Democrat Governors Ignore Global Realities, Cling to ‘Green’ Policies
Be honest—this is ridiculous.
As global corporations and governments increasingly shed ideologically driven policies that raise energy prices and undermine supply, governors in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic cling to counterproductive agendas of contradiction and equivocation.
Programs that prioritize dubious environmental goals over economic growth and basic human needs have been losing support. In the U.S., the Trump administration promotes fossil fuels and nuclear power over so-called “green” energy, suspending leases for? five offshore wind projects?Christmas week while offering loan guarantees to nuclear operators and promoting coal as a?“clean” stocking stuffer.
Half a globe away, Japan has ended its financial support for large-scale?solar projects. Meanwhile, the island nation plans to restart the world’s?largest nuclear power plant, which was shuttered a decade ago as an overreaction to a tsunami-induced disaster at another plant.
Private enterprises that had invested billions of dollars into green energy initiatives are returning their focus to core businesses.
ExxonMobil reduced?“low-carbon” investments?by $10 billion even as it announced that?oil and gas production?would fuel $25 billion in earnings growth over the next few years.?
Shell, Aker BP, and Enbridge—companies based in the UK, Norway, and Canada, respectively—have withdrawn from the?Science Based Targets initiative, which was supposed to address the purported threat of climate change.
“The trend toward a carbon-neutral society appears to be slowing,”?says?Tomohide Miyata, the CEO of Eneos. The Japanese refiner abandoned plans to produce hydrogen (an overhyped “alternative” energy source?that still relies on fossil fuels) to expand its liquefied natural gas business.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro is unaware—or unconcerned—that his confused policies stymie the development of affordable energy in the most densely populated region of the United States.
The Pennsylvania governor’s record has been, at best, mercurial.
Shapiro recently surprised many when he agreed to withdraw Pennsylvania from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the multistate compact that imposes carbon taxes on member states. But just months earlier, Shapiro sued to?stay?in RGGI. The reversal drew positive reactions from Republican lawmakers and labor union leaders, who predicted increased investments in the state’s natural gas and coal industries with the abandonment of RGGI’s tax on fossil fuels.
“?The war’s over,” said?Shawn Steffee?of Pittsburgh Boilermakers Local 154, who had been among those blaming RGGI for discouraging fossil fuel projects in Pennsylvania since the commonwealth flirted with joining in 2019. “It is time to … rebuild right here in Pennsylvania.”
However, within weeks, the?Environmental Quality Board?(EQB) of Shapiro’s Department of Environmental Protection recommended increasing setbacks for natural gas wells by as much as tenfold. The restrictions—up to a mile in distance—would shut down gas drilling and increase energy prices, according to industry sources.
Jim Welty, president of the?Marcellus Shale Coalition, calls the setbacks “a ban on future natural …
Be honest—this is ridiculous.
As global corporations and governments increasingly shed ideologically driven policies that raise energy prices and undermine supply, governors in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic cling to counterproductive agendas of contradiction and equivocation.
Programs that prioritize dubious environmental goals over economic growth and basic human needs have been losing support. In the U.S., the Trump administration promotes fossil fuels and nuclear power over so-called “green” energy, suspending leases for? five offshore wind projects?Christmas week while offering loan guarantees to nuclear operators and promoting coal as a?“clean” stocking stuffer.
Half a globe away, Japan has ended its financial support for large-scale?solar projects. Meanwhile, the island nation plans to restart the world’s?largest nuclear power plant, which was shuttered a decade ago as an overreaction to a tsunami-induced disaster at another plant.
Private enterprises that had invested billions of dollars into green energy initiatives are returning their focus to core businesses.
ExxonMobil reduced?“low-carbon” investments?by $10 billion even as it announced that?oil and gas production?would fuel $25 billion in earnings growth over the next few years.?
Shell, Aker BP, and Enbridge—companies based in the UK, Norway, and Canada, respectively—have withdrawn from the?Science Based Targets initiative, which was supposed to address the purported threat of climate change.
“The trend toward a carbon-neutral society appears to be slowing,”?says?Tomohide Miyata, the CEO of Eneos. The Japanese refiner abandoned plans to produce hydrogen (an overhyped “alternative” energy source?that still relies on fossil fuels) to expand its liquefied natural gas business.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro is unaware—or unconcerned—that his confused policies stymie the development of affordable energy in the most densely populated region of the United States.
The Pennsylvania governor’s record has been, at best, mercurial.
Shapiro recently surprised many when he agreed to withdraw Pennsylvania from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the multistate compact that imposes carbon taxes on member states. But just months earlier, Shapiro sued to?stay?in RGGI. The reversal drew positive reactions from Republican lawmakers and labor union leaders, who predicted increased investments in the state’s natural gas and coal industries with the abandonment of RGGI’s tax on fossil fuels.
“?The war’s over,” said?Shawn Steffee?of Pittsburgh Boilermakers Local 154, who had been among those blaming RGGI for discouraging fossil fuel projects in Pennsylvania since the commonwealth flirted with joining in 2019. “It is time to … rebuild right here in Pennsylvania.”
However, within weeks, the?Environmental Quality Board?(EQB) of Shapiro’s Department of Environmental Protection recommended increasing setbacks for natural gas wells by as much as tenfold. The restrictions—up to a mile in distance—would shut down gas drilling and increase energy prices, according to industry sources.
Jim Welty, president of the?Marcellus Shale Coalition, calls the setbacks “a ban on future natural …
Democrat Governors Ignore Global Realities, Cling to ‘Green’ Policies
Be honest—this is ridiculous.
As global corporations and governments increasingly shed ideologically driven policies that raise energy prices and undermine supply, governors in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic cling to counterproductive agendas of contradiction and equivocation.
Programs that prioritize dubious environmental goals over economic growth and basic human needs have been losing support. In the U.S., the Trump administration promotes fossil fuels and nuclear power over so-called “green” energy, suspending leases for? five offshore wind projects?Christmas week while offering loan guarantees to nuclear operators and promoting coal as a?“clean” stocking stuffer.
Half a globe away, Japan has ended its financial support for large-scale?solar projects. Meanwhile, the island nation plans to restart the world’s?largest nuclear power plant, which was shuttered a decade ago as an overreaction to a tsunami-induced disaster at another plant.
Private enterprises that had invested billions of dollars into green energy initiatives are returning their focus to core businesses.
ExxonMobil reduced?“low-carbon” investments?by $10 billion even as it announced that?oil and gas production?would fuel $25 billion in earnings growth over the next few years.?
Shell, Aker BP, and Enbridge—companies based in the UK, Norway, and Canada, respectively—have withdrawn from the?Science Based Targets initiative, which was supposed to address the purported threat of climate change.
“The trend toward a carbon-neutral society appears to be slowing,”?says?Tomohide Miyata, the CEO of Eneos. The Japanese refiner abandoned plans to produce hydrogen (an overhyped “alternative” energy source?that still relies on fossil fuels) to expand its liquefied natural gas business.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro is unaware—or unconcerned—that his confused policies stymie the development of affordable energy in the most densely populated region of the United States.
The Pennsylvania governor’s record has been, at best, mercurial.
Shapiro recently surprised many when he agreed to withdraw Pennsylvania from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the multistate compact that imposes carbon taxes on member states. But just months earlier, Shapiro sued to?stay?in RGGI. The reversal drew positive reactions from Republican lawmakers and labor union leaders, who predicted increased investments in the state’s natural gas and coal industries with the abandonment of RGGI’s tax on fossil fuels.
“?The war’s over,” said?Shawn Steffee?of Pittsburgh Boilermakers Local 154, who had been among those blaming RGGI for discouraging fossil fuel projects in Pennsylvania since the commonwealth flirted with joining in 2019. “It is time to … rebuild right here in Pennsylvania.”
However, within weeks, the?Environmental Quality Board?(EQB) of Shapiro’s Department of Environmental Protection recommended increasing setbacks for natural gas wells by as much as tenfold. The restrictions—up to a mile in distance—would shut down gas drilling and increase energy prices, according to industry sources.
Jim Welty, president of the?Marcellus Shale Coalition, calls the setbacks “a ban on future natural …
0 Comments
0 Shares
31 Views
0 Reviews
