Can We Really Afford To Do This Now? When We Were So Close To "Saving The Earth"? -- May 24, 2021

Every day I read stories that renewable energy is now less expensive than (or at least competitive with) fossil fuels. If so, what a great win-win for everyone!! 

Americans can switch from fossil fuel to renewable energy to save the earth and save money!

Wow, "saving the earth" and "saving money."

But now this from the Biden administration, link here: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/05/24/biden-climate-adviser-gina-mccarthy-its-ridiculous-to-ask-americans-to-sacrifice-for-the-climate-right-now/:

Something tells me something isn't playing out as planned.

I do know that for the first time in years solar panels are increasing in price. From China. I wonder what that's all about? But I digress. 

If non-binary Gina is really saying this -- that it's "ridiculous to ask Americans to sacrifice for the climate right now" -- it suggests that gasoline prices are rising a bit too fast. Here in north Texas gasoline is one dollar / gallon more than it was a year ago under orange-man, and apparently in California gasoline is trending toward $5 / gallon and the American driving season has not yet started. Oh-oh. 

It also suggests electricity prices are starting to rise. I'm certainly getting mixed messages. I thought all this renewable energy was going to lower our utility bills. 

What really scares me, if "we" only have eight more years left (see Greta, AOC, et al), how can we possibly "quit sacrificing" now? More than ever we need to be switching to renewable energy, especially now with fossil fuel prices rising so quickly.

Another digression: generally wind farm developers market their projects by promising to maintain prices for twenty years. Something suggests that if the inflation we are now seeing is, in fact, not transitory, these developers are setting themselves up for a big "fail." Of course, they will get bailed out.

From the linked article:

White House National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy said it would be “ridiculous” to ask Americans to “sacrifice” for the climate right now, given the uphill battle many face due to the ramifications of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, which battered the economy, leaving many jobless. [Not to worry: once "we" quit sending out all those supplemental unemployment checks a lot of folks will return to work ... or so they say.]

Speaking on Axios on HBO, McCarthy, who led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under former President Barack Obama, admitted it is not a good idea, at least right now, to ask Americans to make sacrifices for the climate.

I wonder if non-binary Gina prefers to move oil by truck, rail, or pipeline in the US? Asking for a friend.