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Climate mandates threaten global security

[Y]ou will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all must come to pass, but the end is not yet. – Matthew 24:6

This gospel passage we are reminded of daily; the world remains a dangerous place. Dictatorial regimes are asserting themselves in numerous ways that will increasingly threaten the economy and security of the United States and what remains of its alliances.

Compounding this growing security threat to the U.S. are the climate change policies of the Biden administration. Policies to combat the non-problem of historically cyclical global temperature are weakening the nation not only as an economic power, but as a diplomatic and military power.

America’s adversaries are on the march and threatening our allies around the world. The Middle East remains an ongoing powder keg with Iran pursuing nuclear weaponry and ever threatening to Israel. The army of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is perched on the border of Ukraine, poised to invade. Communist China’s dictator, Xi Jinping, and his cohorts forever believe that Taiwan is their own and could (and will) strike when the moment is ripe.

Russia and China are tag-teaming against the United States and building alliances with African and South American nations, including investing in resource development that will expand their economic and military power.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canada’s now-dictator Justin Trudeau, and leaders in other western nations preen about climate change.

From his first days in office, President Biden has pursued a climate agenda on everything from canceling pipelines and oil leasing, to forcing private sector investment in so-called “renewable” energy and away from carbon-based energy sources. One of his first executive orders declared, “climate considerations [are] an essential element in U.S. foreign policy and national security.”

It does not take an economics degree to observe the negative economic impact of these policies, beginning with higher fuel prices to fill our gas tanks and heat our homes and businesses, along with the wider inflationary effects. Gasoline and diesel prices are up more than 40 percent in 12 months, natural gas prices also have risen dramatically, and overall inflation is climbing at 7.5 percent annually – the highest pace in 40 years.

This is no happenstance. It is by design, whether President Biden admits it or even knows. His empathy is hollow. Climate polices are about raising the cost of carbon fuels and forcing alternatives from wind, solar and electric, though they are primitive in comparison and decades away—if ever—from ubiquitous use to displace fossil fuels.

Despite the administration’s policies, the U.S. remains the world’s largest oil and gas producer as the global economy bounces back from pandemic. It is vital for our nation and the world to sustain that leadership, yet it is increasingly in jeopardy.

Climate policies also will weaken our global leverage to maintain a secure and peaceful planet, which is a far more immediate and grave concern than the thermometer increasing by a half-degree 30 years from now.

Russia, China and Iran are not obsessing about climate change, and no longer pretending to care. They are producing more oil, gas and coal for themselves and their global customers, which increases their territorial and resource ambitions and negates any lower carbon emissions from the U.S.

Russia is openly threatening Ukraine because the U.S. is in a weakened position to stop them diplomatically and economically. Germany is the largest nation in western Europe and is increasingly dependent on Russian energy, not its own, and not from the U.S. It will not join us in punishing Russia for swallowing its neighbor.

The United States won the Cold War against the Soviet Union by 1991 not only because of a stronger military and technological prowess; it did so because of energy production. The U.S. working with Saudi Arabia and others kept oil prices low enough to starve the USSR’s ability to produce and export enough oil to sustain its economy and military.

Today, the Biden administration’s climate policies risk doing the opposite by curtailing energy output and raising costs, which will empower Russia and China.

In a further twist, as America refuses to develop more energy resources, the Biden administration’s climate goals become more unrealistic. The raw materials for electric car batteries and solar panels, for example, are increasingly dependent on China and nations in Africa with which it is building strategic alliances. Accordingly, the U.S. will be in no position economically or diplomatically to thwart China’s territorial ambitions for Taiwan and elsewhere.

Surrendering America’s energy capacity to pursue climate fantasies of the Biden administration and its wealthy donor class will have not only a harmful economic impact but will make the world more dangerous for the U.S. and its allied nations.

Energy production and independence translates to economic, diplomatic, and military power. A strong and free United States fueled by a thriving energy sector is the best means to a safer, more peaceful world. Climate will otherwise take care of itself as it has for millennia.