In my part of the world, much of the land is being eaten up by housing developments and retail stores. I’m not anti-retail, but I can stand on my front porch and see two McDonald’s. Not to mention the one at the other end of town. I drive around my state and see people putting up multi-million dollar homes and new strip malls and I have to ask myself if we need to build something on every square foot of land. And I wonder where all of the environmentalists are. Aren’t they supposed to be concerned about all of this? Oh, wait, it was the oil and gas rigs they were protesting. Sorry, my bad. A temporary natural gas rig is unthinkable. A McMansion is fine. And so are wind and solar farms. In fact, if Jamie Dimon has his way, there might be a wind or solar farm on a property near you. Or maybe even on property seized from you.
Dimon is the CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co. In a recent letter to shareholders, Dimon stressed the need to press down on the accelerator when it comes to combating climate change, writing in part:
The need to provide energy affordably and reliably for today, as well as make the necessary investments to decarbonize for tomorrow, underscores the inextricable links between economic growth, energy security and climate change. We need to do more, and we need to do so immediately.
To expedite progress, governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations need to align across a series of practical policy changes that comprehensively address fundamental issues that are holding us back. Massive global investment in clean energy technologies must be done and must continue to grow year-over-year.
At the same time, permitting reforms are desperately needed to allow investment to be done in any kind of timely way. We may even need to evoke eminent domain – we simply are not getting the adequate investments fast enough for grid, solar, wind and pipeline initiatives. Policies like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — that hold the potential to unlock over $1 trillion in clean technology development — need to be implemented effectively.
“We may even need to evoke eminent domain.” Over whose property, exactly? Are we talking about corporate property? Are we talking about government property? Are we talking about an individual or family’s property? Dimon does not elaborate. However, Dimon is clear about the need for government and business to unite. Here are some other excerpts from the letter:
- To expedite progress, governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations need to align across a series of practical policy changes that comprehensively address fundamental issues that are holding us back. Massive global investment in clean energy technologies must be done and must continue to grow year-over-year.
- Sixth, we operate with a very important silent partner — the U.S. government — noting as my friend Warren Buffett points out that his company’s success is predicated upon the extraordinary conditions our country creates. He is right to say to his shareholders that when they see the American flag, they all should say thank you. We should, too. JPMorgan Chase is a healthy and thriving company, and we always want to give back and pay our fair share. We do pay our fair share — and we want it to be spent well and have the greatest impact. To give you an idea of where our taxes and fees go: In the last 10 years, we paid more than $43 billion in federal, state and local taxes in the United States and almost $19 billion in taxes outside of the United States. We also paid the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation over $10 billion so that it has the resources to cover failure in the American banking sector. Our partner — the federal government — also imposes significant regulations upon us, and it is imperative that we meet all legal and regulatory requirements imposed on our company.
Even before he announced his presidential run, Vivek Ramaswamy was warning us about big business getting between the sheets with the government. And when it comes to renewables, Big Biz and Big Gov have lit candles, popped some low-grade champagne, and put a Barry White album on Alexa. Back in February, I wrote about how Biden’s Department of the Interior gave the nod for the solar company Intersect Power to run roughshod over the town of Desert Center, California. The company is putting up solar panels on 2,600 acres of public land in the desert, wreaking havoc with the ecosystem and native species, using up scarce water resources, and adding dust to the air. If you go back and read the story, you will see how Intersect and its executives were donors to the Biden campaign and,
It should also be noted that in the past, a group known as Leaders of Clean Energy for Biden bundled donations for the president. The group is made up of “clean energy business and policy leaders.” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg promoted those companies shortly after Biden’s inauguration. Kimber was also a member of the group, which now champions de-carbonization under the name “Clean Energy for America.”
It would appear that Biden is just getting warmed up. The Free Beacon notes that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland unveiled a plan last year to build solar farms across tens of thousands of currently pristine locations across the West. So much for protecting the environment. Those of us who watched the green energy pay-for-play schemes unfold during the Obama administration knew this was coming. It’s sad, but it’s no surprise. The nasty surprise, in this case, is for the environmentalists who are discovering that the only green Democrats care about is the color of money.
So to sum up: the administration and these major corporations don’t give a rat’s diseased hindquarters about the environment or you for that matter. They do care about making piles of cash and enjoying the view from the top of the heap. And they want you to believe that they are doing it for your own good.
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