Bicoastal & Washington DC Elites Despise Middle America

It has become increasingly obvious that the Bicoastal and D.C “elites” despise Middle America. Unfortunately, they are now the policy makers for the whole country. President Biden seems obliged to appease the elites at the expense of the rest of the country. Biden has signed a record number of 37 executive orders in the first week in office. His inner circle of advisors no doubt wrote his executive orders, and they effectively dismantled the recent accomplishments of conservatives. So much for the claim Biden that he was going to be a moderate and a unifier.

With a few strokes of his pen, our new president has declared war on the oil and gas industry. Global warming, the elites have said in recent years, is our biggest national problem. The COVID-19 pandemic is obviously important, but it is significant that his first actions in office were directed at other issues. Renewable energy sources (solar and wind), they say, is the answer to all our problems. Biden’s new energy czar, John Kerry, lectures us on the importance that “we” must reduce our carbon footprint. Consider the hypocrisy of his preaching: His private jet alone consumes 36 times more carbon energy than the average American automobile does in a year. That does not even include the energy that Kerry and his wife consume by owning six houses, two yachts, and twelve vehicles.

California and Governor Newsom have mandated that cars in their state must all be electric by 2035. Electric vehicles currently account for about 2% of the vehicles in this country. It should also be known that a Tesla electric vehicle costs about $21,000 more than a comparison gas vehicle. How many average Americans can afford these more expensive cars? And how are people from Montana and North Dakota going to find energy-charging stations when they drive across the wide expanses of our rural states? Build a fleet of electric car charging stations, the elites say – but at what cost?

Here is another issue: The Keystone gas pipeline has passed numerous environmental studies, and it has been concluded that the pipeline is a safe way to deliver energy to metropolitan areas. Biden just cancelled that project. That stroke of his pen just made 12,000 good-paying American jobs disappear, and that does not even include the economic impact those job losses will have on the communities and local companies that benefitted from that project. Another one of Biden’s executive orders just banned new oil and gas leases on federal lands. The Western Energy Alliance said that this ban would kill 58,700 jobs in eight states in middle America. John Kerry said “those people” working on the Keystone pipeline (and related industries) can just find new jobs . . . How facetious is that? And switching gas transports from pipeline to trucks and trains has the potential of causing way more harm to the environment than the pipeline.

Joe Biden just proudly rejoined the Paris Climate Accord. The science and politics of that decision is way more complicated than that, however. The United Nations released the 2020 “Emission Gap Report” and said that the U.S was the most successful major country at reducing its pollution. According to the report, “the United States of America emits 13% of global greenhouse gas emissions.” By comparison, they reported, “China emits more than 25% of global emissions.” Over the last decade, our country’s greenhouse gas emissions have been declined by 0.4% annually.” Greenhouse gas emissions per capita in this country do remain high, but are dropping significantly while those of China, India, and Russia continue to rise. A recent Forbes magazine article said that the US “doesn’t need the Paris Climate Accord,” especially since we are already meeting carbon emission guidelines and those other countries are not being held to the same standards. Adhering to the Paris guidelines will cost as many as 2.7 million American jobs by 2025, as was reported by National Economic Research Associates. The next agenda item, by the way, is to outlaw fracking. How will this affect our regional economy? The process of handcuffing our gas and oil industry will also jeopardize our country’s energy independence, which we worked so hard to attain. We will once again be dependent on hostile countries for our energy needs.

It should also be noted that researchers estimate forest fires (aggravated by poor forest management) cause almost half of the carbon emissions globally. For example, the forest fires that occurred in 1997 in Indonesia alone were responsible for “13 to 40%” of global carbon emissions that year.

I agree that it is important that the US increases its use of alternative energy sources. Past estimates said that 17% of our energy needs can be met with solar energy, but now some more recent idealistic predictions say it can provide 80-100% of our needs. What is the truth? It depends on whom you listen to. Alternative energy technology has come a long way. Unfortunately, about 80% of the world’s solar panels are made in China, which contributes to their world dominance – and costs many American jobs. Phasing out older solar panels also produces a lot of toxic waste – which has not been calculated into the equation. And what about the “visual pollution” that occurs with wind generators and solar panel farms?

There are other clean sources of energy. Nuclear energy meets about 10% of the world’s energy needs. France gets 70% of its energy from nuclear. This is theoretically the cleanest source of energy, providing the latest technology is used and safety guidelines are followed. Big cities, which need electricity the most, are not willing to consider this option.

Elites also belittle our farmers and ranchers. Cattle should be eliminated because they emit methane gas, they say – but I say that blowhard politicians produce much more noxious gas. Michael Bloomberg, a Democratic presidential candidate last year, said “anybody can be a farmer.” In a now famous news clip, Bloomberg was heard saying: “I could teach anybody – even people in this room, no offense intended – to be a farmer. It’s a [process]: you dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn.” Mr. Bloomberg’s comments reveal his ignorance of the farming and ranching businesses. It seems like he has no understanding of how food magically appears on his own plate.

I do not believe that the goals of these new policy makers (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, and Joe Biden’s advisors) are what most Americans want. They have mounted attacks on the energy industry and other conservative values: respect for our borders, protecting female sports from domination by biologic males, respect for human life, value-based private school education, access to unbiased media, free speech for opinions that they do not agree with, police attempting to do their job, maintenance of a two-party political system, etc. I sincerely fear that enactment of this liberal agenda will adversely affect the lives of my children and grandchildren. I choose to believe that God still wants good things for our country. I do not believe that big government, past and present, knows what is best for all Americans. The true founders of our country (not the 1619 project version of the story) emphasized personal liberty and individual responsibility: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are ideals that are more American than the nanny state telling us what we can and cannot do and believe. Our economy and industry have been the envy of the world. Our energy and food producing industries have done a great job. It is reasonable to set realistic carbon emission guidelines, for example, but eliminating carbon-based industries overnight is unfair and heavy handed. None of these so-called experts have demonstrated the ability to accurately analyze the costs and benefits of these options. I do not claim to be an expert either. I pray for our country. All of us should try to be less political and more practical in trying to find realistic solutions to these challenges.