Wanneer het om het klimaat/energiebeleid gaat moet de rationaliteit het niet zelden afleggen tegen wensdenken. Dat geldt ook voor de VS, waar de democraten plannen hebben ontwikkeld met een hoog Alice-in-Wonderland gehalte.

Onder de titel, ‘Hillary Clinton’s climate and energy policies, explained’, schreef David Middleton voor WUWT:

Vox’s David Roberts actually wrote a useful article. Since there is a slim chance that Hillary Clinton might be America’s first woman and second Marxist President, her views on climate and energy are worth examining. Thankfully, Mr. Roberts’ article contains plenty of material worthy of ridicule … And I like ridiculing people like Mr. Roberts and Mrs. Clinton. So, without further ado …

Media coverage of the Democratic primary has not shed much light on Hillary Clinton’s proposals for climate change and clean energy policy.

But oh, she has proposals. Lots of them! ….

Her plans haven’t gotten much press …. but they are exhaustive. In fact, they are quintessentially Clintonesque, rich with wonky detail, conversant with the policy levers available, and careful, always, to stay within the bounds of the politically possible (as she sees it).

Vervolgens schets Middleton de belangrijkste uitgangspunten van het klimaat/energiebeleid van Clinton.

1) Klimaatverandering is een ernstig probleem. Het is van belang dat de doelstellingen die in Parijs werden afgesproken, worden gehaald. Dat betekent dat de CO2–uitstoot rond 2025 met 26 tot 28 procent dient te zijn gedaald ten opzicht van het niveau van 2005.

2) De volgende president dient meer te doen, maar het Congres – in ieder geval het Huis van Afgevaardigden – zal waarschijnlijk niet mee willen werken, omdat de Republikeinen daar in de meerderheid zullen zijn. Dus heeft Clinton een strategie ontworpen om dit probleem te omzeilen.

Hoe?

A transition of this scale will not work without broad political buy-in. That means engineering a shift to clean energy that, in Clinton’s words, “doesn’t leave anyone out or behind.”

According to the campaign, that means a number of things: economic development for coal communities, a focus on low-income households and communities of color, expanding union density in the clean energy space, and helping states figure out net metering and retail rate design issues.

Coal communities are particularly important to Clinton, who mentions them on the stump frequently. She just returned from a two-day tour through Appalachian coal country, in which she spoke at length about her plan to “revitalize coal communities.” That plan was one of the first pieces of energy policy she released.

Maar deze doelstellingen staan op gespannen voet met elkaar. Of zoals Middelton het uitdrukt:

[They] equal mind boggling idiocy.

Congress is elected by the people she expects to “buy in” to the destruction of our economy in a Quixotic effort to end the natural variability of Earth’s climate. The House of Representatives is the most directly elected branch of our Federal government. The people she expects to “buy in” are electing people to Congress who won’t authorize the trillions of dollars of new welfare programs (“economic development for coal communities, a focus on low-income households and communities of color, expanding union density in the clean energy space, and helping states figure out net metering and retail rate design issues.”) she expects to dole out in exchange for the “buy in.”

En nu de cijfertjes.

Clinton pledges that within 10 years of her taking office, the US will (quoting from her campaign website):

Generate enough renewable energy to power every home in America, with half a billion solar panels installed by the end of Hillary’s first term.” (That would mean installed solar PV capacity of 140 gigawatts by the end of 2020, up 700 percent from current levels and well beyond most forecasts.)

Cut energy waste in American homes, schools, hospitals and offices by a third and make American manufacturing the cleanest and most efficient in the world.” (The campaign estimates this would save Americans about $8 billion a year in energy and health care costs.)

Reduce American oil consumption by a third through cleaner fuels and more efficient cars, boilers, ships and trucks.

I could have shortened this list to one item:

You people need to stay home and freeze in the dark!!!!! …

While I have no idea what Donald Trump’s plans are regarding energy and climate change, Mrs. Clinton’s are worse than those of the current occupant of the White House.

Lees verder hier.

Nog nooit hebben de externe vijanden van de VS het land economisch op de knieën kunnen krijgen. Zou het dit keer door intern wanbeleid wel lukken?

Voor mijn eerdere bijdragen over klimaat en aanverwante zaken zie hier, hier, hier, hier en hier.

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