Joe Biden’s clean energy bill was rightly trumpeted when it was passed in August, says Edward Luce in the FT. But it looks like many of its green projects will never materialise – and Democrats only have themselves to blame. Last week, an accompanying bill that would have cut through the “Kafkaesque” red tape blocking new solar plants, wind farms and so on was torpedoed by lawmakers. Republicans opposed it for the usual reason: it had the name “Biden” on it. But they were joined by lefty Democrats like Bernie Sanders, because the bill would have enabled a new gas pipeline in West Virginia. It will now be “all but impossible” for Biden to hit his target of cutting 50% of US emissions by the end of the decade.
Clearly, America’s left can’t resist a “moral gesture”, even at the expense of an obviously good outcome. What’s worse is their hypocrisy. The rich residents of liberal island haven Nantucket are blocking America’s first serious offshore wind farm on the “flimsy” claim that it would disturb local whales. “The reality is they do not want their view spoiled.” The same happened on the previous attempt in nearby Cape Cod, when local progressive royals (the Kennedy family) killed the plans. “At some point, America’s left must choose between having its cake and eating it.”