Net-zero policies have been pushed by the Biden administration as the chief tool to reduce global temperatures which they believe, once achieved, will stop our climate from changing. Early on, they established a goal to achieve a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035 and a net-zero emissions economy by 2050 “through a whole-of-government approach.”
To achieve net zero, the Biden administration is in the process of “transitioning” our energy system away from coal, oil, and natural gas and pushing the build-out and integration of wind and solar and a few other technologies that have been designated “carbon free”. To aid in this transition, Team Biden has worked to make traditional energy more expensive and increasingly inaccessible through moratoriums, canceled pipelines, a new “methane” tax, and new rules and regulations on U.S. oil and gas. Given the significant impact net-zero policies have already had on our domestic energy industry and rising costs, will it actually work in terms of the climate as Biden remarked at COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland last November.
President Joe Biden
False. Completely make believe.
The cost of transitioning away from fossil fuels to a “net-zero” future would imperil the economy without having any measurable impact on the climate. One leading statistician found U.S. commitments to net-zero, at best, would result in a minuscule 0.2-degree reduction in temperature. As for the economy, it would be completely wrecked. Net-zero policies will shrink the U.S. GDP by $7.7 trillion across 18 years and result in 1.2 million lost jobs.
Further analysis found that from 2023 to 2040, net-zero policies would result in an average annual income loss for a family of four of $5,100 and a total income loss for the same family of more than $87,000 over the 18-year time horizon. Electricity costs are expected to increase by 23% per year, and net-zero policies could add up to $2 per gallon on gas.
These costs don’t even include the cost of transitioning away from traditional energy sources. To achieve net zero, the U.S. will be required to spend an estimated $275 trillion by 2050.
The all-pain, no-environmental-gain scenario that is playing out in the U.S. is also why net-zero policies and pledges are falling flat internationally. After the signing of the Paris Climate Accord in 2015, 193 countries committed to implementing policies consistent with broader net-zero goals, mainly phasing out the use of fossil fuels. To date, only 26 of 193 countries have actually followed through.
There is good news on the environmental front, but it has very little to do with net-zero policies. Deaths resulting from climate-related disasters have declined by 96%. Further, the U.S. continues to lead the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy breakthroughs in the natural gas industry as well as advanced pollution control systems across all energy sectors
Instead of pushing ineffective and damaging net-zero policies, the Biden administration should be encouraging innovation.
To learn more about net-zero energy policies, read HERE.