Gavin Newsom’s Hobson’s Choice

The Climate Change hoax is unraveling… but will it ever unravel in California?

The very liberal Washington Post had this to say in a recent editorial:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history. It’s about time.

Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1963 to regulate local pollution around the country, and regulators did that for decades. Then, in 2009, the EPA decided it would treat greenhouse gases like other pollutants, despite their damage being global rather than local.

That declaration, called the “endangerment finding,” has been used by bureaucrats ever since to dramatically expand the federal government’s power over cars. Now, the EPA will rescind it.

The U.S. share of global greenhouse gas emissions has been trending downward since the end of World War II, and the 2009 policy change didn’t meaningfully alter its trajectory. Despite the obsession with gas-powered vehicles, light and medium-duty cars and trucks combined to generate just 1.8 percent global greenhouse gas emissions in 2022.

These emissions continue to rise because the atmosphere does not care which country the gases come from. The EPA has no power over China and India, which are increasing their emissions even as they talk a big game at climate conferences.

In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that bureaucrats couldn’t make new rules of “vast economic and political significance” without Congress directly giving away its power.

More than 20 years ago, the EPA admitted that the Clean Air Act did not directly give them this power, and the estimated $1 trillion cost is undeniably significant.

Here are two key take aways:  The endangerment finding cost our economy $1 trillion in higher costs to industry, car makers and, of course, consumers while accomplishing absolutely nothing.  And that $1 trillion estimate doesn’t come close to calculating all the costs, including the loss of jobs in the coal, oil, and gas industries, among others.

And never, in the history of mankind, did we consider carbon dioxide a pollutant.

In fact, every living thing on our planet would die without it.

Of course, all the above is lost on the political and activist classes here in California, including Santa Barbara County.

Santa Barbara County has spent millions on their “Climate Action” plan, including the installation of solar panels, electric vehicles, charging stations, and soon to come, a battery storage energy system behind the county admin building in Santa Barbara at the corner of Anacapa and Anapamu Streets.

And what do they have to show for their efforts to lower emissions in the county?

Well, I witnessed the shortest briefing ever on that very subject a few weeks ago.  That is because the news wasn’t just bad, it was downright catastrophic for those that believe we have little to no time to save our planet.

Specifically, a report to county supervisors on the lack of progress to reduce emissions during the study period of 2018-2023 demonstrated that this entire program was a colossal waste of time, energy, and money.  Here is the truth of the matter:

“Staff and consultants have prepared a 2023 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory to track progress toward achieving 50% reduction by 2030 (below 2018 levels). Overall, community wide emissions in 2023 were 1% higher than they were in 2018.”

In other words, zero, zilch, nada progress.  In fact, we are going in the opposite direction as emissions increased!

Meanwhile, California has now lost more than 20% of its gasoline refinery capacity.  Expect prices to explode at the pump.  Yet, again, however, the rules, regs, and fines that caused the refiners to leave California at great cost to them (Valero gladly lost $1 billion to get out as fast as they could) will accomplish nothing for the environment as we begin to import gasoline from half-way around the world (South Korea and India!).

The war on oil will now prove to be a war on consumers. The political and activist class couldn’t be happier however, as they have always sought this type of financial leverage on consumers to force them into electric vehicles, which of course they won’t be able to afford either.