Father, protect our nation from the dangers of socialism in all of its forms. We pray also for the many young people who are being led astray by the false promises of socialism and communism–show them the truth.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (1 Cor 13:6)

View Comments (8)

For the past few months, many mainstream Democrats have been pushing the Green New Deal — a radical, socialist policy that aims to dramatically reduce the United States’ emissions and convert American energy usage solely to wind and solar.

The policy has massive economic implications with an estimated price tag of $5.7 trillion and countless jobs that would need to be replaced. In addition, its hope for solar and wind to carry the burden of all energy production is completely unrealistic. Despite that, its biggest flaw may be its promotion of socialism, which inherently goes against emissions reduction and the success of climate change mitigation. In fact, for anyone who wants true climate change reform, socialism is the last route that should be taken.

The free market, however, has been at the helm of impactful success in the environmental sphere. From clean energy to transportation, the market has led the way on environmental action….

Broadly, the United States’ willingness to support the market on the environment has led to improvements on climate change, too. Although not near enough to mitigate the effects or dangers of climate change, the United States led the world in emissions reduction in 2017. Much of this came from corporate leadership, where more than 150 large corporations have pledged to transition to clean energy sources by 2030. None of the companies have transitioned due to government regulations, but a market incentive to innovate and utilize inexpensive forms of clean energy.

On the flip side, socialism has killed opportunities for environmental and technological growth by accepting past and present-day technologies, all while ignoring important future-minded innovations….

Here in the United States, albeit not a socialist-leaning state, the government’s involvement has been harmful as well. The U.S. government’s regulation has completely halted the nuclear industry and limited its potential to innovate. A frustrating permitting process, through numerous state and national agencies, has prevented an explosion of hydropower as well. Even with solar, the Harvard Business Review approximates stringent U.S. regulations have cost the solar market $70 billion….

Socialism has been an absolute failure for economies and environments across the globe, and it won’t be any different here in the United States. (Excerpts from Benjamin Backer article in The Washington Times –  Benjamin Backer is president and founder of the American Conservation Coalition.)

The Informer February 14, 2019