“Climate change” extremists typically call for a ban on fossil fuels. (Or they glue themselves to a major city street, block a highway in front of an airport, or pour paint on a famous work of art because…you know… “climate change.”)
Understandably, the debate on fossil fuels usually centers on questions about how we will power cars, heat our homes and literally keep the lights on. That makes sense. We are a mobile society. Everything made needs products and employees. Every product and person needs to get from point A to B. Plus, we need to power-up our phones to tell loved ones we are coming, to confirm the best route to get there, or buy the plane ticket to fly there. Thoughtful Americans are debating whether “green” energy can get the job done alone (it can’t) and whether it is, in fact, “greener” than fossil fuels (it really isn’t).
Politicians forcing Americans — especially Pennsylvanians — to “go green” doesn’t change either of those realities. Plus, since Pennsylvanians are sitting on more natural gas energy than Saudi Arabia has oil energy, it’s economically and environmentally dumb not to use our clean-burning, plentiful natural gas. So, Governor Wolf forcing Pennsylvania into RGGI (“Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative”) was dumb — and Governor Shapiro doubling down is even dumber. Shapiro is suing in court for the right unilaterally to force Pennsylvanians to stay in RGGI to go “green” — and pay “penalty” taxes until we get to “green,” translating to higher energy costs, less Pennsylvania jobs, and probably dirtier air.
But it’s even worse than that: much worse.
Climate extremists often wail that if we don’t stop using fossil fuels, life as we know it will end! Worse, they preach it to our kids. Well, the reality is that if we stop using fossil fuels, we will absolutely end life as we know it.
Life as we know it will end because natural gas and oil are literally part of every facet of our lives — separate from things related to powering our cars, heating our homes or keeping the lights.
Here’s what Biden’s Department of Energy tells us. On their webpage, there is an entire section dedicated to the more than 6,000 products in our daily lives that are made from oil or natural gas.
Heart valves, aspirin, IV bags and tubes, toothpaste and toothbrushes, ammonia, hearing aids, etc., all go away if we “end fossil fuels.” Fertilizers, too.
Taking your daughter to soccer practice? Well, her “Under Armor” shirt, water bottle, cleats, hair ties, soccer ball and the AstroTurf she’ll play on, the phone you gave her to text you when she’s done, and the car you’ll pick her up in (including its dashboard, seats, tires, GPS) all need fossil fuels.
If you don’t care about girls’ soccer, fine. Hospitals and medical centers cease to exist to provide comfort, care or life-saving procedures, from medicines to IVs to computers monitoring our vital statistics to replacement valves, hips and knees.
Forget about fruits and veggies: they’ll only be available for John Kerry
And as left-wing extremists force Democrat politicians to make us “green,” and frighten GOP politicians from objecting, these products could go away. In the transition to going “green,” these products will be harder to find or will become very expensive. Remember the empty shelves of a few years ago?
If you need a refresher course on what happens when politicians limit fossil fuels — by rhetoric, policy, bans or war — allow me to take you back in history…to 2022. Five dollar gasoline, heating bills that tripled, grocery bills that doubled in cost — literally everything that has to be made or transported went up in price.
Most things are still much more expensive than in 2020. Why? In part because Biden and his allies (sadly, including Governor Wolf and now Shapiro) have announced that America is getting out of fossil fuels: we’re going “green.” Far worse, politicians told drillers and explorers that they should get out of the fossil fuel business. In their quest to “save the planet,” it’s apparently okay if we go broke, freeze — or, gramma dies because the hospital ran out of IV bags.
So much focus is understandably on powering our lifestyle — and the cost to do it — that almost no one talks about the practical side: how we live, survive and flourish each day.
By unilaterally signing us into RGGI, former governor Wolf and now Governor Shapiro rushed to virtue-signal by doing all they can to slow Pennsylvania’s natural gas production and, more importantly, the exploration and pipeline construction. So, Pennsylvanians pay a greater cost than even our fellow Americans in Connecticut, for example. We are choking off job growth, spin-off industries, and low cost energy. And making all the 6,000 products artificially more expensive. The impacts have not really even taken effect yet. Just the mere threat of “ending fossil fuels” is already causing inflation.
Again, let’s look beyond power and energy costs. Here’s how “going green” harms our day-to-day lives.
The largest chemical manufacturer on earth — Braskem (based in Brazil) — opened a base of operation in Marcus Hook (Delaware County) a decade ago. They planned to use Pennsylvania’s almost limitless supply of gas to make chemicals and create polypropylene, the plastic foundation of countless products (like IV bags, dri-fit shirts, water bottles, cell phone covers, etc.) Pennsylvania was going to be their North American hub. Their presence alone would’ve created hundreds of jobs at their facility and thousands and thousands of jobs in chemicals, engineering, manufacturing, construction and transportation, and all the white collar spinoffs, too, from accountants to lawyers, banking to HR.
Thousands — if not millions — of products would be made with Pennsylvania gas. All improving the quality of our lives and extending our lives.
After hearing Wolf’s rhetoric and seeing that Pennsylvania was about to enter RGGI, Braskem knew that Pennsylvania wasn’t serious about producing natural gas, or using our gas to create the necessary chemicals or manufacturing products. If you want to learn more, contact Braskem at their North American headquarters in Dallas.
Biden’s mad-rush to “green energy” is weakening our nation’s economy. Sadly, Pennsylvania said: “Hold my beer.”
This cult-like rush to force Americans to end fossil fuels will ultimately risk our quality of life. Pennsylvania could have chosen the commonsense approach. Instead, Wolf and now Shapiro are fighting to unilaterally force the end of fossil fuels in Pennsylvania by ending these industries, and making us pay “penalty” taxes until we reach their unattainable and unnecessary goals.
No aspirin. No computers. No IV bags. No mushrooms from Chester County.
This is madness. Not just because families will go broke paying for energy or those other products. Not because it will kill jobs. Not because it will put China in charge of our batteries. Not because it will make Russia rich. (Yes, all those will happen if politicians force Americans to be “green.”)
Fossil fuels are an essential, necessary, vital part of our lives. Ending them is national suicide.
And not one politician advocating for us tells us this. Either they don’t know or they’re afraid to tell us — they just want to appease the loudest voices.
Guy Ciarrocchi is a Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation. He writes for Broad+Liberty and RealClear Pennsylvania. Follow Guy @PaSuburbsGuy
Fossil Guy,
There’s a lot to unpack here in your opinion rant. But I’ll preface it with that word rant. It seems more and more of your posts are just that, rants. And if that’s your goal, then that’s fine. But where is the “THOUGHT-PROVOKING and SHAREABLE IDEAS for
FREE THINKERS in GREATER PHILADELPHIA and BEYOND”? You used to wait to mock people you are disagreeing with to somewhere in the body of your post. But now its front and center in the first paragraph. So maybe you’re following the “BLUF” (Bottom Line Up Front) principle to tell people what to expect in the article, in which case mission accomplished and people can move on without having to read a dissertation rant.
Nevertheless, I have some free time, so I will engage you in debate. Lets see if you engage in actual topics.
“Thoughtful Americans are debating whether “green” energy can get the job done alone (it can’t) and whether it is, in fact, “greener” than fossil fuels (it really isn’t).”
Can you cite some sources to your statement you claim as fact? Or maybe can you go deeper into why? Perhaps its because the lobbyist won’t allow the actual investment needed in order to make your hated “green” energy cheaper and more cost effective. And lets face it, fossil fuels couldn’t keep it up in Texas so they aren’t really doing their job either. The root problem is aging infrastructure and we are too busy debating which is better rather than investing in what needs to be invested.
“Most things are still much more expensive than in 2020.”
Wow you’re gonna chalk all that to fossil fuels and Biden? More rhetoric and you forget mention that at the same time oil and other companies had record profits. So what is driving it? Fossil fuels or corporate greed?
I won’t even get into the rhetoric about fossil fuels in our daily lives, yes its used to manufacture a ton of things. And we can debate all day whether that is good or bad. And I agree some of that needs to exist. So the stuff that does not, maybe we talk about it. Maybe we try to see if there is an alternative that is better and save the fossil fuels as a last or back up option.
Your doom and gloom toward the end is no better than climate change extremists you started out mocking, you’re just on the other side. I’ll sum it up, “What about me and my first world problems?” boo hoo.
Dear Suburbanite, Thanks for being a reader; and tracking my writing and advocacy efforts. Hope the other authors don’t get jealous.
My purpose here was to explore a different aspect of the whole “debate” around the related topics of banning/ending “fossil fuels,” and “green energy”—a aspect that is almost totally overlooked, or outright ignored. There are countless products used in our daily lives that make or quality of life better—and, extend our lives. And, yes, those thousands of products create millions of family sustaining jobs. There’s almost no discussion about those products and what we would do without them—and, respectfully, many people (regardless of their ideology or perspective on this subject) may not realize all of the products that cannot be made (or cannot be made effectively) without oil and/or gas. That’s not “doom & gloom,” that’s reality.
Respectfully, one of the many problems with leftist/progressive ideology and the countless “policies”/emotions put forth is that they are all too often based on flawed premises; or, are emotionally based (“crisis” based) with little to no consideration of consequences. “The planet is dying!” “Life as we know it will end in…2025, 2030, 2040, 2050…so we must act now—and ban/end fossil fuels!” There’s rarely a discussion of whether those cries are even remotely based on facts—rather, fear and emotions ride rough-shod; and, there is almost never a discussion of consequences. What happens if we do this? (How do we move about; transport; eat; stay warm; stay healthy?)
Why is it wrong to point out these realities, educate readers and invite reflection and debate? Why can’t we debate and discuss the pros and cons and make an educated decision? (Even if the go green Now promise is right—temps will rise a degree or more this century [and allegedly won’t get colder, as there has been a warming & cooling cycle for as long as scientists can track]—and, even if fossil fuels contribute to this warming [more than the sun, the ocean cycles, volcanoes, etc.]; a rationale policy might be to use science and fossil fuels to maintain or improve our quality of life and address the alleged consequences of CO2…let’s improve heating, better AC, better refrigerators, better and more extensive use ways to combat the spread of disease, etc., rather than ban fossil fuels and endanger the quality of our lives and our life expectancy.)
While not necessarily your beliefs; but, respectfully, the “end fossil fuels” screams are often from the same crowd that screamed demanding lockdowns & mandates. They were right and we were to shut-up and not ask questions. Don’t ask: What about jobs, livelihoods, mental healthy, or kids’ academics and their socialization? Why didn’t we have a national debate? Why were there absolutes—erring on the side of locking people down? And now, years later, the “smart people” have released their studies and written “reconsiderations”…the apologies…the upon further review…now that we think about it…our poor kids…
The same crowd that screamed, marched, protested and burned police cars and grocery stores to “defund the police”—demanding action, corporate dollars and compliance: yelling at folks having dinner at outdoor restaurants. Progressives yelling and chanting—and then retreating to their suburban apartments and towns house or McMansions. Then people of color were robbed or worse. Their stores destroyed. Then the carjackings. And murders. No debate. No discussion of consequences. “They” were right, we are to listen and no discussion of what happen w/o cops, harmful effects or unintended consequences. Then…oops! We’re sorry. We didn’t mean it—in fact, we never really said it, or we said it, but didn’t make it. Sadly, poor families and people of color suffered disproportionately.
Sanctuary cities! Stop the wall! The same thing: No discussion. No debate. Anyone contradicting progressive orthodoxy is a bigot, racist or a maga-hat wearing scary person. Until…the mayors of NYC, DC, Chicago, Detroit and Denver said…whoa! Wait a second: we wanted to emote and virtue-signal; we didn’t really mean open the border. So now, it’s close the border…maybe.
I conclude dear Suburbanite (applause, applause) as I began. I wrote—as I often do—to raise an issue of importance, and offer a different, real-life perspective. To ask people to think differently. To approach it from commonsense.
I practice my religion based, in part, on faith.
I advocate for policies based of facts, experience, history and CommonSense—and, God-given wisdom.
I’ll offer to you what I offer anyone who claims to be serious when criticizing my writings (btw, debate is what makes America great—plz remind the “misinformation” must be squashed crowd). I am happy to debate this topic with you—not to win or prove you wrong; but, to debate the ideas. And educate listeners—and maybe educate each other.
Thanks, again, for being a reader. Have a nice day!