The past week has been quite an interesting week to say the least, as the media suddenly flooded with article after article chronicling the growing backlash against net-zero policies in the Western world.
From environmental, social and governance (ESG) to insurance partnerships to recent European elections, the tide seems to be turning in the opposite direction on the destructive consequences of policies pushing net-zero or “energy transition” goals. With recent elections in Europe resulting in more conservative governments in Sweden, Greece and Italy, and public attitudes in other EU countries leaning in that direction, the growing backlash is quite surprising. not what you should do. (Related: David Blackmon: New White House Report Investigates Sun Blocking. What’s Wrong?)
Austrian National Energy and Climate Plan (NEKP) said on Tuesday The 2030 climate target will not be achieved on time. A revised plan announced this week cuts the country’s greenhouse gas reduction target from 48% below 2005 levels to 35%.
british guardian newspaper reported on Tuesday Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government is planning to scrap the country’s £11.6bn climate and nature finance programme, citing overwhelming costs. Officials estimate that fulfilling the pledge would consume 83% of the foreign ministry’s official development assistance budget in the global International Climate Fund.
Earlier this month, Poland’s Minister of Climate Change Anna Moscow said: promised to appeal The EU recently submitted a directive to the EU Supreme Court to ban internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035. “We do not agree with this document or any other document in the Fit for 55 package and intend to take this to the European Court of Justice. We hope other countries will join us,” said Moscow. told Radio Z on March 10. “We plan to file a motion in the next few days.”
On Wednesday, the United Nations-affiliated Net Zero Insurers Alliance (NZIA) declared to have fallen All requirements for members to set or publish greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. The amendment comes after 23 Republican state attorneys general threatened to sue the group for violating US antitrust laws. At least 18 of the 30 members of the alliance have had their membership revoked from the group due to these allegations.
Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, over similar antitrust allegations against so-called ESG investment firms that boast of jointly controlling trillions of dollars in investment capital. lead the investigation. The Daily Caller has copies of letters the Commission sent to BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street and the CEO of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), co-chaired by Michael Bloomberg. reported to have obtained.
In Jordan’s letter, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told an audience at the Aspen Idea Festival that he was “ashamed” of getting involved in what he said was “politicizing” the ESG debate. Sent a few days later. No one knows if there is causality here.
And, of course, ESG issues are “politicized”. The whole pursuit is, by its very nature, highly political, almost pernicious. The movement towards “net zero” and this “energy transition” from fossil fuels to renewable energy is driven entirely by political decisions and policies.
The trillions of dollars in global subsidies for “green” energy currently available would not exist without a political process. As I have documented over the past few years, these subsidies are, for better or worse, a major driver of investment decisions in the energy sector.
One of the inevitable consequences of collective efforts to target trillions of dollars of government funding toward globalist goals through subsidies was ultimately public backlash. This is because ordinary voters have begun to link policies directly to the significantly higher cost of living they are currently experiencing.
The simple fact is that rising energy prices will increase the cost of all consumer goods that need to be transported to market by ship, train, plane or truck. So that means essentially everything.
There is no doubt that this backlash continues in Europe and is beginning to have a significant impact on European public policy decisions. It remains to be seen whether it will in turn influence US policymaking across the pond, but the study released by Jordan is a significant first blow over the bow.
David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent his 40 years in the oil and gas business, specializing in public policy and communications.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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