(^16) NEWS Best of the American columnists
THE WEEK 13 February 2021
The Christians
who pose an
insidious threat
RachelS. Mikva
USA Today
When the mobbroke into theSenateon6January,aman mounted thepodiumand declared: “Jesus
Christ, weinvoke yourname!” It wasavivid illustrationof thethreatposed to the USby “Christian
nationalism”,says Rach el S. Mikva. Having fought losing battlesagain st aborti on rights,LGBTQ
equality and gender norms,someChristiannationalists arenow framing themselves ason theside
of God in acosmic battlebetween goodandevil. During the Capitol riot, insurrectionists carried
crosses, Bibles andJesus flags. But Christiannationalists donotall es pouseviolence; manyare
“em bedded”within theestablishment,andworking fromthe inside.Sen Josh Hawley, forinstance,
hasstated that hismissionis to “transform our society toreflect thegospeltruth an dlordship of
Jesus Christ”. Dan Patrick,the lieutenantgovernorofTexas, claimsofficials shouldlooktoScripture
when makingpolicy, “because everyproblemwehavehas asolution in the Bible”.Then thereisthe
influentiallobbygroup Project Blitz,aright- wingcoali tion whichhas beenresponsiblefor scores of
bills,doing everything from forcingschoolsto bear themotto“In GodWeTrust”tolegalising
discrimination againstLGBTQpeople. “Distractedby those readytobringonthe apocaly pse,we
have not adequatelyexposedthis more re silient threat to religious pluralismin theUnitedStates.”
San Franciscowasonce synonymouswith hippies andNew Age weirdness,says Gary Kamiya.But
now “ithas traded in itsfreak flag”for “thebannerofbrain-deadpoliticalcorre ctne ss”. Consider
the decision madebythe SF SchoolBoardlast week to rename more than athirdofi ts schools. It did
so because the SchoolNames Advisory Committee,setupin2018, hadconcluded theexisting names
fellshort of the board’s high standards.The committeetook just fivesecondstodecidethatAbraham
Lincoln High Schoolhad to berenamed, as Lincoln’spolicies “had provedtobedetrimental” to
Native Americans;itt ookit12seconds to conclude thatGeorge Washington’s namemustgo, as he
had been aslave owner. RobertLoui sStevenson, oneofthe city’s favourite literaryfigures,also had
hisnamecancell ed.Why?Becau se in apoemhe’d used therhyming word “Japanee”for Japanese. El
Doradohadtol oseits name because,asone committee member putit, “the conceptof lust forgold
is no taconceptwewant ourchildren to begiven”. It’sbeyondparody. Of course thefamousnames
of historyshouldn’t be imm unefromcriticism. But“self-righteous symboliccrusades”of this sort
don’thelp t he fight for racialjustice;they just encourage more people to tuneintoFox N ews.
San Francisco’s
farcical war
against names
Gary Kamiya
The Atlantic
“Anewdayfortheclimate”is
coming,saidElizabethKolbertin
TheNewYorker.Inthefirstweeks
ofJoeBiden’spresidency,hehas
signed“aslewofclimate-change
directives”designednotjustto
undothedamageoftheTrumpera,
buttocommittheUStothemost
ambitioussetofenvironmental
proposalsinitshistory.Within
hoursofbeingswornin,hehad
reinstatedtheUStotheParis
ClimateAccords,cancelledthe
controversialKeystoneXLpipeline
fromCanadatoNebraska–and
pledgeda“cleanenergyrevolution”
thatwillbringtheUSto100%
carbon-freeelectricityby 2 035,and
net-zerocarbonemissionsby 2 050.
Hefollowedthiswith“asecond,evenmoresweepingbatch”of
orders.Thesellingofnewleasesforoilandgasproductionon
federallandhasbeenhalted.Federalagencieshavebeen
instructedtomaketheshifttozero-emissionsvehicles.Fossil
fuelsubsidiesare tobeidentified andeliminated.
Biden’spoliciesaredesignedto“signal-virtuetotherestof
theworld andburnish thenew administration’s un-Trumpy
credentials”, saidthe WashingtonExaminer.Thisrebranding
exercisewillentangle USbusinessesin“newlengthsofred tape”
andwilllikely forceconsumersto payhigher energyprices.By
cancelling Keystone XL,Bideneliminated1,000 USjobswith
just astrokeofhis pen.Mostof all,though,Biden’scrusadeis
“agiftto China”–whichalreadyemits twiceas muchcarbonas
theUS and,despiteitspromises,isplanningtobringhundreds
of “newandvery dirtycoalplants”online. Bidenproposes to
spend$500bneachyearonclimatepolicies,saidBjornLomborg
in theNewYork Post –theequivalentof$1, 500 perperson.
Thiswillsolvelittleat averyhighcost.Onlyonenation, New
Zealand, hasdoneanindependentestimateofthecostof
reachingnet-zeroemissions:it found that itwasaruinous16%
ofGDP.“Thereisasmarterway:
investingalotmoreingreen-energy
researchanddevelopment.”Afew
crucialinnovationswouldquickly
makerenewablescheaperthan
fossilfuels–and“everyonewould
switch”voluntarilywithout
incurringmassivecosts.
Atpresent,anyway,thereare
significantlimitstowhatBidencan
do,saidSpencerBokat-Lindellin
TheNewYorkTimes.Sofar,his
climatechangeblitzhasbeendone
bypresidentialexecutiveorder.
Buttoeffectlastingchange,he
willneedlegislation–andpassing
lawsthroughanevenly-balanced
Senatewillbeextremelydifficult.
Predictably,Biden’sclimateprogrammehas“provokedahostile
Republicanbacklash”,saidOliverMilmaninTheGuardianUS.
Hisplanshavebeendenouncedas“radical,job-killingand
elitist”.RepublicanSenatorJohnKennedymockedef fortsto
boost electriccars,telling Fox News:“My cardoesn’t run off
fairydust; mycardoesn’trun offunicornurine.”
However,thepoliticsofclimate arechanging, saidHenryOlsen
in TheWashingtonPost.Americans arewitnessingprolonged
droughts and heat waves, wildfires,persistent coastalflooding
and extreme weatherofallkinds.Thisis“becominganissue
thattheRightcannotignore”.Businesses seethewritingon the
wall: General Motors,theUS’sbiggest vehiclemaker, recently
announcedplanstomakeitsentirecarfleetelectric by2 035.
Biden’sexecutiveorderswon’tbythemselves“make greenhouse
gases goaway”, said Eugene Robinsoninthe same paper. But
they’re aclearstatementof intent.Thepresidentbelieves that
breakthroughsingreentechnologyshouldhappen here in
America,“and thatthejobs that flowfromthose advances
should gotoUS workers”. Republicanswillresist. But history
ison Biden’s side,“andhistory–eventually–always wins”.
Thenew administration has pledgedaclean energy revolution
Biden cleans up: climate change in Washington
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