OPINION:
The United Nations’ 28th Conference of the Parties designed to rail against global warming kicks off Thursday, but President Biden is staying home. That’s a good thing.
Mr. Biden aligned U.S. climate policy with that of the United Nations following the latter’s 2015 Paris Agreement, which aspires to declare a global temperature limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100. Attending the conference in Dubai would have placed the president face-to-face with world leaders who quietly cringe over the chaos ensuing from his confused presence on the world stage.
In absentia, Mr. Biden has nevertheless influenced the conference tone with such decrees as banning oil and natural gas drilling on certain federal lands and mandating emissions standards that would force the conversion of two-thirds of new auto sales to electric vehicles by 2032 — something nearly 4,000 dealers called “unrealistic” in a Tuesday letter to the president.
Following Mr. Biden’s lead, the heads of 131 high-revenue, multinational companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Ikea and Nestle, signed a letter urging conferees to redouble their climate advocacy:
“We call on all Parties attending COP28 in Dubai to seek outcomes that will lay the groundwork to transform the global energy system towards a full phase-out of unabated fossil fuels and halve emissions this decade.”
The Biden-allied cat’s-paw is hard to miss, and a recent declaration by the “net zero” ministers of the 27-member European Union, avowed foes of carbon dioxide, accentuates the reach of the president’s climate change crusade that has been pushing the country away from abundant and cheap sources of power in favor of unreliable and pricey alternatives such as solar panels and windmills.
Policy-driven hot air will not keep communities warm when winter’s chill grips. The North American Electric Reliability Corp., a U.S. utility regulator, warned last week that a grid operator providing electricity to Iowa and 14 other Midwestern states is “at risk for energy emergencies during the upcoming winter.”
Even if the shivering predictions don’t materialize, consumers still face the inevitability of steeper energy costs. Mr. Biden’s war on fossil fuels means Americans are facing higher bills than last winter’s by 28% for natural gas, 27% for heating oil and 5% for propane. Electricity is forecast to rise by 10%, according to the Energy Information Administration. Similar trends have roiled Europe, where gas prices set records earlier this year.
Energy shortfalls and subsequent price spikes can be traced to coal and nuclear power plant retirements, which Mr. Biden backs. Further restrictions on power supplies could result from a U.S.-China agreement to restart a working group on climate cooperation signed earlier this month by Mr. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also skipping the climate summit. China’s daily purchase of 1 million barrels of Iranian oil, however, continues uninterrupted — a concession to necessity that apparently escapes his American counterpart.
President Biden’s no-show policies, which measure benefits in thousandths of a degree, should give way to sensible solutions that yield tangible well-being. America can better help the world by switching to smarter leadership.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.