During this pandemic, nearly everyone is suffering in some way. One of the hardest-hit industries is that of crude oil and fossil fuels. As many nations and states throughout the world have stay at home or no travel orders in place, fuel is simply not be used.
People aren’t driving to work, planes have been pretty much grounded, and factories are not producing, which is creating a massive drop in the demand and, therefore, the price of oil.
On Monday, the industry hit what seemed to be an all-time low, with prices per barrel of oil being in the negative for the first time ever. And as always happens, when demand and prices drop, so does the stock market. According to The Street, “The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 592 points…, the S&P 500 declined 1.79% and the Nasdaq slipped 1.03%.”
With such chaos in the market and slow demand, energy factories everywhere are considering mass layoffs and shutdowns. It is estimated that somewhere between 50,000 to 200,000 American jobs could be lost in the near future. One factory in Houston, Texas, for example, laid off over 6,000 employees in a single day recently.
But according to some, this is an excellent thing.
You see, for those on the left who have touted idea after idea about climate change, this is the perfect opportunity to restructure our economy by getting rid of fossil fuels and moving to “green” investments like wind and solar power.
Among those who believe this is, of course, the author of the Green New Deal herself, Democratic New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In fact, the nearly self-proclaimed socialist seemed thrilled at the prospect of market failure and thousands of jobs being lost on Monday.
She tweeted, “You absolutely love to see it.” She then went on to describe this as the “right time” for revolution into green investments.
“This along with record low-interest rates means it’s the right time for a worker-led, mass investment in green infrastructure to save our planet. *cough*.”
Of course, this tweet was quickly deleted and replaced with another that, while expressing the same basic idea, lacked the apparent joy at the prospect of Americans in dire straits.
Her new tweet read, “Now is the time to create millions of jobs building out the infrastructure and clean energy necessary to save our planet for future generations. For our economy, our planet, and our future, we need a #GreenNewDeal.”
However, there are still a few problems with this statement.
Firstly, as with any change, and especially one of this magnitude, there is still going to be a massive amount of jobs lost.
And don’t even begin to tell me that all those who lost their jobs in the oil industry will suddenly find new ones working to control wind and rays of sunshine.
Sure, when those developments do get large enough to really compete with oil, there will be jobs to be had, but they are a completely different type of job. And yes, people can be trained, but often this takes years and years, and some would even require schooling.
And as AOC and others purporting her Green New Deal have admitted, the process to get these new technologies in place and working well could take decades. In the meantime, you will still have thousands without work, looking for something to keep food on the table with.
Secondly, just because the oil industry is, at the moment, not doing well doesn’t mean that the fuel itself is a failure or not working. We have a worldwide pandemic going on that is bound to affect any energy industry.
If our economy relied on wind and solar energies, that industry would be in the exact same boat as oil. Travel is restricted, people aren’t working, factories aren’t producing, and that means the energy they use, whether it comes from oil or cow farts, simply isn’t in demand. Therefore, factories will close, and people will be laid off.
Changing the energy source will make little difference in a time like this.
But AOC can’t see that. All she and her party envision is the power and money they will get out completely restructuring America into their desired image. She cares little about whether Americans lose their jobs or not, just so long as she still gets a say.
