Kerry Says Climate Deal Will Spur Investments - That's Like Calling Ponzi Deals Great Investments

By Marc J. Rauch
Exec. Vice President/Co-Publisher
THE AUTO CHANNEL

Speaking on CBS television this morning, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry claimed that the climate pact reached at an international summit in Paris will spur a massive investment in clean, renewable energy, using American technology. He told "Face the Nation" that the most important achievement of the conference in Paris is that it sends the message to global businesses that the world is now moving towards alternative energy. For the first time in more than two decades, he said, the world now has a common vision for cutting back on the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for overheating the planet, and a roadmap for ending two centuries of fossil fuel dominance. Kerry called the deal a "breakaway agreement." He anticipates about $50 trillion could be invested.

Marc Rauch

While it's very difficult to point to any one particular statement made by Kerry as the dumbest thing he's ever said, I think that this statement will have to be viewed in the future as one of the two or three most asinine comments he ever made as Secretary of State. Making the Paris Climate Deal out to be a watershed event is tantamount to honoring Bernie Madoff as a financial hero for providing investors with a way to earn higher than normal interest on their investments.

As we all know, Bernie Madoff's whole deal was a scam and thousands lost billions. In time, I believe we will all learn that the Paris agreement and the entire issue of man-made climate change is a scam. I think that Kerry calling the agreement a "breakaway agreement" instead of "breakthrough agreement" is an illustration of the double-talk that he often employs when trying to pretend that he has an understanding of the subject matter. Even the most strident alarmist will eventually recognize that man-made climate change is a fraud. When that happens the investments referred to by Kerry will be rendered worthless and the jobs will become redundant. If the billions lost in the Madoff scandal, on top of the billions lost to dot-bomb companies and the mortgage scandal were sufficient to create the worst financial depression of the last 200 years, then just imagine the calamity that the invalidation of $50 trillion will create.

The comedy relief of Kerry's statement came when his sole mention of a particular fuel or technology that could be the solution was "clean coal." It would have been myopic enough if Kerry made reference to the eventual potential of electric vehicles as the solution to the portended crisis, but to suggest "clean coal" - a fantasy that may never, ever, materialize regarding how much time and money is pumped into it - is absurd.

         • SEE ALSO The Time When Kerry Admitted Climate Change Was Irrelevant

For those of you familiar with my editorials on alternative fuels, you know that I'm an unabashed supporter of alt fuels and near-fanatical proponent of making America energy independent. My comments critical of Mr. Kerry are not because I don't favor investment in alternative energy, or strong government action to make the country energy independent. But the Paris agreement and reliance on man-made climate change as the catalyst for making it happen is as ass-backwards as claiming that allowing terrorists into the country will give us a safer nation. If the Obama Administration needed a diversion to the political ineptitude of the Iranian nuclear deal, this is it.

Clean air and water, and increased jobs for Americans are their own reward; neither should require hocus-pocus double-speak to justify their objective.

On the other hand, if man-made climate change is occurring, and it's truly urgent that the U.S. reduce it's greenhouse gas carbon emissions as quickly as possible, then all that Obama had to do during anytime of the past seven years were these two simple steps:

1. Remove all of the restrictions and fees on allowing gasoline-powered vehicles to convert to compressed natural gas (CNG).

2. Admit that high level ethanol-gasoline blends (E30, E40, E50) could be safely used in all modern gasoline-powered automobiles without any conversion.

These two simple steps would have immediate significant impact on reducing carbon emissions, create millions of new jobs, and provide excellent opportunities for investment.

The reason that investments in ethanol plants and CNG operations are so iffy is the government's reluctance to do the right thing and upset the oil industry-politician financial pipeline. There is nothing theoretical or unproven about CNG or ethanol. They work now. No further testing is necessary. All that's required is that we produce more and allow our existing machines to use these fuels without being impeded by arbitrary rules and egregious oil industry invented lies.

Then, while we're waiting for the great "electric vehicle" revolution to come about, and perhaps the magical alchemistic triumph of turning dirty black coal into golden clean coal, we could be reducing carbon emissions and creating jobs that will last.

By the way, should you desire to challenge me on my alternative fuel position, I welcome you to do so. I can use the fodder for my Ethanol Chronicles blog, which you can find HERE.