With the election looming, the Biden administration is getting reckless. Biden’s EPA has sunk to a new low with an exhaustive list of draconian environmental regulations openly designed to kill coal.
Biden’s anti-fossil fuel crusade won’t result in cleaner air or a cooler climate. But it will destroy an important and necessary source of affordable American energy, and one we need even more as inflation continues to dog our economy, foisting even more financial suffering on those least able to afford it.
Ironically, this crusade will also render Biden’s electric vehicle goals hopelessly unattainable.
The Biden administration justifies its anti-coal crusade with a conveniently timed and scientifically questionable report from the American Lung Association, claiming our air is dangerously dirty.
Contrary to the clickbait headlines, America leads the world in clean air. The U.S. has slashed air pollution by an unprecedented 78 percent over the last five decades — all while our population, economy, energy consumption, and vehicle use have soared. There are few developed countries that can rival America’s air quality.
The air quality issue is hamstrung by the mistaken belief that pollution must be reduced to zero at all costs. Instead, policymakers should make verifiable health and safety their top priority — in which case, America has already won.
If the COVID-19 lockdowns brought us anything good, it was proof that America’s air is so clean that it’s nearly indistinguishable from naturally occurring levels of dust and pollen. While industry crawled to a halt and highways across the nation sat empty, our air quality didn’t improve. In some cities, particulate matter levels actually went up! Clearly, human activity isn’t the culprit here.
Ironically, liberal states that continually pass stricter environmental regulations often force their manufacturing jobs overseas, further contributing to their own air quality problems. Several studies show a significant portion of the West Coast’s air pollution is blown over from Asia. It’s no accident that eight of the 10 cities targeted in the ALA’s report with the highest levels of particulate matter pollution are in California and Oregon, neither of which are known for lax environmental laws.
And when it comes to warming, Biden’s regulations are equally futile. Climate data models used by the EPA itself show that even the most ambitious anti-fossil fuel campaigns would change global temperatures by a few hundredths of a degree, at most.
Biden is showing us his real priority: He is hell bent on destroying coal, consequences be damned. All the EPA’s overreach will accomplish is relegating the least among us to more expensive energy — or even none at all, as millions of Americans are finding out every year by facing disconnection notices. Millions more face the crippling choice between affording electricity or other essentials like prescription refills.
On the one hand, Biden is pushing to electrify everything; on the other, he deliberately chooses unreliable and expensive electricity. His new EPA rules will make it harder and more expensive than ever for coal and natural gas producers to do their jobs — and contrary to the Left’s widespread assumption, it just won’t be possible for renewable energy to fill in the gaps. Wind and solar are only reliable when the weather cooperates, and they’re far more expensive.
There’s a reason no country has ever succeeded at going 100 percent renewable. Modern society depends on affordable, reliable energy, something only fossil fuels can provide.
If Biden were serious about protecting the environment and rebuilding the economy, he wouldn’t be attacking the energy producers we depend on. Instead, he should let the free market continue to drive both prosperity and environmental quality — two worthy goals that America has already proven go hand in hand.
Jason Isaac, a former Texas state legislator, is CEO and founder of the American Energy Institute.