The House Climate Plan promises to protect us from a crisis by mandating unreliable, unaffordable energy--mostly solar and wind. This Plan is terrible for 3 reasons: 1) There's no crisis, 2) It wouldn't work if there was a crisis, 3) It would itself bring about a crisis.
1) There's no crisis: Climate change is real, in the sense that rising CO2 levels have a warming influence on climate. But that influence is extremely manageable with adaption. That's why, after 170 years of rising CO2 levels, climate-related deaths are at an all-time low.
2) It wouldn't work if there was a crisis: "Climate change," i.e., rising CO2 levels, is a *global* issue. Mandating unreliable, unaffordable energy in the US won't lower global emissions, because most other countries aren't dumb enough follow suit. Certainly not China and India.
3) It would itself bring about a crisis: The energy industry powers every other industry. The less affordable energy is, the less affordable everything is. Mandating unreliable, unaffordable energy would cause a Venezuela-level economic and environmental crisis.
Instead of committing unilateral economic (and environmental) suicide by destroying our energy industry, the US should double down on energy freedom--the key to prosperity, innovation, and adaptation. Start by decriminalizing non-carbon nuclear energy.
