Show Trial increasingly looks to be move to pave the way for Biden climate promises at weekend G20 Summit + Glasgow “COP” beginning Monday
There are more and more indications that Thursday’s House Oversight hearing, initially scheduled as an opportunity to berate the defendants in the floundering climate litigation industry, is not only intended to assist the plaintiffs — as the Biden-Harris campaign also promised to do — but has devolved to a rather more nakedly political effort.
Specifically, it appears that tomorrow’s hearing is to advance the following thesis:
You’re the reason we can’t legislate the climate agenda into place, so it’s fair to unleash the administrative state anyway.
The reason Congress won’t act and pass “climate” legislation is because of this damn war and that lyin… because a ‘disinformation machine’ has somehow blocked action by Congress (e.g., the current majority) and, given that’s why Congress has not enacted legislative authority, well, this justifies the Biden administration making pen-and-phone promises two days later at the Rome G20, then at the Glasgow COP26 beginning the day after.
(that’s right, there have been 25 COPs before this, but Congress still ain’t buying. Curse you, Powerful Dark Forces!)
Those looming announcements of administrative-state initiatives — on methane, and the highly dubious, sue-n-settle to regulate GHGs using ozone as a “back door” — are the “other ways to skin the cat” that EPA administrator Regan and WH advisor Gina McCarthy and now Sen. Tina Smith keep hinting are in the offing, repeating Pres. Obama’s phrase when Congress denied him Cap-n-trade prompting him to pretend well, he had the authority anyway.
This is, in CLW’s opinion, the congressional majorities’ contribution to help the administration ‘reimagine’ the Clean Air Act in the face of those same majorities’ failure to provide actual authority for the agenda. The reason we can’t legislate is these Powerful Dark Forces; Congress is broken so we will regulate!
The hearing’s theme is the “Exxon Knew” line. CLW hopes some Member has the presence of mind to note the amazing “Enron Knew” story — Enron knew and internally, bitterly debated the substantial scientific doubt about climate alarmism; it, also knew and internally acknowledged the risks of politicizing the international energy markets. (CLW has posted on this here, here and here).
Sure got that latter one right. Cue energy crisis headlines from around the world thanks to these policies.
An amusing side-note: the other guy in the room in Ken Lay’s August 1997 Oval Office meeting with Bill Clinton and Al Gore was…BP’s John Browne. And the Ghost of Enron lived on, as BP for years led and even now is cheering the effort to cram in two decades of legislative frustration into the budget reconciliation bill.
Possibly some other Member will ask BP (and Shell) to answer for having created this mess with such advocacy in pursuit of “rents”. Which is the real, relevant story of industry lobbying. Congress claiming “the reason we can’t legislate is these dark forces, Congress is broken so we will regulate!” is a self-serving pose.