Climate as a Public Health Issue
This article was picked up by Real Clear Energy on September 22, 2021
Never let a crisis go to waste. The Biden Administration took that advice and, on the eve of Hurricane Ida, announced that the Department of Health and Human Services had created an office for climate change – the climate is now a public health issue.[1]
“The office aims to protect vulnerable communities disproportionately affected by pollution and climate-driven disasters, including drought and wildfires,” Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
However, this new mechanism to enforce socialist-style control for climate might not work out the way the administration envisions. In Norway, wind farms are starting to be treated as a public health issue by community organizers seeking to block them. The Norwegian Helsepartiet ("Health Party"), for example, was founded in 2016 in direct response to the societal and environmental issues posed by wind farms, with one of their explicit policies being "no wind farms."[2]
As the Health Party writes, "Many of our most beautiful landscapes have been destroyed forever. Nevertheless, the topic has never been focused on the election campaign. In 2021, wind power and energy policy is one of the most discussed topics in the public debate. In addition to wind power damaging nature, society and the environment, the regime has become a symbol of a policy increasingly associated with coercion and trauma and a corrupt society. The wind power regime and energy as speculation have triggered a popular uprising. The 2021 parliamentary election must be a protest election."[3] A recent survey showed 78 municipalities out of the 101 included in the 13 areas were against onshore wind power.[4]
The backlash has grown so furious that industry consultant StormGeo Nena Analysis reports that "it's unlikely any more wind farms will be built on land in the decade to 2034.” Statnett was even more skeptical, saying that there would be "no further large scale developments ever except for offshore."[5]
As a result, even the Socialist Left party, which had wind turbines on their program in 2013, has changed its tune and now push for a wind farm ban. From the political left to the political right, these parties have made 'no to wind' their main platform.
Despite a major focus on climate during the September 13th election, won by Norway's center-left Labour Party, the majority of Norwegians did not cast their votes for the parties with the biggest focus on climate. In fact, the Green Party, well-known for its anti-fossil fuel platform, failed to make it across the 4% barrier needed for representation in parliament.
While it's clear the Biden Administration and believes designating climate change as a public health issue is a boon to their fight against climate, it could just as easily backfire.
[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-change-to-be-treated-as-public-health-issue-11630315800
[2] https://helsepartiet.no/
[3] https://motvind.org/politiske-parti-og-vindkraft/
[4] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-windfarm-politics/norways-public-backlash-against-onshore-wind-threatens-sector-growth-idUSKBN1WA177
[5] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-09/wind-farm-backlash-grows-in-oil-rich-norway-ahead-of-election