After challenging the elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, back in January, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts this week was interviewed by New York Times reporter David Gelles on climate and energy. Roberts’ message: Environmentalists’ obsession with radical climate policies is leaving America’s workers and the global poor behind. “The climate agenda is ending the American dream,” Roberts told Gelles. The Left’s war on affordable, reliable energy sources is an attack on the American Dream—the very foundation that lets hardworking people get ahead and build a future for their families. The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now The American dream is the envy of the world. Emerging economies cannot have their own dreams if they are forced—or bribed—by the West to abandon a fossil fuel economy and use renewables. The world faces a growing energy crisis with severe economic, humanitarian, and security consequences. That’s the direct result of climate policies aimed at dismantling U.S. fossil fuel production while claiming to “save” the climate. Inflation Reduction Act and Energy Poverty These policies are failing and are pushing everyone—on all continents—toward energy poverty. The Inflation Reduction Act provides incentives for renewable energy and electric vehicles, which raise the prices of electricity and transportation. States with higher shares of renewables have higher electricity prices, and EVs are more expensive than other cars. As Roberts said, Americans may not be able to name the Inflation Reduction Act, “but they sure feel the effects of it.” Environmentalists say that if America eliminated fossil fuels, the world would follow, but that hasn’t happened. While U.S. emissions have declined modestly, global emissions have risen—particularly in China, where more than 300 new coal plants are planned, and a new plant is being built every week. All over the world, people want to move to energy-intensive goods and services, such as heating, air conditioning, washing machines, hot and high-pressure showers, and personal vehicles. The U.S. emits just one-seventh of the world’s CO2. America’s eliminating all fossil fuels “would have an almost nonmeasurable impact” on global temperatures, as Roberts explained, because Western emissions are a small share of the total.

Why are we following the agenda of elites in New York and Brussels instead of listening to Americans?

The facts are clear: climate deaths have dropped 98% in the last century.

Yes, humans impact the climate, but using the federal government to impose radical policies is… pic.twitter.com/9HmEUlczDh

— Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX) September 25, 2024

More From Daily Signal: