I read an article on City Journal this morning about how the World Bank just lost $24 billion dollars. Oops, we can’t find it. A mere rounding error for these global elites. Oh, it could be as much as $41 billion. They’re not sure yet. $24 billion. $41 billion. It’s all just sofa change for these elitists anyway. What does it matter? It’s just your money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe missing funds in question were for \u201cclimate finance\u201d projects, \u201cfinanced by taxpayer dollars from its member countries, the biggest being the US.\u201d<\/p>\nFrom THIS ARTICLE<\/a>, on which I will eventually rant. <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
As I let the bile caused by the green energy grift simmer to a putrid enough level to fire off a screed on these pages, I further read and arrived at Justice 40<\/a>. Ah, Justice40<\/em>, the \u201cRobin Hood for the Environment\u201d initiative straight out of D.C.\u2019s most pretentious green energy playbook. Its website is a glitzy parade of eco-jargon, sprinkled with buzzwords like “equity” and “justice” that are apparently supposed to make you forget you\u2019re about to foot the bill for one more governmental fever dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It dawned on me that before I could properly rant on the World Bank error, I needed to first rant on Justice 40.<\/a> For as much as the left has tried to hang Project 2025 on Trump<\/a>. It’s not Trump’s document, it’s the Heritage Foundation’s. But lies told by Democrats are never “fact checked” and don’t seem to matter. I think Project 2025 is a mad-scientist genius level tome from the Heritage Foundation. Some ideas are brilliant, others are terrifying, and more than anything, I just think the left is plenty scared, because the right actually has a plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why isn’t Justice 40 hung on Biden, Harris, and the left the same way the corporate media tries to hang Project 2025 on Trump? Because I think it is just as bent and ripe for massive, wasteful grift for people who claim to be “green” but are just in it for the, ah, green. Cash that is. Dolla bills. Trillions of them. There seems to be an unlimited supply of the green for the green – it’s all your money, just remember that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Global spending on the climate agenda has reached monumental levels. For example, President Biden’s administration alone committed over $1.1 trillion across four significant laws for climate and infrastructure investments, potentially reshaping U.S. energy policies and infrastructure in transformative ways. This spending includes extensive grants, loans, and tax incentives that aim to push forward clean energy initiatives and resilient infrastructure\u200b (State Department<\/a>) (POLITICO<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Globally, climate financing requirements are estimated at approximately $5 trillion annually to meet net-zero targets by 2050, with some projections suggesting it could be double that figure\u200b (Council on Foreign Relations<\/a>\u200b) (World Economic Forum<\/a>). But I digress. Back to Biden\/Harris’ Justice 40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In its purest form, Justice40 claims to funnel 40% of the overall benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy to \u201cdisadvantaged communities.\u201d On the surface, it\u2019s painted with just enough noble intentions to lull people into a semi-coma of complacency. But peel back that thin layer of eco-friendly PR, and you\u2019ll find what is essentially an excuse for Washington to play Santa Claus to its loyal base with your bucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s break down the basics first: The program aims to tackle the issue of environmental and economic injustice by ensuring that almost half of the trillions poured into “climate solutions” reach underprivileged areas. There is a prevailing belief on the left that pollution somehow impacts minorities worse than white folk. Some egghead\/activist somewhere will throw some government funded study at you that proves beyond any shadow of doubt that this is undeniably true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am not an egghead, but I have trouble believing that if you stand me and a person of color behind a tail pipe, the emissions will somehow impact my person-of-color friend more than it will silly-old-white-boy me. But I am apparently not smart enough to understand, and I again digress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back to Justice 40: You\u2019ve got funds set aside for everything from retrofitting public housing to weathering homes, to dubious training programs for green job apprenticeships that may or may not ever happen. And don\u2019t forget the forest of red tape that ensures by the time any project actually breaks ground, it\u2019ll be 2040, and we\u2019ll all be driving our cold fusion-powered mopeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first, glaring problem here is who decides<\/em> which communities are \u201cdisadvantaged\u201d enough to receive these benefits? Oh, that\u2019s right\u2014bureaucrats. The same group that defines \u201csuccess\u201d as slapping their name on a memo and calling it a day. You can bet your last dollar (and they’ll take it) that these funds won\u2019t just go to the genuinely underserved areas in need but will also find a cozy resting place in politically connected urban enclaves. Picture a $10 million grant to replace bike lanes in San Francisco, or $5 million more for a solar panel farm that nobody maintains until it looks like an industrial art installation of shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, the potential for waste and abuse? Strap in, because this is where it gets spicy. Think about how much \u201cgreen\u201d money has already disappeared into the swamp under the guise of stimulus and recovery packages. Remember Solyndra? That solar company that got a neat little $535 million loan only to crumple faster than a campaign promise? Justice40 practically invites a sequel. The government\u2019s record in managing taxpayer dollars with efficiency and transparency is about as good as a fish\u2019s ability to ride a bike. Combine that with nebulous environmental objectives and an open-ended cash spigot, and you\u2019ve got a recipe for a parade of handouts disguised as progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And let\u2019s be real, who\u2019s going to audit this behemoth effectively? The same folks who lose track of Pentagon spending by trillions? Justice40 promises community oversight, but that\u2019s like hiring a raccoon to guard your trash can: it\u2019ll look busy, but your garbage is getting raided. The watchdogs will probably be a panel of activists who owe their spots to the same political machine they\u2019re supposed to scrutinize. Good luck with objectivity there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, actual results will likely be as elusive as a bipartisan unicorn. Sure, the initiative will show metrics\u2014numbers of weatherized homes, solar panels installed, trees planted. But what it won\u2019t show is how many of those projects were vanity fillers or the exact amount that went to \u201cconsulting fees\u201d and \u201cadministrative costs.\u201d Spoiler alert: those numbers will be padded like a teenager’s first r\u00e9sum\u00e9. And the real kicker? The most vocal backers of Justice40, the think-tankers and green pundits, will be writing op-eds a decade from now, lamenting the lack of meaningful change despite \u201chistoric investments.\u201d Why? Because these policies are designed to look good on paper, not actually solve systemic problems. It\u2019s all the flash without any bang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, there\u2019s the sweet irony that a lot of this so-called green investment involves mining rare earth minerals and ramping up production for solar panels and wind turbines, most of which have their own dirty supply chains and will eventually wind up in a landfill anyway. How are they addressing the environmental and social impacts of that<\/em>? Ah, by exporting those problems elsewhere, usually to countries where \u201cenvironmental justice\u201d isn\u2019t even a talking point, and they’ll use the money we are shipping them to try and undermine us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end, Justice40 is dressed up as a modern-day solution to age-old problems, but it\u2019s just a high-stakes PR operation. It\u2019s not that the core idea\u2014ensuring that marginalized communities benefit from federal spending\u2014is inherently wrong. But when it’s in the hands of a government whose grasp on efficiency makes the DMV look nimble, you\u2019re not getting justice. You\u2019re getting a bloated, mismanaged cash giveaway (your cash<\/em><\/strong>) with \u201cgreen\u201d painted on the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whew. thanks for letting me rant. Now that I have this off my chest, I can rant about the original article in City Journal. Please stand by. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The World Bank’s stunning $24 billion loss in climate finance exposes troubling mismanagement within the global green energy agenda. Meanwhile, initiatives like Biden’s Justice40 face similar criticism for potentially channeling taxpayer money into politically favored projects with little oversight, raising concerns about systemic waste and corruption in environmental spending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7,58,1],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-1951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-fiscal","category-bully_pulpit","category-latest","tag-sustainability"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/DALL%C2%B7E-2024-11-05-05.28.04-An-eye-catching-landscape-oriented-social-media-graphic.-The-main-visual-is-a-representation-of-a-globe-tinted-green-with-visible-cracks-symbolizing-.webp?fit=1792%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1953,"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1951\/revisions\/1953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottkjames.com\/website_d4298829\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}