County Supervisors Joan Hartmann and Das Williams propose to pass a resolution on June 4 to endorse Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, which will wipe out our GDP! The Green New Deal is a draconian green fantasy that demands the extremely radical elimination of our carbon footprint. This, despite the fact that the trillions of dollars required to develop the technology and build the infrastructure in order to comply is not available, nor is it possible to build the same in the 10- to 12-year time frame called for, even if we begin taking draconian steps beginning today.
I am hereby calling out the proponents of this resolution as complete and total hypocrites who are unwilling to do much of anything except engage in this exercise of virtue signaling in an echo chamber of their fellow imposters. That is, these politicians are not willing to suffer the draconian expense of their own rhetoric. Instead, they rely on their ability to impose regulations, mandates and taxes on the private sector, regardless of the cost to each individual person they represent, while eschewing the same imposition on county operations because they either can’t afford or don’t want to suffer the same infliction themselves.
The county is a behemoth entity with some 4,000 employees who have a large carbon footprint of their own that has actually grown despite other previous meaningless resolutions to reduce the same. That is, the county has not done anything draconian with regard to their own operations, including curtailing their employees’ commute to work. Nor have they begun constructing utility-sized solar facilities for their operations, which is necessary because plugging equipment into a socket that is, in reality, ultimately powered by fossil fuels will no longer cut it.
The Green New Deal also requires the abandonment of the carbon-intensive materials used on construction projects. The one project the county has initiated is the enormously expensive trash digester at the Tajiguas landfill, but that is being charged to rate payers.
Following is a list that the Green New Deal would require the county to do. I suggest they begin immediately, unless their resolution is nothing but more hot air.
Supervisors must immediately close the county employee parking lot to all employees who don’t drive an electric or hybrid vehicle. Better yet, do what the Chumash do — make all employees ride a bus to work. Quit using asphalt and concrete on county construction projects, as these materials are carbon-intensive. Build a utility-sized solar farm to power their operations, including an entire new fleet of electric fire and sheriff’s vehicles, and construction equipment. That is, go all electric and charge the same directly by your own solar power. Eliminate the use of all plastic, as it is a byproduct of oil. Until the construction project is complete, have all North County buildings sign up for PG&E’s 100 percent solar-powered option for their current electricity supply. Only use electric vehicles or bus service to attend local meetings — or better yet, walk or bike, even in the rain. Forego the use of plane and train travel for all meetings outside the county by either telecommuting to the same or using an electric vehicle to attend until the Green New Deal electrifies all planes and trains. Eliminate the use of natural gas-powered water heaters, appliances and heating systems.
I can assure you the Board of Supervisors won’t do any of these things. They will claim they don’t have the money or the will to do anything this drastic. Nevertheless, they will pass this resolution on a 3-2 vote. Meanwhile, count on them to vote against the commonsense approval of locally produced energy projects in order to maintain the appearance of doing something positive, however meaningless, via the Green New Deal.
