Beijing?

Meanwhile, fossil fuel, particularly natural gas, has not only benefited American households with lower energy bills, but it has also significantly reduced the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. And, unlike solar and wind, natural gas is affordable, reliable, and plentiful. Yet, climate change activists remain determined to restrict the use of dependable resources like natural gas, despite the scientific evidence that natural gas has helped spur a revival in manufacturing and economic growth while also reducing carbon emissions.

To read the full newsletter, click here.