Pandemic Lockdowns Show Concerning Glimpse of What a Carbon-Free Economy Would Look Like

Dead cities and town centers, empty highways and shopping malls, and abandoned airports and stadiums – the coronavirus pandemic has provided a glimpse into what a carbon-free America would look like, and it’s not good.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an opinion column from Paul Tice, who works in investment management and is an adjunct professor of finance at New York University, regarding the environmental movement seizing the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to further the green agenda as the Democratic Party now champions “decarbonization” as the best way to “build back better” from the coronavirus.

But looking past the partisan rhetoric and ideological opposition to the use of traditional energy sources like oil and natural gas, a world without fossil fuels would look similar to a never-ending COVID-like lockdown. As Tice writes:

“Without fossil fuels, Americans would face limited mobility and economic activity would be diminished, with higher unemployment and perennial supply chain disruptions since hydrocarbons are used to make and transport most goods. This economic reality is probably not lost on the cooped-up general public.”

As Tice points out, there is no money left to subsidize green energy. He writes:

“The pandemic has exposed the precarious financial position of almost every part of the U.S. economy. Before the crisis, most American households lived from paycheck to paycheck, with little savings for an emergency. We now know that the same is true of most U.S. businesses and almost every level of government.”

The author also explains that extending low-cost loans and investment and production tax credits to solar and wind projects does little to stimulate the economy, and instead “distorts investment flows and erodes already weak public finances.”

Tice concludes by emphasizing that the coronavirus crisis has exposed the “frivolous nature of climate alarmism.”

“Government-backed global-warming alarmists have spent three decades warning everyone about impending planetary doom over the next century. While they have been obsessing about 100 years in the future, a human scourge from 100 years ago sneaked up on the world in less than three months.”

“As the country starts to dig out from the worst recession since the 1930s, now would be a good time to rethink our priorities.”