Biden Should Put the American People First, Not Climate Change

President Biden made headlines this past week – yet again for the wrong reasons – when he remarked that “I absolutely believe there need not be a new Cold War,” following his first in-person meeting with Xi Jinping.  John Kerry, his Climate Czar, followed him by stressing the urgent need for “cooperation” with the People’s Republic of China to combat climate change.  Biden and Kerry’s remarks reflect a grave misunderstanding of Xi’s intentions and of the challenge China poses.  While this Administration pursues cooperation on climate change, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pursuing dominance.  Make no mistake: Biden’s prioritization of climate change above all other foreign and domestic policy enriches our adversaries and makes America poorer and weaker at home.

Take the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed earlier this year. The ostensive purpose of that bill was, literally, to reduce inflation.  In reality, it will do nothing of the sort.  Far from instituting anti-inflationary measures that cut wasteful government spending, the IRA includes a $369 billion handout to Democrat-aligned green energy groups and industries, a move that will only continue to make everything more expensive for American families.  To make matters worse, this cavalier spending on climate change initiatives will be combined with further hostility to domestic oil and gas, a big part of why it will be 18% more expensive for families to heat their homes this winter than it was just last year.

This skewed climate agenda enriches the Chinese Communist Party, too.  A sizable portion of IRA’s handout will go toward solar energy, despite this Administration being well aware that Chinese manufacturers dominate 80 percent of the market for solar panels.  The same goes for the lithium-ion battery market, which would be essential for the production of electric vehicles.  By prioritizing climate change over deterring and confronting the CCP, Biden is allowing our tax dollars to play nursemaid to the CCP’s rise and wealth.

It doesn’t end there, either.  Biden is also allowing the green delusions of the far Left to override even the most basic American commitments to defending human rights.  As Secretary, I issued a determination that the CCP was guilty of genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, a determination the Biden Administration upheld.  Congress followed up by passing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which bans the import of goods from Xinjiang or from entities outside the region that have links to forced labor programs.  These actions served our interests by upholding our commitment to human rights while weakening the CCP.

That commitment is now slipping under Team Biden.  Manufacturers in the solar and lithium-ion industries have clear ties to forced labor in Xinjiang.  That is why, despite President Biden signing the UFLPA into law, the Administration has displayed mixed feelings about actually enforcing it.  Top Biden officials have even expressed dismay that prioritizing human rights in Xinjiang would undermine their efforts on climate change.  To them, climate change cooperation must take precedence over human life.  John Kerry said as much when he likened Biden’s climate diplomacy with China to President Reagan’s arms reduction talks with the Soviet Union.  It was an utterly foolish comparison, of course: Reagan was looking to make the world safer, while Biden is enabling genocide in exchange for making energy less affordable for the American people.

Green energy delusions haven’t just affected America’s posture towards China, either.  At the heart of European dependence on Russian energy was the same commitment to climate change above all else.  Nations like Germany completely dismantled their own domestic oil, gas, nuclear and coal industries in favor of “renewable” sources like wind and hydro.  These sources of energy weren’t nearly enough, of course, and so Germany filled in the enormous gap with Russian oil and gas.  This both enriched Vladimir Putin and resulted in Germany – the EU’s largest economy – being induced into a dangerous state of dependence on Europe’s chief adversary.

President Biden continues to see our allies as enemies while wooing our adversaries to help in the climate struggle.  China, along with other powers like Russia and Iran – are laughing at America as they continue to use every advantage possible in order to triumph.  Let us be very clear – China sees itself as America’s adversary. We should not pursue green fantasies that weaken America in this competition.  We should instead pursue policies that strengthen America and put the American people first.