With the “energy transition” from fossil fuels to renewables foundering up against the immutable laws of physics and thermodynamics, governments in the Western world are now studying schemes to block out solar radiation as a means of ‘saving’ the planet. I swear I’m not making this up — who could possibly do that?
First up last week was the European Commission (EC), led by increasingly authoritarian President Ursula Von Der Leyen. In what one publication called “a significant shift in the global approach to climate change,” the EC announced on June 27 a plan to “support international efforts to assess comprehensively the risks and uncertainties of climate interventions, including solar radiation modification,” as reported by Fox News.
The EC framework includes a series of what it calls “climate interventions” by human beings who can’t even predict the weather a few days in advance, including options such as stratospheric aerosol injection designed to raise the concentration of airborne particles to block out a portion of sunlight that would be able to reach the surface of the Earth. In other words, SPF 50 “chemtrails” coming soon to the skies in your area, or something similar, brought to you by “experts” and “science.” (RELATED: THOMAS PYLE: Biden Bends The Knee To Radical Climate Activists Yet Again)
Critics of the approach warn of unintended consequences of such schemes, like running the risk of changing rain patterns, creating droughts, and a laundry list of other potentially disastrous and deadly outcomes.
But no matter: Not to be outdone by their fellow central planners in Europe, the central planners at the Biden White House issued a “study” as part of a huge pre-July 4 holiday document dump a few days later, tellingly titled “CONGRESSIONALLY MANDATED RESEARCH PLAN AND AN INITIAL RESEARCH GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK RELATED TO SOLAR RADIATION MODIFICATION.”
The first thing that stands out here is how prominently the researchers emphasize that this study was mandated by congress. It indicates that the Biden researchers at least know the idea is fairly insane and want to deflect responsibility for it. Even more telling, they go to great pains in the reports first paragraph to emphasize again the congressional mandate for the study, a mandate that was passed by the previous, Democrat-dominated congress in a 2022 omnibus spending bill.
So worried was the Biden White House about the blowback of ridicule they likely knew such a study would attract that officials there took the added step of issuing a separate statement assuring readers that “there are no plans underway to establish a comprehensive research program focused on solar radiation modification.” Thank God for small favors, I guess.
But the aspect of this that should be cause for major public concern is the reality that crazy schemes like this do not just materialize out of thin air among policymakers and central planners in Europe or the United States. The language mandating this study was most likely handed to one or more Democrat members of congress by lobbyists representing the interests of the climate alarm industry. The members of congress then found a way to hide that language in the thousands of pages of the larger omnibus spending package, which few members or staff ever bother to read before votes are cast. A similar process of handing off and lobbying and hiding would have taken place at the EC as well. (RELATED: DANIEL TURNER: Radical Green Groups Are Attacking American Energy Independence At The Source)
What this means is that there is a growing school of thought within the increasingly powerful and well-funded climate alarm community that truly supports and believes in schemes to block out sunlight as a means of ‘saving’ the planet. Thus, here we see yet another example of this global climate alarm obsession resulting in completely irrational, money-wasting and intellectually vapid actions taken by government officials who know nothing about the subject matter at hand but are intent on “doing something” regardless of how ridiculous that something might be.
It’s all just one more bit of proof that we have the very worst possible class of people making energy policy decisions for the rest of us, especially in the Western world. We would be far better off just picking random names out of the phone book — if phone books still existed, of course — to govern us.
David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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