Since recommitting the nation to the Paris Climate Accords on his first day in office, President Joe Biden’s administration has steadfastly pursued a “net zero” climate-control strategy. It’s been all downhill since then, as anyone who has shopped at food stores in the previous three years can attest.
Biden’s executive directives, which target future domestic oil and natural gas supplies, will increase the cost of producing and acquiring chemicals. To follow carbon emissions from the farmer’s field to the family dinner table, his representatives at the Securities and Exchange Commission have proposed ESG reporting. And that’s only the beginning.
This foolish ideological climate agenda aims to increase the cost of food, freezers, tractors, trucks, power, gas, oil, and fertilizer, as well as heating and drying equipment and transportation. The higher cost of food at every stage of production—from farm to fork—is a benefit rather than a drawback for the Biden economy. It is all part of the Left’s coordinated campaign to raise the cost of carbon energy and decrease its use.
The European Union has tilted at these fantastical windmills for decades, damaging its economies.
Electric firms in Europe imposed their increased energy expenses on customers, leading to a sudden increase in residential and industrial power prices of 131% and 59%, respectively, between January 2021 and January 2022. Cap-and-trade prices and emissions-controlling tariffs have increased in Germany’s manufacturing and chemical industries. In response, they shelled out hundreds of billions of euros to get off the grid in Europe.
Several EU nations have even gone so far as to encourage private banks to refuse necessary loans to farms judged to emit excessive amounts of greenhouse gases. Lower emissions and fewer farms are two components of the climate management strategy.
However, fewer farms also translate into less affordable and scarcer food. At the neighborhood grocer, people are already paying historically high prices. According to research from April, the average grocery list now costs 36.5% more than it did in 2019. Prices for items like eggs and sports drinks have increased by more than 40%. According to the US Department of Agriculture, due to price hikes, consumers are now spending more than 11% of their income on food, which is a peak they haven’t reached since 1991. Furthermore, American people would pay even more for even less once the Biden administration’s proposed climate regulations make their way to our grocers, restaurants, and farms.
In order to better understand the expenditures that American households and farmers can anticipate in the near future, the Buckeye Institute analyzed the expected costs associated with the “social cost of carbon emissions” on a standard corn farm. It goes without saying that diesel fuel for tractors, trucks, and combined vehicles will cost more. Additionally, the cost of propane will increase for heating barns, and nitrogen fertilizer is extensively used in agriculture and grain dryers.
The Biden administration’s proposed climate-control carbon pricing plan will result in an annual operational cost increase for farmers of at least $65,000, or 34%.
Furthermore, those price increases won’t last at the farm. Similar to Europe, farmers in this region will transfer their increased expenses to supermarkets, eateries, and customers who are still fighting to keep up with inflation while still trying to make ends meet. According to the Buckeye Institute’s model, Biden’s new regulations will increase the cost of the food chain and the annual grocery expenses of an average four-person family by $1,330, a 15% increase. $20 cheeseburgers would become a mainstay of the Biden administration’s net-zero policy menu if prices for certain carbon-intensive items, such as processed cheese and beef, increased by as much as $9 per pound.
However, this price hike is more than simply a carnivore’s problem. Over time, the price of rice may rise by 56% for everyone, while the cost of bananas and strawberries will increase by 59% and 47%, respectively.
The current president’s plan does not include more backyard barbecues at reasonable prices or a better economic strategy for those seeking those things this summer. Biden has included his goal of reaching “net zero” as a dramatic aspect of his national economic plan. America, best of luck covering that cost.
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