If I’m forced to pick one main reason the Democrats are going to be routed in a month, I’d go with their crazy energy policies. In no other arena is the link between their radical policies and people’s real lives so directly linked and easy to understand.
Crime is close, but the crime boom is mostly happening in deep blue cities. The law-abiding members of these communities are certainly rethinking politics. Many of them are minorities. Many Hispanic, Asian, and Black Americans are repelled by much of the college-led radical woke agenda imposed on them in Democratic cities. They see results daily. Their pushback in places like San Francisco and Seattle offers reason for hope for normal people everywhere, but it will take time and won’t move the needle in a huge way this election cycle.
Energy will.
Energy concerns everyone. People fill up their cars and notice. People pay the heating bills and the notices. And it’s hard for normal people not to blame at least some of the blame for exorbitant energy costs on the Democratic Party. Democrats, including President Joe Biden, campaigned on “Discard” of fossil fuels. They have implemented many policies aimed at doing just that. Perhaps more importantly, they strongly support so-called environmental, social and governance, or ESG, investment standards to stifle fossil fuel investment. All of this has contributed to rising energy costs and will continue to do so in the future.
People also notice the national security aspect. It’s not as politically powerful as pocket issues, but – shock – Americans love a strong America. The fracking boom has helped America become a net exporter of energy for the first time in decades. Energy is a weapon as well as a commodity. It always has been. Whoever holds the gas has a lot of strategic power. America held the gas, but the Democrats decided to give it away. It empowered the Saudis, Russia, China and others. America could now export liquid natural gas to Europe. Democrats have done everything they can to slow down that potential. By doing this, they undermined America’s power and handed power directly to Russia. I’m not claiming that every voter has studied this. But I’m sure most feel that something is wrong.
The Democrats voluntarily gave up this enormous American power. Normal people don’t like that.
If the energy ends up helping Republicans regain power, they will have to come up with their own policies going forward. There’s a huge feeling on the right to completely oppose renewables as if it’s some kind of leftist trap. That’s the kind of dominant tribal thinking in America today, and it’s stupid.
The reality is that when it comes to energy policy, you would have to be a total fool not to favor cleaner renewables if all other factors were equal. If you’re old enough to remember the smog of the 1970s or travel far enough to see the pollution in India and China, you know that cleaner energy is clearly better. Some conservatives think the left is too alarmist about climate change. Others point out that our best option in the face of climate change is to grow our economy as strong as possible and rely on the human capacity to innovate and adapt to deal with problems as technology s ‘improved. For each of these camps, however, cleaner energy should always be considered better if all other factors were equal. There are too many other benefits.
The problem, of course, is that not all other factors are equal. Clean energy technology cannot fairly compete with fossil fuels on a global or even national scale. The technology is not there yet. The main drawback is the battery technology. Wind turbines and solar panels work very well when there is wind and sun. Guess what happens to a wind turbine when there is no wind or to a solar panel when there is no sun? Yes, no energy. The only way around this problem is massive battery storage. There is no such technology available today at any price that is even remotely affordable.
Given all of this, much of the Democrats’ energy policy is based on the hope that rising fossil fuel costs will spur more investment and innovation in renewable energy. If this happens, over time the cost gap between renewables and fossil fuels will narrow. It’s happened a bunch already. It’s not a totally crazy idea. Incentives work. If there is more money to be made in renewable energy, more investments will be made. Over time, innovation should reduce costs. The problem is that we are not there yet.
Not only does cost remain an issue, but due to the current problem with battery technology, without fossil fuels, people literally won’t have enough power. That’s what happened in California this summer when the governor had to beg residents to turn off their air conditioners to avoid blackouts. It happened in America in 2022.
The reality Democrats need to understand is that fossil fuels could be around for years, if not decades, to come. There is no magic. Democrats can push for renewable energy and battery technology all they want, and chances are scientists still won’t be able to get there anytime soon. Clean and safe nuclear fusion technology has been a goal for over 70 years now. Researchers have spent billions on it. There is still no solution on the horizon. The same could be true with the battery issue. There’s a chance it won’t happen on a large scale in a way that’s within economic distance, at least not for decades.
The reality for conservatives is renewable and nuclear technologies are improving and costs are falling. Innovation works. This is a good thing. Be for it all, as long as it’s done in a way that doesn’t harm American workers. This is the winning strategy.
— Neil Patel is a British-Indian-American lawyer, hedge fund manager, conservative policy adviser and publisher.