I was staggered in disbelief to learn in the Feb. 6 news article “A state pollution tax raised $2 billion. Can it survive the backlash?” that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) greatly underestimated the cost of the renewable transition he espouses. Mr. Inslee joins other apostles of climate politics in a macabre exercise that constantly belittles the burden consumers will bear for replacing the fossil energy that underpins 82 percent of their livelihoods. Replace 82 percent of our highways and see how transportation works. Those so adept at spotting misleading claims from the oil industry somehow can’t spot their own.
Either deliberately or innocently, misleading the public about the true costs of the green crusade is a failing strategy. From slowing sales of electric vehicles and unprofitable offshore wind investment to the crippling costs of Europe’s hasty destruction of its coal industry and Germany’s disastrous heat pump proposal, the evidence mounts that, however dire the climate crisis might be, it won’t be cheap to solve. Nor will factual evidence of environmental harm be credible from the same activists who conceal the costs of arresting it.
Arm-waving greens, in and out of public office, should concede that costs will be steep and sacrifices will be required. Try honesty. Otherwise, trust in government, now low as a snake, will fall further. An Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development poll shows the United States already ranks near the bottom of developed countries on this key metric. Mr. Inslee and his followers aren’t helping.
Luke Popovich, Washington
