Since the middle of November, French motorists and truck drivers have taken to the roadways wearing high visibility vests to protest the proposed fuel hike on diesel. These Yellow Jackets have managed to shut down most major roadways and, over the weekend, the protests turned a little violent. The Arc d’Triomphe was damaged; certain immigrant strongholds emulated Detroit after a RedWings Stanley Cup win and set things on fire.
Basically, France had to witness its worst riots in over 50 years.
All over a fuel tax to “fight global warming.”
Don’t get me wrong, the French like others in Europe are all about sticking it to countries like the US to compensate for the fact that they don’t have as many nice things as we do; except now, this Green Vision is hitting the average Frenchman where it really hurts--his wallet.
The French would have been happier if the US had added the fuel tax. Except, the US now leads the world in reducing greenhouse gases. All without the heavy hand of government redistribution.
Meanwhile, as the Yellow Jackets have been making a nuisance of themselves (and the French Prime Minister said the fuel tax will be delayed), the UN Conference on Climate Change has been going on in Poland.
The amount of hot air that’s being produced at that gabfest will exceed the annual carbon dioxide production of 8200 homes for a year! That’s right, the climate change con artists are doing what they do best--Do as I say, and not as I do.
And what earth shattering conclusions are coming out of this government-funded confab?
Only that every country in the world needs to make significant changes to their economies in order to avoid the climate disaster that’s about to fall upon us!!
And the UN must be in the lead in planning how every country is going to act. It’s only a group with a truly global outlook that can save humanity from itself.
Or at least that’s what they’re saying.
Patricia Espinosa, the UN’s Climate Chief, told journalists before the opening session of the Climate Conference, “Climate change impacts have never been worse,...Failure to act will be catastrophic...The impacts of climate change are increasingly hard to ignore,...We require deep transformations of our economies and societies.”
Folks, these envy-driven control freaks have been saying similar things since the 18th Century when Thomas Malthus said we were all going to starve to death.
These people increasingly ignore the reality that capitalism has been the engine that has lifted more people out of poverty in the last 100 years, than the Malthus-Marxist dream that was the Soviet Union.
I’m not saying that the climate isn’t changing--it is, and it always has. I’m also not saying that pollution (air and water) isn’t a thing--but it’s mostly a local phenomenon. Frankly, Beijing has the worst air quality on the planet, and even the Communist government can’t mandate pristine skies.
I think the ratcheted up rhetoric that’s coming out of this Climate Conference is just another example of the death march of the Climate Movement.
What’s going to happen when governments ignore the UN (a consummation devoutly prayed for) and don’t run down the well-trod rabbit hole of redistribution? What’s going to happen when the rest of the world sees the US getting nice things without being taxed into oblivion?
I certainly hope that the UN will go the way of the dodo, and Donald Trump can redevelop some awesome real estate in Turtle Bay after he leaves office.
Sandra Peterson
Follow me on Twitter @janevonmises
PARIS, FRANCE - DECEMBER 01: Riot police officers are seen in front of a flaming vehicle as 'Yellow Vest' protesters protest against higher fuel prices on December 1, 2018 in Paris, France. 'Yellow Vest' protesters started another demonstration against taxes and rising fuel prices in Paris on Saturday. (Photo by Li Yang/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)