Letter: Claims of cleaning up the environment overshadow downsides of this transition

Editor’s note: This letter is by Stu Lindberg of Cavendish.

With the recent regime change in Washington, D.C., the Democrats are in charge of the executive branch, the House and the Senate. Quite rapidly, we are witnessing corporate America and Big Green Energy flooding social media and legacy news with advertisements pushing the virtues of transitioning to battery operated transportation.

The external costs of this Green New Deal are being largely ignored. The claims of cleaning up the environment and creating a more socially responsible society completely overshadow the downsides of this transition. There are unmeasured costs that exceed even the billions of taxpayer dollars being expropriated from every American citizen to fund this change.

While the environmental devastation created by mining operations is a huge concern, even more egregious is the use of children, as young as 6 years old, being “employed” as miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rate of pay for these children is anywhere between 75 cents and $2 per day. This is child slave labor. International rights advocates have filed a lawsuit against Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla on behalf of 14 Congolese parents. Other defendants in the lawsuit include the Chinese firm Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt.

Amnesty International has also been diligent in exposing and advocating for the children and parents of the Congo.

Vermonters are known for being both environmentally and socially aware. Sadly, this awareness only goes so far as what is reported in the mainstream media. I encourage everyone who reads this to dig a little deeper and learn the impacts of your own purchasing decisions and how your tax dollars are being spent.

As dirty as fossil fuels may be, I am certain that the automobile I drive is made by highly paid union workers and fueled by oil industry workers who are protected by hard earned labor and safety regulations.

Stuart Lindberg
Cavendish, Vermont

Image courtesy of Public domain

8 thoughts on “Letter: Claims of cleaning up the environment overshadow downsides of this transition

  1. This is a recent lecture, given just two weeks ago, by William Happer, Professor of Physics Emeritus, Princeton University, on CO2 and climate change.

    I classify it in the ‘facts matter’ category with the full understanding that everyone says that about everything they post.

    And yes, one of my “You can’t argue with the invincibly ignorant” friends replied; “Yes, Happer is one of the small minority of climate scientists that put little credibility in the CO2 theory. Alas, this is very politicized, which stifles useful discussion.”

    Oh well. At least my friend called the climate change notion a ‘CO2 theory’.

    It certainly won’t hurt anyone to watch and listen to Dr. Happer…. unless, of course, you’re an investor in solar arays and wind mills.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA1zUW4uOSw

  2. I figure the follies will end when life conditions in VT become so poor, due to the mandates of the GWSA and TCI, that even democratic voters will demand it end and vote out anyone that supports it. Those who wanted it will kill it.

  3. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mit+professor+on+clymate+change&docid=607987530468036584&mid=CEB2E66E3DC03E2177BECEB2E66E3DC03E2177BE&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

    My favorite video on climate change Professor Lindzen 2018 Annual FWPF Lecture.

    I sent it to all VT House members and Senators and asked them to vow to never use air travel again (If they believed all the bs they put forth on climate change laws they would never fly again) I got crickets because they those who voted for the latest bill don’t believe climate change is real so they are ALL HYPOCRITES

  4. For years Willem Post has written and warned about the prohibitive cost of implementing Vermont’s clean energy strategy, today know as the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA). His message has been consistent, loud and clear with many thoughtful people agreeing with him.

    For those who disagree with Post and believe he is wrong, well they have remained painfully silent over the years. They have made no effort to rebut the costs put forward by Post. Not wanting to fully understand the costs of such a giant undertaking isn’t just odd, its irresponsible and wrong. The huge financial stake the renewable energy industry has in the execution of the GWSA explains its silence. The climate advocates in turn are supported by the renewable energy industry thus explaining their silence.

    On the other hand, the silence of the Vermont legislature and PUC is simply explicable…….Their responsibility is to protect the people of Vermont by insuring that public policy is affordable and doable. Gov. Scott has a responsibility to continue to speak out on the costs and futility of the GWSA, going beyond his veto.

    We have been told that the GWSA and the New Green Deal on a national level are undoable. On 12/7/20, Rep. Scott Campbell a member of the House Committee on Technology and Energy said ” No one, least of all me, believes Vermont can stop climate change or even affect climate change”. This mean that every member of the House Committee on Tech & Environment must also believe Vermont can do nothing to stop climate change……Yet these people vetted and endorsed the legislation leading to the passage of the GWSA…….On a national level Biden Climate Czar John Kerry has said that America cannot halt climate change.

    The financial downside of the GWSA in Vermont has been articulated over and over again for years, yet our representatives in Montpelier have chosen to ignored the warnings……By doing so, they jeopardize the economy of the State and well being of the people with no chance of mitigating climate change.

    • “You can’t argue with the invincibly ignorant.” – William Buckley. Worse still, you can’t argue with a fanatic believer in a rigidly dogmatic religion. Truth is always what they say it is at the moment, no matter how obviously they are wrong – e.g. Biden’s “We choose [dogmatic] truth over facts.” If you dispute their truth, they will demonize you, they will persecute you, they will publicly excoriate you. Torquemada has nothing on today’s Grand Inquisitors. Question the dogma – doom yourself to Cancel Culture.

    • Peter,
      Thank you.

      During the past 20 years, Vermonters have spent at least $2.5 BILLION on subsidized RE programs that produced very expensive electricity, which increased the prices of energy and of other goods and services, and made the Vermont economy less and less vibrant, which has numerous other consequences.

      Any sane person would expect Vermont’s CO2 to be steadily reduced, but it increased!!

      That means, in toto, these ill-conceived government programs were failures.

      Now these same type RE people want to have 5 times more money per year, about $1.25 BILLION/y, to implement the totally useless Klein/Shumlin concoction called VT CEP, because it is required by the unconstitutional GWSA.

      The insaneness of it all is breathtaking.

      How did these people acquire the power that enables them to command, and control, and cow us like Pavlov dogs and sheep?

      When will these follies finally end?

    • Peter: This big load of hogwash is nothing more than an attempt at disguising
      wealth redistribution and control of our lives, two of the most ultimate goals of those on the left. They (some of them the so called climate activists) are still hammering on Trump as a disguise in their efforts. They will not talk about affordability to the individual person being affected. Ask Alan Betts where the affordability factor shows up….. none of these climate blowhards will talk about that because to them, that is not important. VT Yankee was a victim of this same mindset….. money and control which the VT lefties could not get their arms around in that setting. So they caused it to disappear. Made no sense then, makes no sense now. Make everyone as miserable as possible and leave them with no money. That is their goal; do not forget it.

Comments are closed.