Commentary

Not a day goes by that I don’t hear or read something about climate change that doesn’t bring laughter from this blogger. 

Just last week, I wrote about dogsledders in southwest Michigan who were complaining that because of climate change, the frost-free season grew by 16 days over the past 66 years, resulting in less snowfall.

Michigan has again become the site of another climate change story to laugh about.  “Too Much Lake Water is Climate Change, Not Enough Lake Water is Climate Change,” reads the headline in a piece published in The Lid, in which it reviews the concern in 2013, when Lake Michigan’s level was at near historic lows and worry now, nearly a decade later, that the water level is getting too high.

The Washington Post seemingly couldn’t decide whether its story, “Climate change is making pollen season even worse across the country,” was a serious concern or a source of humor.  They assigned the piece to Kasha Patel, who is not only their “go to” expert on climate change and the environment, but a stand-up comedian.  You can’t make this stuff up.

“Across the country, pollen season is starting earlier and intensifying because of rising global temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations,” she writes, noting that research shows that the pollen season has lengthened by 20 days over the past three decades in North America.

Giving some credence to my belief that climate change is cyclical, Patel writes of a study by William Anderegg, a plant ecologist at the University of Utah, who conducted a study showing how climate change has affected pollen season across the nation from 1990 to 2018 – nearly three decades – finding that pollen in the air got just eight percent worse.  Of course, he attributed it to human-caused climate change.

It seems to me that Patel has a plethora of material for her stand-up gigs.

There’s Humor in Going Electric, too.

The Biden administration has been doing its best to wean Americans off fossil fuels, first, by cutting our energy independence, then, by enticing us with $7,000 credits on the purchase of a union-made American-built electric car, with an average sticker price of $56,000.

Now they’re planning to use taxpayer funds – even from those who do not purchase electric cars – to install thousands of chargers along our highways.

The government doesn’t talk about the fossil fuels that will be required to power those charging stations.

I couldn’t help but see the humor facing auto dealers, who were seduced into selling electric vehicles, and are now learning what it’s going to cost them.  Auto manufacturers are telling dealers about mandatory charging they will need to sell their EVs.

Dealers were blindsided by how much it actually costs to set up their dealership, some have found that their facilities were not wired for the high loads incurred by charging stations, according to Automotive News.  One dealer ballparked his unexpected investment at $220,000.  Thanks, Joe.

But the Doomsday Peddling Continues

Still peddling concerns over climate change, the Associated Press offered its publishers a story out of Berlin stating that “the world must take radical action to shift away from fossil fuels, investing $6.7 trillion annually (yes, annually) in solar, wind and other forms of clean power this decade, to ensure that global warming doesn’t pass dangerous thresholds.”

Citing a 346-page report on global energy transition, scientists say global emissions need to drop by 45 percent by the end of the decade compared to 1990 levels.

Mentioned was the demand by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to end private sector financing of fossil fuel ventures.  “Lenders need to recognize that coal and fossil fuels are futile investments that will lead to billions of dollars in stranded assets,” he said. 

The Biden administration is falling in line and could decide which firms deserve access to investment capital.  Mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions will lead to government regulations that will curtail new capital investments in companies that produce or consume fossil fuels.

Just as they are using the price of gas at the pump to encourage us to use less gas, the administration is set on restricting fossil-fuel intensive industries’ access to investment capital.  The SEC is currently reviewing its guidance and it seems likely to require public companies and investment funds to report on their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) related accomplishments to include their greenhouse gas emissions.

Regulations like these were the target of the Trump administration.

Surely, you recall when candidate Barack Obama said, “Under my plan, electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket, and if somebody wants to build a coal-fired plant, they can … it’s just that it will bankrupt them.”   It wasn’t lost on Biden.

There’s no humor there.

Now, more than ever … may God continue to bless the United States of America.