We don’t yet know the cause of the tragic collapse of the residential tower in Miami, Florida. One individual claims his wife called him in real-time saying the building was shaking as she watched the swimming pool fall into a sinkhole. Whether it was a structural issue or a matter of negligence, or perhaps the rare freak accident, the top priority should be human life: a staggering 149 people are still unaccounted for and 12 are confirmed dead in the nightmarish scenario.
But not for the left. No, if you want to push your narrative and advance your cause, every crisis is a valuable opportunity. Case in point, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, neither a scientist nor an engineer, declared “we don’t know” if the cause was, of course, climate change.
“Obviously, we don’t know fully, but we do know that the seas are rising. We know that we’re losing inches and inches of beaches, not just in Florida but all around,” Granholm said.
“We’ll have to wait to see what the analysis is for this building, but the issue about resiliency and making sure we adapt to this changing climate, that’s going to mean levees need to be built, sea walls need to be built, infrastructure needs to be built,” she continued.
This is disgusting.
I have long ago given up hope of anyone at CNN pushing back against the remark, but any reasonable or even feeling American knows just how callously opportunistic this comment is. This is the left: everything is seen through the lens of a political agenda. Had Beto O’Rourke been asked, he most likely would have answered in botched Spanish and blamed gun owners. Vice President Kamala Harris would laugh awkwardly and then talk about the role systemic racism played. Anything to push the agenda.
Climate change is crucial to the Biden administration’s agenda. The markets are not calling for government to pay for 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations, but the White House is doing it anyway because they hate the fossil fuel industry. As statists, they want to control what and how people drive, but they cannot say that part aloud. So, the safe answer, climate change.
Governing is not easy, and no doubt the temptation on tedious issues is to punt into the future the way every U.S. president, both Republicans and Democrats, has done regarding the national debt. In California, one such issue is forest management, and the negligence leads to devastating and deadly wildfires. But if you are Gov. Gavin Newsom, you can wash your hands of the issue and blame, of course, climate change. Southern Oregon doesn’t have such regular fires. Nor does northwestern Nevada or southwestern Idaho, but only, magically, conveniently, California has such microtargeted climate change.
Fascinating.
Climate change is the reason to spend and the absolution of failure. Climate change is the heart and soul of the Green New Deal, liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s legislation which her former chief of staff said is “a way to change the entire economy.” Climate change allows John Kerry to fly private jets because “it’s the only choice for somebody like me.” Climate change allows Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to call for high speed rail nationwide while reading reports that California’s rail boondoggle is $100 billion over budget and a decade behind schedule. President John F. Kennedy called for a man on the moon in less time than California can build track between Los Angeles and Sacramento with absolutely zero political opposition.
Climate change is anything authoritarians want it to be, but more than anything, it is the impetus to impose their will on a people unwilling to submit. In this thoroughly un-American sense, Granholm can use a building collapse, without inspecting the damage, without a background in construction or engineering, to stoke panic. What follows will be a government determining your housing, your transportation and your freedoms all to under the guise of public safety and well-being.
You think governors closing your churches and shuttering businesses during Covid was bad? Get ready for the power of government that declares a climate crisis. It will regulate everything – literally every facet — in your life.
The extreme rhetoric of the eco-left makes the hope of an intelligent and rational conversation virtually impossible. How can we discuss guns, race, school choice, abortion, overseas wars or any multitude of issues if one side fans the flames of division at every opportunity? When the secretary of energy so comfortably pushes the climate agenda, even at the expense of 150 plus souls, there’s little doubt left: this is not about science, facts, truth or even the common good. The climate change agenda is about power.
The only thing stopping them is you. Don’t submit. Ever.
Daniel Turner is the founder and executive director of Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. Contact him at daniel@powerthefuture.com and follow him on Twitter @DanielTurnerPTF