On the count of three, let’s all say it together: “Never let a crisis go to waste.” Even if you have to manufacture it.
The Biden administration and its appendant media flunkies, bureaucrats, and supporters are feeling the heat over the upcoming election. The most obvious way they have tried to neutralize the DJT DEFCON-1 threat is through a constant barrage of lawfare. That, of course, is not having quite the effect they were hoping for, except among the true believers, a group that includes the above-mentioned media flunkies. So, Team Biden needs all the insurance it can get to ensure everything will go according to plan on Election Day.
They could try a novel approach, like a national cookout. That would be fun! Now that we know that Biden’s uncle was not eaten by cannibals, there is no risk of dredging up bad memories or having an awkward discussion over the bowl of potato salad.
So, why not a climate crisis?
It’s very doable. After all, Biden nearly sprained his wrist issuing executive orders when he took office. Barack Obama had a pen and phone. Joe probably has a Crayola and a fun stamp with a hippo on it, but the effect is pretty much the same. And a climate crisis would be particularly tasty when it comes to ginning up young outrage and support.
Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that White House staffers have been huddling to discuss the benefits of declaring a national climate crisis. No official decision has been made, and sources told Bloomberg that some insiders think it would not give Biden the power he needs to make serious changes to climate policy. Others contend the move would boost his numbers at the polls and get climate hardliners, including young voters, off the starting blocks in November. Bloomberg observed that young, climate-driven voters helped Biden reach the finish line in the last election but have become frustrated with what they perceive to be a lack of action on his part.
The White House has been savvy enough not to tip its hand, but White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez commented:
President Biden has treated the climate crisis as an emergency since day one and will continue to build a clean energy future that lowers utility bills, creates good-paying union jobs, makes our economy the envy of the world, and prioritizes communities that for too long have been left behind.
So, in reality, Hernandez didn’t tell anyone anything.
Bloomberg noted:
Emergency declarations could enable the president to halt or limit crude exports for at least a year at a time, suspend offshore drilling, and throttle the movement of oil and gas on pipelines, ships, and trains. Industry experts have warned that such a measure would discourage investment in domestic oil production and stoke higher retail prices.
I don’t know about you, but where I live, a gallon of regular unleaded was sitting at a cool $3.99 yesterday. Real people can’t take much more of this.
There is a very simple economic principle about which the people in power do not care, and that erstwhile young climate activists do not understand. And even if they did understand it, they would still not care. The principle is this: when the price of fuel goes up, the price of everything goes up. Everything. Pick a product, any product. Under Biden’s energy policies, the price has likely increased for that product. Under a “climate emergency,” those prices could well be unimaginable.
This will not be a problem for wealthy progressives. It will not be a problem for China. It will not be perceived to be a problem by young people who are extraordinarily self-centered, have bought into the climate narrative, and for whom adulthood is an extremely late-onset condition.