Opinion - American energy is still being held hostage by Paris

Yahoo

2 days ago

The 2016 Paris Climate Accord is more than a bad deal — it is a globalist straitjacket that President Trump has rightly called a 'rip-off.'
But even though Trump has pulled America out of it (twice), Paris still haunts our national security, our economy and the president's 'energy dominance' agenda. Despite Trump's unwavering commitment to withdrawing from this 'unfair, one-sided' pact and his condemnation of Biden's rejoining as a 'disaster,' powerful interests — big oil, big tech, manufacturers and industrial electricity users — are perpetuating the accord's influence.
In Texas, these forces are fighting long-overdue grid reliability reforms that would force unreliable wind and solar generators to pay for the chaos they cause, costs that are dumped onto families and small businesses. This would effectively charge ratepayers to subsidize corporate virtue-signaling tied to climate commitments, leaving Texans to foot the bill for an agenda that undermines energy reliability.
In 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued a clear directive to the Public Utility Commission to 'allocate reliability costs to generation resources that cannot guarantee their own availability, such as wind or solar power.' This commonsense reform would force renewable energy providers to internalize their true costs. Yet the commission has so far ignored this directive, leaving Texas families and small businesses to bear what amounts to an electricity tax. In 2023, Texas ratepayers were saddled with a staggering $2.3 billion tab to cover the costs of wind and solar power's unreliability.
Trump has been crystal clear about the Paris Accord's harm, stating in the first-term executive order, 'This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States.' His administration's withdrawal from the accord was a bold step toward energy dominance. Yet corporate America, bolstered by misguided policies, continues to undermine his vision.
Former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act pours billions in subsidies and tax breaks into inefficient solar, wind and battery technologies, inflating electricity costs and distorting markets. Congress's latest proposal, the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, delays meaningful cuts to these subsidies. This protracted timeline will spark a frenzy of green tech deployments, further driving up electricity costs for Americans already grappling with what can only be described as an energy emergency. This is not the path to energy dominance; it is a capitulation to the 'climate cartel.'
The costs of this agenda are not just financial — they are existential. Texas's energy grid, ERCOT, once a model of resilience, is increasingly strained due to the variability of wind and solar, which cannot deliver power when it is needed most. The 2021 winter storm in Texas and recent blackouts in Europe exposed the fragility of over-reliance on renewables, yet the same corporate interests that champion Paris are doubling down on these flawed technologies.
The inconsistency is glaring. Big tech giants and industrial users demand grid reliability to power their production, data centers and factories, yet they fiercely oppose market reforms that would reward reliability and hold renewable energy accountable for its variability. Through power purchase agreements, these companies buy 'carbon-free' electricity to signal their Paris compliance, but buried in those deals are provisions that let renewable providers pass higher grid costs back to the buyer if and only if new rules or legislation force them to pay for their own unreliability. That is why lobbyists from Big Tech, Big Oil and 'woke' utilities have all descended on Austin to oppose reforms. They don't want their bill to come due.
To break free from the Paris Climate scam and reclaim American energy independence, Texas and the federal government must act decisively. Texas has already led by example — in 2021, the state banned financial institutions that boycott fossil fuels from doing business with the state, striking a blow against the Environmental, Social and Governance or ESG movement, which I have called 'Wall Street's green coercion.' But the fight must go further.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas should swiftly implement Gov. Abbott's directive to allocate reliability costs to renewable generators, ending the market distortions being fueled by corporate virtue signaling. Companies with Net Zero or Paris Accord commitments — just like those boycotting fossil fuels — should be barred from receiving public contracts, subsidies and tax breaks. These 'woke' corporations undermine Trump's America First energy agenda, and Congress is enabling them by stalling the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act's green handouts.
We need to reject the timid phasedown in the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act and instead dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act entirely. As I testified before the House Oversight Committee, this agenda diverts resources from reliable, affordable energy in service of globalist elites, threatening both our economic liberty and energy security.
The grip that the Paris Accords hold on our energy system is a betrayal of Texas values and American priorities. We deserve an energy future that puts affordability and reliability first, not one manipulated by liberal executives and unelected climate bureaucrats.
Trump started the fight. Paris or America? Pick one.
Jason Isaac is the founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute. He previously served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives.
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