The European Union is offering Democrat-led states a cautionary tale in how to hamstring an entire economy in the name of green dogma \u2014 while failing to solve climate change.<\/p>\n
Blue states are\u00a0sending delegates<\/a>\u00a0to Europe to learn how to implement climate policies, egged on by\u00a0progressive<\/a>\u00a0think-tanks<\/a>. But Europe, which has pursued \u201cgreen\u201d policies more fervently than even California, is a model of what not to do. <\/p>\n Obstinately placing virtue signaling over common sense, the EU is\u00a0now promising to cut carbon emissions by 90%<\/a>\u00a0in just 15 years. This goes even further than its already foolhardy promise of a 55% cut by 2030.<\/p>\n While Europe knows it has to boost its anemic economic growth, it has consistently prioritized carbon cuts and ever more expensive energy, often through less reliable wind and solar power. This climate crusade is a masterclass in self-sabotage, chaining its economy to ruinous policies while preaching moral superiority.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The EU splurged\u00a0$381 billion just in 2024<\/a>\u00a0on solar panels, wind turbines, electric cars and the like \u2014\u00a0more than its entire spending on defense<\/a>. This is delivering skyrocketing electricity bills \u2014 last year they were two times higher than in the US.<\/p>\n Every morning, the NY POSTcast <\/a>offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post\u2019s signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Moreover, the stringent policies push energy-intensive industries to dirtier, cheaper shores, such as when many electric-car batteries are produced in China using coal. While the EU believes its unrealistic carbon border taxes will avoid this, any breakdown in trade will likely lead to even higher prices inside the union.<\/p>\n The rest of the world will instead sail past the EU, mainly powered by fossil fuels and growth. <\/p>\n While Europe once dominated emissions<\/a>, it is no longer central to the climate story. Nor is the US. The vast amount of current and future emissions will come from China, India, Africa, Brazil, Indonesia and many other countries clambering out of poverty.\u00a0One recent scenario<\/a>\u00a0shows<\/a>\u00a0that with current policies, the EU and the UK will contribute just over 4% of all emissions in this century, near the 4.9% contribution from the US.<\/p>\n Developing nations need affordable, dependable energy. China, India and Africa won\u2019t kneel at the altar of Europe\u2019s green dogma. They are building coal and gas plants like there is no tomorrow. Poorer nations don\u2019t wish to emulate Germany\u2019s sky-high electricity prices or\u00a0Spain\u2019s green blackouts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although many try to call China green, it not only gets more of its energy from solar and wind, but also from much more coal, oil and gas. Indeed, since 1971,\u00a0China<\/a>\u00a0has gone from getting 40% of its energy from renewables to just 10% in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency. The rest of the developing world, like India and Africa, is eager to follow suit.<\/p>\n Moreover, the climate impact from the EU\u2019s policies will be next-to-nothing. Run the promised 90% by 2040 and net-zero by 2050 in\u00a0the United Nations\u2019 own climate model<\/a>\u00a0and compare the temperature outcome with the current policy. Because the EU matters little in global emissions and because it has already cut emissions significantly, it will only reduce global emissions through the 21st\u00a0century by a small 3%. The\u00a0temperature difference<\/a>\u00a0in 2050 is a vanishing 0.02\u00b0F and even by 2100 the impact will be impossible to measure at 0.07\u00b0F.<\/p>\n All while\u00a0models<\/a>\u00a0show that the cost for the EU by mid-century could be more than $3 trillion every year \u2014 more than all current public spending in the EU.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Such a high-cost, low-impact policy is clearly not something that will be emulated by the rest of the world, leaving the actual impact of even very strong climate policies<\/a> with almost no real-world impact.<\/p>\n