Dems will soon embrace environmental socialism

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The Democratic Party is on the verge of formally embracing a far-left climate agenda that would destroy millions of blue collar jobs and dramatically increase living expenses for lower- and middle-income families.

Over the course of the Democratic primaries, the American people heard a number of different climate policy proposals from the Democratic candidates, including various proposals to phase out fossil fuels, repeated vows to commit the U.S. to strict international climate standards, and varying degrees of support for the $93 trillion “Green New Deal” that has been debated in Congress.

Throughout most of the primaries, Biden carefully staked out a position just shy of where his opponents stood. Since locking up the nomination, however, he has inexplicably lurched to the left. The policy platform he proposed to the Democratic National Convention sets Biden up as the most far-left major party presidential candidate in American history.

The so-called “unity” platform — a collaboration between Biden and his former rival, democratic-socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders — is a document that combines some of the most extreme climate proposals offered during the primaries into one package.

If the Democrats adopt the Biden climate doctrine at their national convention, the consequences for Ohio would be catastrophic.

The Biden-Sanders manifesto makes it abundantly clear that a Democrat administration would wage all-out war against fossil fuels.

“We agree with scientists and public health experts that the United States — and the world — must achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, and no later than 2050,” the document states. “To reach net-zero emissions as rapidly as possible, Democrats commit to eliminating carbon pollution from power plants by 2035 through technology-neutral standards for clean energy and energy efficiency.”

Conveniently, this is where the proposed policy platform becomes devilishly evasive and vague in an effort to mislead moderate voters while pleasing the far left. Instead of explaining which industries will be sacrificed at the altar of environmental socialism or outlining the federal regulations that will be used to achieve “net-zero” emissions, the document sharply pivots to other issues, like investment in green energy.

“We will dramatically expand solar and wind energy deployment through community-based and utility-scale systems,” the proposal states. “Within five years, we will install 500 million solar panels, including eight million solar roofs and community solar energy systems, and 60,000 made-in-America wind turbines.”

The Biden campaign estimates that the total cost of his climate agenda alone will be around $2 trillion — but that figure is almost certainly a lowball estimate. Independent analysis of Biden’s various tax policy proposals indicate that he is planning to hike taxes by about $4 trillion overall in an effort to pay for this and other extravagant campaign promises.

The document doesn’t even mention the word “fracking,” but Biden has previously stated that he believes we should “get rid of fracking,” and has also vowed not to issue any new federal permits for the practice.

For 20 years, the environmental movement has turned hydraulic fracking into its favorite boogieman. In reality, the practice has almost single-handedly made the United States a net energy exporter for the first time since the 1960s, fueled millions of new jobs, and actually helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating the shift from coal to natural gas for electricity production.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce projects that a complete ban on fracking would destroy about 700,000 Ohio jobs while slashing $245 billion from the state’s GDP.

But that’s not all. A fracking ban would also raise living expenses for the average Ohio family by about $1,700 per year, reduce overall household incomes in the state by $119 billion, and severely diminish state and local tax revenues, straining public budgets that are already tight.

“Development of natural gas and liquids in eastern Ohio’s Utica and Marcellus Shale has revitalized the Buckeye State’s legacy oil industry as production has grown to record levels in recent years,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce observes, adding that the thriving industry is key to the state’s future economic development.

The Biden-Sanders unity manifesto represents a dire threat to working families, and it’s about to become the official Democrat platform for the next four years.

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By David Moore

Guest columnist

David Moore is the Ohio Republican Central Committeeman for District 13 as well as the president of Young Enterprise Solutions.

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