“We are not going back,” Vice President Kamala Harris has vowed. But the question remains: Where are we headed, and who is being left behind?
Concerned citizens can find some answers at this year’s Climate Week NYC, where liberal activists and elites claim we are moving away from a “fossil-fuel society” toward a “green economy” that will bring about a “seismic change… in the way we build, live, and learn.” Unfortunately, they may be right.
This shift is not a natural result of a free market or free people, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Over the past two decades, a coordinated group of federal bureaucrats, corporate leaders, and radical activists have worked to transform America from the top down. From the $30 trillion managed in ESG funds to the more than 1.4 million electric vehicles sold in 2023, their success is visible everywhere. A Kamala Harris presidency would mark the culmination of these efforts.
However, there is a glaring issue with this “push towards unstoppable progress.” When you’re “always moving forward,” you inevitably leave people behind. The ones being left behind by this climate revolution are America’s hardworking citizens and the global poor. The “fossil-fuel society” they seek to dismantle is the backbone of the American Dream—where people could work hard, get ahead, own property, and pass it on to future generations.
Affordable, reliable energy is crucial to reducing poverty and fostering prosperity because it underpins nearly everything we do—modern medicine, clean water, climate control, manufacturing, and transportation, to name a few. Those attending Climate Week NYC should consider something as fundamental as keeping the lights on.
In 2020, one in four American households struggled to pay their energy bills, a situation that has worsened under the Biden-Harris administration. Since January 2021, the national average price of electricity has surged 30% to nearly 17 cents per kWh, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For many families, this translates to nearly $1,000 in monthly bills, depleting their savings and outpacing what they can afford.
This energy inflation is deepening inequality, but it’s not inevitable. During President Trump’s tenure, electricity prices increased by just 1.5% over four years. So, what’s behind the current spike? The answer is clear: the Left’s radical climate policies.
For a case study, look no further than California, where Kamala Harris backed policies like a cap-and-trade carbon tax. These initiatives have driven electricity prices to nearly 33 cents per kWh—almost double the national average—and left many in the dark. In 2023, 215,000 Californians had their power disconnected because they couldn’t afford the exorbitant rates, with 40,000 still without service by year’s end. These families now face the risk of eviction and loss of insurance due to unpaid utility bills, a far cry from the American Dream.
The situation is even more dire in developing countries, where 800 million people still lack access to electricity, and 3.3 billion have less electricity than the average American refrigerator. In fact, 2022 marked the first year in decades that the number of people with electricity decreased—a trend that will likely worsen if Kamala Harris and other climate radicals remain in power.
But this is a crisis of choice. Policies that ban fracking in Pennsylvania, undermine auto manufacturing in Michigan, and drive up gas prices across the Sun Belt—as promised by progressive Democrats—will trap more people in poverty and darkness.
Yet, the solution is known. Under the Trump administration, energy jobs surged, the U.S. became a net energy exporter for the first time in decades, and the average family saved $2,500 annually compared to today’s energy costs.
As more Americans lose access to electricity and heat due to the current administration’s extreme climate policies, it is a tragic irony that Kamala Harris wants to keep them in the dark about her energy plans for the next four years.
