From LifeSiteNews

By Vijay Jayaraj

Perhaps the fundamental failure of Net Zero was political. Permission was never sought from taxpayers who would pay the costs and suffer the consequences of an always ill-fated enterprise.

The grand vision of “Net Zero” initiatives – by which emissions of carbon dioxide magically balance with expensive and futile capture and storage systems – have long been sold as the redemption arc for humanity’s profligate modern ways. Yet, like a poorly scripted dystopian thriller, the holes in this plot are glaring.

Net Zero was always a fragile concept. It rested on shaky and illogical assumptions: that wind turbines, solar panels and “green” hydrogen could reliably replace fossil fuels, that governments could redesign economies without unintended consequences, that voters would accept higher costs for daily necessities, and that developing countries would sacrifice growth for climate targets they had no hand in creating.

None of those fantasies held. Countries did not decarbonize nearly at the speed promised, even though climate bureaucracies clung to the illusion. Long-range targets, five-year reviews, and international pledges lacked common sense and defied physical and economic realities. The result? An unaccountable machine pushing impractical policies that most people never voted for and are now beginning to reject.

If Net Zero were a serious endeavor, its architects would confront the undeniable: China and India are more than delaying their decarbonization timelines – they’re burying them. Why has this been ignored?

China and India – responsible for more than 40% of global CO2 emissions in the last two decades – are accelerating fossil fuel use, not phasing it out. In Southeast Asia, coal, oil and natural gas continue to dominate. Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are building new electric generating power plants using those fuels. These countries understand that economic growth comes first.

Africa, too, is pushing back. Leaders in Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal have criticized Western attempts to block fossil fuel financing. African nations are investing in exploitation of oil and gas reserves.

If Asia represents the global rejection of Net Zero, Germany and the U.K. are poster children of the West’s self-inflicted wounds. Both nations, once hailed as Net Zero pioneers, are grappling with the harsh realities of their green ambitions. The transition to “renewables” has been plagued by economic pain, energy insecurity, and political backlash, exposing the folly of policies divorced from facts. When the war in Ukraine cut off energy supplies, Germany panicked. Suddenly, coal plants were back online. The Green Dream died a quiet death.

READ: Top Canadian bank ditches UN-backed ‘net zero’ climate goals it helped create

Trump funding cuts likely will accelerate the fall of Net Zero’s house of cards. The president’s decisions to slash financing for international and domestic green programs has severed the lifeline for global climate initiatives, including the United Nations Environment Program.  Trump also vowed to redirect billions from the Inflation Reduction Act – Biden’s misnomered climate law – toward fossil fuel infrastructure.

The retreat of Net Zero interrupts the flow of trillions of dollars into an agenda with questionable motives and false promises. Climate finance had developed the fever of a gold rush. Banks, asset managers, and consulting firms hurried to brand themselves as “green.” ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing promised to reward “climate-friendly” firms and punish alleged polluters.

The fallout was massive market distortions. Companies shifted resources to meet ESG checklists at the expense of fiduciary obligations. Now the tide is turning. The Net Zero Banking Alliance comprising top firms globally has been abandoned by America’s leading institutions. Similarly, a Net Zero investors alliance collapsed after BlackRock’s exit.

Perhaps the fundamental failure of Net Zero was political. Permission was never sought from taxpayers and consumers who would pay the costs and suffer the consequences of an always ill-fated enterprise. Climate goals were set behind closed doors. Policies were imposed from above. Higher utility bills, job losses and diminished economic opportunity became the burdens of ordinary families. All while elites flew private jets to international summits and lectured about the need to sacrifice.

A certain lesson in the slow passing of Net Zero is this: Energy policy must serve people, not ideology. That truth was always obvious and remains so.

Yet, some political leaders, legacy media and industry “yes-men” continue to blather on about a “green” utopia. How long the delusion persists remains to be seen.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Science and Research Associate at the CO₂ Coalition, Fairfax, Virginia. He holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor’s in engineering from Anna University, India.

Reprinted with permission from American Thinker. 

By Peter Coleman, President, National Citizens Coalition

‘New choir, same song book; Carney cabinet selections don’t inspire much confidence.’

The world is hurtling forward, but Canada, under Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ‘new’ Liberal government, seems stuck in neutral. Listening to CBC’s fawning coverage of Carney’s cabinet shuffle, I was struck not by the predictable nods to gender and regional quotas, but by the breathtaking arrogance of keeping some of the Liberal Party’s most incompetent figures in power. This shuffle signals more of the same from a party that’s governed with platitudes and failures for a decade.

Take Steven Guilbeault, shuffled from his disastrous tenure as Environment Minister to—wait for it—Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture. Yes, the former radical eco-terrorist and poster boy for carbon tax dogma and incoherent policies is now tasked with defining what it means to be Canadian. It’s tone-deaf and laughable. Guilbeault’s track record suggests he’s more likely to lecture us on electric vehicle mandates than celebrate the rugged individualism that built this nation. If Carney thinks this move shows bold leadership, or anything but a middle-finger to the West, he’s already misreading the room.

Then there’s Sean Fraser, who stumbled through Immigration, fumbled Housing, and now lands as Minister of Justice and Attorney General. Fraser couldn’t tell you how many immigrants entered Canada under his watch, let alone how many homes he failed to build. Yet here he is, entrusted with upholding the rule of law. Will he push for tougher sentencing for repeat offenders—something the Liberals have dodged for years? Canadians deserve a justice minister who prioritizes public safety, not one whose resume reads worse than any Parliamentarian in history.

And yet, the legacy media, ever loyal to the Liberal brand, still insists Carney is the smartest guy in the room. But his recent meeting with President Trump, where he was publicly lampooned and left empty-handed, suggests otherwise. Canadians are tired of waiting for Carney to prove he’s different. At the National Citizens Coalition, we’ve watched governments come and go since 1967. We judge them not by their press releases but by what they deliver for hardworking Canadians from coast to coast. So far, Carney’s cabinet reeks of recycled Trudeau-era failures.

There’s a glimmer of hope in Tim Hodgson, the new Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, replacing the woefully ineffective John Wilkinson. Hodgson brings real-world experience—Canadian Military service and years of high-level corporate expertise—that could prove to be useful in Western Canada. After a decade of Liberal neglect, the West’s resource sector is desperate to get oil, gas, and minerals to market without bureaucratic roadblocks. Hodgson’s background may well represent a welcome change, but he’ll need to move fast to undo years of damage.

The Liberal Party’s last decade of incompetence—marked by soaring deficits, housing crises, identity crises, rampant crime, and immigration chaos—has eroded Canada’s standing, and left us behind. The world is moving at warp speed, with global powers leveraging their resources to dominate markets and secure prosperity. Canada, blessed with resources the world envies, should be leading the pack. Instead, we’ve been mired in red tape and empty promises.

Carney’s government must deliver concrete, results-driven outcomes—now. The same old Trudeau-era ministers, like Guilbeault, Freeland, Joly, and Fraser, need to change course or get out of the way. Talk is cheap, and working Canadians are done with it. If Carney can’t shift gears and unleash Canada’s potential, we’ll remain a nation suck in neutral, bogged down in decline, watching the world pass us by. Time will tell, but this was not a promising start.

The clock is ticking.

Peter Coleman is the President of the National Citizens Coalition.