American Thinker

by Lewis M. Andrews

    Yet, as much as the diminished enthusiasm for a crash program to replace fossil fuels has become apparent, both the explanation for this change and its deeper meaning have yet to be appreciated. For contrary to what many green activists claim, voters are not in denial about a potential long-term threat to the Earth’s atmosphere.

    There may be “a decline in a sense of urgency around this issue,” as Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray has noted, but “most Americans continue to believe climate change is real.” Recent surveys from Pew, Gallop, the University of Chicago, and George Mason University confirm Murray’s assessment.

    Nor is there any reason to believe that the high cost of rapidly transitioning from fossil fuels -- as well as the inconvenience of living with range-bound electric cars and weather-related power blackouts -- has led people to think that saving posterity is not worth the sacrifice. Whether fighting fascism during World War II, maintaining military readiness during the Cold War, or spending $22 trillion on Great Society programs for the disadvantaged, Americans have always done what seemed necessary for the wellbeing of future generations.

    Which is not to say that the projected financial and lifestyle burden of getting to net zero is irrelevant. For at the very least it has forced citizens to reconsider many of the assumptions they uncritically accepted when the only losers appeared to be petroleum companies.

It is really true, they want to know, that life on Earth will become extinct by the end of the century if humanity keeps burning fossil fuels  Or is it more likely, as the UN report at last November’s world climate conference conceded, that temperatures would rise no more than 2.5 degrees

Is it really so dangerous to use nuclear power, which is both more reliable and economical than renewables, as the bridge to a greener future  Or has the advent of small modular reactors and fast neutron reactors (which burn up their own radioactive waste) made atomic energy just as safe as any other

Also: Is America’s market economy so wedded to fossil fuels that it must be forced to accept renewables, or are there sufficient incentives for scientists and inventors to eventually come up with better alternatives that will automatically be embraced  In other words, is atmospheric carbon like the twentieth century problem of water pollution, which once caused rivers and lakes to burst into chemical fires, ocean fish to die, and drinking water to become toxic – events we rarely hear about anymore

And the most important question of all: Is this a world where the energy sources most responsible for its prosperity -- fossil fuels and nuclear fission -- must now be abandoned, stunting growth in the more advanced countries while preventing less developed nations from ever catching up  Or has God, the universe… however one conceives of the underlying reality… provided humanity with sufficient leeway to continue moving forward

    This last consideration may rarely be expressed in public debates about the environment. But as recent psychological research has shown, the growing recognition that our understanding of climate change remains clouded in uncertainty has made personal philosophy the single greatest determinant of how the vast majority of people regard the threat. To paraphrase the essayist Anaïs Nin, “they see it as they are.”

    All of which makes America’s recently diminished enthusiasm for green power a far more significant development than generally recognized, for it has not been duplicated in other industrialized countries. The European Union still requires most new cars sold after 2035 be battery EVs; the United Kingdom continues spending trillions to be net zero by 2050; and Norway persists in lavishing the most per capita on clean energy, with Australia, Canada, and Japan close behind.

    Environmental activists clearly regard the more relaxed U.S. attitude as a tragic reversal by the one-time green leader, the seeming result of fatigue, intellectual irresponsibility, and self-delusion. But it is also possible to view it as the natural result of the unique values and beliefs which have always made America such an exceptional country.

    Church attendance may not be what it used to be, progressive universities may teach that “the land of opportunity” is a myth, the media may obsess on unaffordability, and Hollywood may continue to churn out sci-fi dystopias. Yet judged by their ability to get a grip on climate alarmism, Americans are still turning out to be as relatively confident, resilient, and hopeful as they have always been.

    While much of the world remains willing to sacrifice its future progress and prosperity for the presumed safety of a slightly greener atmosphere, the U.S. appears ready to once again discover just how good that future progress and prosperity can be.