It appears that most of the cost for going “Green” will be paid by the lower and middle classes; rising electricity costs, food costs, inflation, slow job creation, etc. will be placed squarely on the shoulders of those who can least afford them. We are already seeing this and the type of pretzel logic that is used to jam more people into an unworkable timetable based on the dreams of planners who believe they can ignore the realities of the marketplace.
Consider the real-life situations in the article linked below, by Bjorn Lomborg, hardly an eco-Luddite. The inefficiencies of organic farming have hit hard at the nation of Sri Lanka which had been an example of solid “Green” thinking. With falling crop yields, the nation is facing not only political instability, but food shortages while fuel, medicine, and other necessities in part due to their inability to export for hard currency. The solution again is simply to put more land under cultivation which would mean destroying more forests and increased labor hours for the farmers.
Closer to home, take the example the rising cost of fuel for your car; in the last year, the cost of fuel has gone up about $2.00 per gallon. That hurts the poorest and the middle class, but we are told, there is a solution. Simply purchase an EV. If you are having a challenging time paying $2.00 more per gallon, the solution is to go into debt to the tune of $29,000 or more (don’t forget to add the cost of your updated wiring so you can charge at home, during the evening hours when the utilities companies have just raised the evening hour charges). It makes sense to someone, to spend $35-50,000 now to save $2.00 a gallon. You may qualify for a federal rebate on your new EV paid for by yourself and your neighbors in debt-based taxes. Of course, you could generate your own electricity by simply purchasing solar panels (manufactured in China and shipped here but never mind about that pollution during transit) so there goes another $20,000. Yes, this may be a simplistic, even tongue in cheek look at what we face in our future, but is it so far out of line?
Across the globe, the cost of going “Green” is hitting home as demonstrated by failed government targets, reexamining the use of nuclear power and fracking, etc. Nothing is free and renewable does not mean better. Until the marketplace and technology can merge, we can expect more problems such as we see in the attached article.
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