By Tim Graham | June 16, 2019 11:06 PM EDT
Democratic candidates generally don’t have much to fear from interviews on National Public Radio, but Morning Edition anchor Steve Inskeep raised our eyebrows by pushing Beto O’Rourke a bit on Friday on what people will be forced to give up under liberal climate-change policies. The liberal media often focus on the Impending Crisis, and then go light on how liberals would crack down on “bad” behaviors.
Online, the interview carried an “idealistic” headline:
Beto O’Rourke Calls For A ‘Moonshot’ To Combat Climate Change
But the moonshot comment wasn’t included in the on-air interview. Online, they reported O’Rourke told NPR “We’ve called for … an investment commensurate with John F. Kennedy’s moonshot.”
STEVE INSKEEP: You’ve compared the challenges of now to the Greatest Generation challenges of the Depression and World War II, which was a time of sacrifice.
BETO O’ROURKE: Absolutely.
INSKEEP: When you talk to scientists about what would be necessary to get to zero carbon emissions, they often talk about people having to change their daily behaviors. Drive an electric car. That’s not such a bad change. Live in a smaller house. People might feel uncomfortable with that. Have fewer children. Eat less meat. Are you not going to demand any sacrifice from anyone in order to get to zero carbon emissions?
O’ROURKE: Yeah. We’re going to have to make an investment as a country. It is not going to necessarily be easy. Here’s our generation’s opportunity to meet a true existential threat of this moment. And I’m confident that that’s going to bring out the absolute best in us — nothing to be afraid of, something to meet head on and to overcome and to do it together.
Inskeep asked about Texas oil, but O’Rourke said Oil is Done-zo:
INSKEEP: Your state’s big industry — oil — is going to be fine?
O’ROURKE: My state’s big industry is going to have to transition into its other big industry. We generate more wind power than any other state in the union. As we free ourselves from that dependence on fossil fuels, we’re going to see more of my fellow Texans and fellow Americans transition into renewable energy jobs; high-demand, high-skill, high-wage occupations.
Yes, we should all downsize so politicians can live the high life, jetting all around the world and picking the taxpayers pocket to maintain their lavish lifestyle. Sure tHing, I am in agreement Beto, NOT.
Spend a few moments calculating the energy ratio between the Texas oil fields and the Texas wind farms….
It would be illuminating.
I calculated on a different thread that for the UK, to produce enough energy equivalent to power the domestic automobile fleet, would require 55,000 offshore wind turbines (considerably more for onshore) . The UK currently has the worlds largest fleet of offshore turbines at 2,000.
People (especially the global warming crowd) simply don’t understand the energy density of hydrocarbons.
BTW – it is the discovery and release of this energy that powered the industrial world to where it is today . To remove it will not be a) easy or b) have a good outcome – even if it were necessary.
“It would be illuminating.”
No pun intended?! 😀
Of course, the notion of replacing coal, gas and nuclear plants with wind farms would have the opposite effect.
So if a majority of people who currently live in “big” houses move into “smaller” houses, what do we do with all those empty “big” houses?
they can accommodate 3 or 4 families from the coordinated invasion.
I was going to note that it would take lots of zoning changes but then when did liberals ever obey a law they didn’t like.
Divide them into multi-family units.
By force of government, of course.
Better known as “the projects”.
tear down for parking lots. Oh wait – for a green future there’s need for more “Nature Reserves” –
protected areas of importance for flora, fauna or features of geological, historic or other special interest.
That will do wonders for the property taxes. With revenue loss on the larger homes, the smaller owners will have to pick up the tab . Let’s see, move to a smaller house and pay higher property taxes or stay put and enjoy what I earned? Hmmmm?
Tear them down of course. I mean, let’s use some logic here. (/sarc)
Well, the third world already lives in downsized houses, small shacks or grass shacks but downsized families, not so much. And if these idiots get their way in developed countries it will have no effect upon co2 production as third world and less developed countries continue to increase coal and oil use. A good thing for continued photosynthesis prospects. I find it hard to grasp that so many people are so stupid that they would actually vote for any of these morons. But they do!
So, the Profits are speaking of population control, again. More planned children will mitigate the progress of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming.
His name is not Beto. That is a nick name given to him as a child by his brother. His given name is Robert F. O’Rourke.
That he should tell the world : the world knows him as “Beto”.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Beto+O%E2%80%99Rourke&oq=beto&aqs=chrome.
“So if a majority of people who currently live in “big” houses move into “smaller” houses, what do we do with all those empty “big” houses?”
That is part of the plan to house all the illegal immigrants. You give up your house, job, wife and kids so some poor global warming refugee from Central America can be saved.
O’Rouke, as quoted in the above article: “Here’s our generation’s opportunity to meet a true existential threat of this moment.”
Corresponding teaching moment: If something is existential, it has to do with human existence. Therefore, the most straightforward means to remove all existential threats is to eliminate humans from the face of the Earth. Gaia will nonetheless proceed onward, as she did for some 4.53 billion years before humanoids appeared.
Same promises were made with Globalization and see how that turned out. We exported whole industries and in return were supposed to replace the manufacturing employment with “high tech upgraded jobs” that never materialized and those that did were filled by people out of the country. It was a stealth scam to redistribute the wealth and we bought it. Fortunately it looks like Trump is reversing the Globalization trend but he won’t last forever.
The moonshot was bargain basement stuff compared to the lunatic expenditure implied by their lunatic plans to combat Gorebal Warming. It’s a thoroughly dishonest analogy.
Indeed. I should update my numbers, but the last time I looked at it, the lunar landing program cost something like $200 B in today’s dollars, and that was spread out over about a dozen years. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve spent that much on climate conferences alone.
Looks like Edwin has done the calculation. Should have read the whole thread.
Everyone should look at his numbers and be ready the next time some dolt talks about a “moonshot”.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/18/downsize-your-house-downsize-your-family-npr-pushes-beto-on-climate-crackdown/#comment-2726168
I am 100% in favor of leftists forgoing children and living in tiny apartments owned by the state. That way, there is less to administer when they die alone.
And when they do eventually pass on, their bodies can go straight to the Soylent factories to nourish the remainder
Or straight into the communal garden (they taste terrible anyway, all that soy milk and tofu).
Its interesting how many of the people dishing this kind of advice have 4 or 5 kids and drive SUVs. Rules for thee but not for me. Still the faithful minions lap it up.
Well, if Beto ever gains traction with the voters, which I doubt, then I suspect we could have a lot of fun circulating something like this on social media:
SIGN THE BETO GND PLEDGE
I pledge to live in a house no larger than Al Gore’s
I pledge to fly less often than Leonardo DiCaprio
I pledge to have fewer children than Ted Turner
I pledge to have vacations with smaller CO2 footprints that Barack Obama
I pledge to ride in internal combustion engine vehicles less often than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
etc.
I suspect a most of his followers wouldn’t have a clue.
So now a return to the Moon is offered in the wake of another candidates promise of a cure for Cancer. With such a large field of candidates, I find myself in a state of mounting excitement thinking of the other ‘Promises’ that are sure to follow 🙂
Can we just downsize all politicians? That would go along way to solving the problem.
1 Senator and 1 Rep from each state, and “2 Trem” limits
Downsize your Party.
The question I never see asked or answered is this: If you close the oil industry, where will the lubricants come from to use in the electric cars and wind farms?
Goose grease, or do we start whaling again?