Whether or not our climate is changing, our political climate sure has changed, as evidenced by how Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is “an unapologetic bigot, someone who attacks others for the way they were born” — and gets away with it. And her latest attack concerns how “global climate change is the fault of a specific racial group.”
So noted pundit Tucker Carlson on last night’s edition of his Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight. After mentioning that Representative Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) won her congressional seat in 2018 by, in part, claiming that then-incumbent and fellow Democrat Joe Crowley was the “wrong” race, he focused on a public hearing of last week in which she complained of warming and whites.
“Do we see largely that it’s the global south and communities of color that may be bearing the brunt of the initial havoc from climate change?” Ocasio-Cortez asked an “expert” during questioning. After receiving a yes, she followed up with, “And in terms of that wealth, the people who are producing climate change, the folks that are responsible for the largest amount of emissions, or communities or corporation [sic], they tend to be predominantly white, correct?”
So “the people that are producing climate change, that’s right, those people, the ones destroying the Earth, driving entire species to extinction, killing children, ever notice how all those people look alike?” Carlson then stated, illustrating Ocasio-Cortez’ position. “They’ve got something in common, don’t they? That’s right, they’re the same color. That’s what she’s saying” (video below).
Carlson said it’s “terrifying” that an unapologetic bigot such as Ocasio-Cortez has now become a role model for young people. Also telling and troubling is how the congressmen present during her questioning “acted like it was all totally normal because, increasingly for them, it is normal,” the host lamented.
Yet there’s another problem: Aside from being racist, Ocasio-Cortez — who has pooh-poohed factual correctness, was factually wrong.
Let’s put aside that the man-caused climate-change (AGW) thesis is passionate politics but shoddy science; that CO2 levels were five to 10 times higher during the dinosaur age, that greater concentrations of the gas facilitate plant growth, and that we’re warned the Earth will end due to too little of it. Let’s also forget that we may face an impending ice age and that even if AGW is occurring, we likely can do nothing to stop it.
For the reality is that “white,” as in Western, countries are not the greatest emitters of CO2. The facts (all amounts in tons):
• China by far leads the pack, emitting 9.04 billion vs. the United States’ 5.0 billion.
• The United States, European Union nations (4.75), and Russia (1.47) together do emit 11.22 billion tons. Yet this still lags behind China, India (2.07), and Japan (1.14) — three of the top five emitters — whose total is 12.25.
• While it’s true that factoring in other Western countries would increase the “white” number, it appears that this would be more than offset by adding the other non-Western nations, such as South Korea, Indonesia, and Brazil to the “non-white” total.
• Counterintuitively, the world leader in CO2 per capita emissions (PCE) is not a “white” country, but Saudi Arabia at 16.85 tons.
It is true that Western nations lead non-Western ones in PCE generally, and that their lower overall emissions are due to their having far lower populations (whites are approximately 15 percent of the world population). Yet under the Left’s anti-population-growth philosophy, shouldn’t whites be applauded as environmental saviors for their low fertility rates?
Of course, while I wouldn’t advocate praising such, the reality is that “white” countries (the West) are doing a far better job preserving the environment that non-Western countries are. Just consider the United States: We have more forested area now than 70 years ago, and our air and water are cleaner than they were 60 years ago.
As for plastics in the ocean, which is a big problem, our nation is responsible for only one percent of them; the United States and Europe combined account for just two percent. Most of it originates with the Third World and Asia.
Also note that the reason why the West is doing so well environmentally is the same reason why we’ll ravage our natural world if we follow Ocasio-Cortez’ prescriptions.
That is, two things are necessary for a healthy environment: Freedom and prosperity. Freedom (in the sense of the ability to choose one’s political representatives) is a prerequisite because when leaders are unaccountable to the people, they think nothing of raping the environment for personal gain. This is why today’s China ravages its natural world and the former Soviet Union did so as well, whereas the freest countries have by far the cleanest environments.
As for prosperity, the Chinese have a saying, “When there’s food on the table, there are many problems; when there’s no food on the table, there’s only one problem.” Starving, desperate people aren’t worried about killing the last rhino or burning tropical jungle. Environmental concern is, like it or not, a luxury of the wealthy.
In other words, the socialism Ocasio-Cortez agitates for — which would ultimately reduce our levels of prosperity and freedom — would undoubtedly have the same environmental effect socialism has always had.
As for whiteness and warming, I’d like to see an “expert” not only present Ocasio-Cortez and the Congress with the above facts, but also one more: “You know what these people you’re demonizing look like, congresswoman?”
“Look in the mirror.”
“Hispanic” is an ethnicity and, technically, Ocasio-Cortez’ race is “Caucasian.” In fact, were her name Alexandria Smith instead of that of a famous conquistador who conquered the Aztecs, the Green Leap Forward types would consider her a Warmin’ Whitey, too.
Photo: AP Images
Selwyn Duke (@SelwynDuke) has written for The New American for more than a decade. He has also written for The Hill, Observer, The American Conservative, WorldNetDaily, American Thinker, and many other print and online publications. In addition, he has contributed to college textbooks published by Gale-Cengage Learning, has appeared on television, and is a frequent guest on radio.
