OPINION — Elon Musk has been the darling of the greenies for a long time, because he owns Tesla. The ecos really like the idea of the electric car, since it allows them to tell themselves they’re doing something good for the environment. Never mind that about seventy percent of U.S. electricity is still generated by burning oil, coal, and natural gas. I guess there’s something satisfying about stomping on that pedal and hearing the electric motor politely and quietly begin to hum. I don’t get it, but hey, whatever flips your breather.
But a lot of people seem to be upset at Elon lately, primarily because he bought Twitter, and plans to allow free speech there. This must be a horrible conundrum for the lefties. They want electric cars, but not freedom. They want to save the world, but only their version of it. They’re perfectly willing to listen to opposing points of view, until they find out there are opposing points of view.

Elon Musk attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 2, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Now, I’ve made fun of Elon in this column before, particularly when he came out with his special pickup, but I’ve got a lot of respect for the guy. Almost no one in the world is as innovative and forward-thinking. And I don’t have a problem with electric cars, as long as the gubmint doesn’t tell me I have to drive one. Everyone who enjoys hunting and fishing wants a cleaner environment, but we need to be honest about whether that’s really happening.
For example, in 2019 the U.S. was producing a surplus of oil, covering our own needs and even exporting oil to other countries. When Joe Biden took over the oval office he put a stop to a lot of our oil production, thereby making it appear as though we were doing less polluting. For the record, polluting is bad.

Polluting is bad. That's why we have windmills... and dead eagles.
But we use just as much oil as before, only now we have to buy a lot of it from other countries. So not only are we still burning just as much fossil fuel, but we’re also causing a lot more pollution by transporting oil from out of town. Instead of polluting less, we’re polluting more. Remember, polluting is bad.
Electric cars, at present, serve pretty much the same purpose. The appearance of ecofriendliness is great, until you raise the hood and kick the tires. Since most of our electricity still comes from burning fossil fuels, the only difference between gasoline-powered cars and electric cars is where the CO comes out – the tailpipe or the generator plant a hundred miles away.

Cobalt mining. Clean energy. We'll get to that in a few paragraphs.
That’s not entirely true, of course, since some electricity comes from wind turbines and hydroelectric dams, like the one Hoover built. That one pretty much just runs Lost Wages, Nevada, but still. The wind turbines, on the other hand, are one of the worst environmental failures of the industrial age, right after the steam engine that lost the race to John Henry. I dropped a Jackson on that fiasco.
Wind turbines actually work OK, but they require a lot of fossil fuels to build, transport, assemble, and maintain, and sometimes they leak oil all over the place. Plus they’re so ugly no one wants them where they live. But one of the biggest problems with wind turbines is the birds they kill. They kill a lot of birds, including bald and golden eagles, which is another conundrum for the greenies. They want the wind turbines, but they don’t want the birds to die. Life is full of tough decisions.

Three quarters of the world’s supply of cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is not located in the U.S., is not democratic, and I don’t know what Congo means.
Your crack fedrul gubmint recently prosecuted ESI Energy, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, for killing more than 150 eagles in eight states over the past decade with their wind turbines. And that was just part of one turbine company. ESI pled guilty last month and was fined $8 million, but, and this is the kicker, the eagles are still dead. Giving money to Uncle Sam doesn’t bring wildlife back to life, for some reason.
But while the wind turbines are bad for the environment, the batteries used in electric cars are far worse. Besides requiring a lot of fossil fuels to build, and being very expensive to replace, and taking forever to break down in landfills, the batteries use cobalt. Three quarters of the world’s supply of cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is not located in the U.S., is not democratic, and I don’t know what Congo means.
They dig the cobalt out of mines, and a lot of the mines use child slave labor, which may be why cobalt is known as the ‘blood diamond of batteries.’ The children are not American children, but farming out slave labor is the same as farming out oil well drilling, only worse. Just because it isn’t happening here doesn’t make it any less heinous.
The alternative to cobalt is nickel, but nickel mining and extracting creates far more pollution than refineries and generator plants. I guess until someone starts building nuclear car engines, fossil fuels are actually better for the environment than any of the alternatives.
We’ve got the oil, we just need to use it. Feelings will be damaged, but maybe that’s better than dead eagles and child slavery . . .
Kendal Hemphill is an outdoor humor columnist and minister who’s looking forward to your spittle-flecked letter telling him he’s wrong. Use the blue crayon and write to him at [email protected]
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Comments
When are democrats going realize policies are too expensive to implement due to inflation and reliance on China for the wind turbines. solar panels and minerals required for battery production.
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PermalinkDemocrats know judgement day is coming in the mid-terms.
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PermalinkDemocrats know they are in trouble, which is why they’re trying to stir up their radical leftist base ;)
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PermalinkAll intentional. Drive up the price of gasoline, giving consumers little choice than to fall in line with the radical leftists’ Green New Deal…the most egregious being the cost of diesel fuel which is directly responsible for the supply chain issues we’ve faced and are facing now.
It’s called the “Nudge Theory” I would encourage everyone to look it up ;)
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Permalinkhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/05/05/shell-reports-record-9-billion-quarterly-profit-as-oil-and-gas-prices-surged/?sh=7e8b3a061f94
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exxon-post-best-results-seven-years-oil-prices-2022-02-01/
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/bp-records-highest-profit-eight-years-2021-2022-02-08/
I'm real sure those oil companies are part of the radical leftist GND agenda, aren't you? Oil and diesel prices are what they are because they can get away with it - this is nothing new. In 2008 when the housing bubble fell, it was exacerbated by price surges in oil. Suburbanites were finding it impossible to accommodate their commutes. But by all means, let's all continue to pretend that the radical leftists have Big Science in their pockets, man-made climate change is a hoax, and there's nothing we can do to lessen Big Oil's stranglehold on our economy and very existence whilst they gleefully line their pockets and tell us lies. They are laughing at you.
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PermalinkThe joke’s on you you’re the one who voted for him not me lol. If not intentional then entirely inept take your pick. I do find it interesting that Biden is now begging oil companies to produce more oil, when literally everything he’s done up to this point is meant to cripple the industry.
One thing is for certain…if like all his other actions, whatever he decides to do will either be “too little too late” or completely incompetent. That’s what leads me to believe it’s all intentional…no one can possibly be that stupid ;)
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PermalinkHas anyone noticed the so called news media and such have backed off of the lies about the Buffalo Shooter being a right wing white supremist due to the facts that the shooters manifesto claims he is a antichristian left nut job white supremist.
So whats the next racist distraction going to be?
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PermalinkNot surprising the marxist left has been actively trying to stir up a race war since the 1960’s. This along with the teaching of CRT in our schools and institutions , which by definition is not only racist but toxic and divisive as well, are just the latest examples of such ;)
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PermalinkSpeaking of the so-called “replacement theory” BS the left is attempting to pin on the right…the claim that U.S. demographic change boosts democrat chances has been standard among democrats for YEARS. The problem is it’s simply not true, since minorities have been moving over to the Republican Party in droves because they see through the nonsense.
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PermalinkCRT is just the latest in a long line of nonsensical issues to rile up folks too lazy to do any research. CRT and Woke are the two worst right now, but americans have a tiny attention span so it will change quickly. They are just goofy terms that can be used for almost anything that dosent fit a narrative.
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PermalinkJust another low information voter. Based on the results of the last election, I would venture to say that our country is full of them ;)
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Permalink“Goofy terms”…that just so happened to be coined by the left. So definitely not a construct of the right, they’re just the ones standing up to it all ;)
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PermalinkSpeaking of “goofy terms” coined by the left…if you happen to think we should be better controlling our southern border, then you’re “xenophobic”. And if you happen to disagree that there are 70+ genders, then you’re “transphobic”.
Other examples to choose from but I think I made my point ;)
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PermalinkAny conversation about immigration is obviously hate speech against the latinx people blanco
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PermalinkTrue it’s pure BS! Say what you will about Trump, but at least he had our best interest at heart.
Democrats, on the other hand, are headed off the rails. I’ve said it before…you start messing with people’s kids or their pocketbooks, and you’ve just started a bad day ;)
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PermalinkMan your ability to shoehorn right and left into anything anyone said is amazing. This message board is a tiny example of how they have dumbed us down and turned us into tribalist. Hopefully the next generation overcomes the ignorance we have heaped on it. The ability to despise anyone who you think is from “the other side” is scary, but it’s how they want you to feel. You are what they are after, congrats I guess
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PermalinkYes I’m sure the kids being taught things like boys can get pregnant are gonna turn it around lol
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PermalinkHaha true. Part of me hopes and prays for those in democrat-run cities and states that more than likely will continue to devolve into even more of a shithole than they already are. The other part of me, the SCARY side (lol), says they get what they get because they are the ones who keep voting those ignorant morons into office ;)
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PermalinkI don’t despise anyone…I’m simply stating the truth.
My hope for the next generation is that they’ll overcome the indoctrination that’s been “heaped” on them by the socialist left…which like I said, is toxic and divisive ;)
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PermalinkIt's a bit sad that anyone as one sided is you believes anyone else is more indoctrinated. Everyone believes that their indoctrination is free thought and everyone else is a sheep. You have zero ability to see beyond your tiny set of indoctrinated beliefs.
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PermalinkHaha that’s interesting because I feel sorry for you!
Besides you’re wrong, regardless of how SCARED (lol) I make you feel, all of my thoughts and beliefs are my own ;)
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PermalinkYou regergitate party lines, nothing about you is scary or original. you are a part of the machine and your eyes aren't even open enough to know it. like people who toe the line on both sides your a kind of usefull idiot.
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PermalinkTell you what, friend, it’s possible that we can still reach “common ground”. You’ve told me before that you voted for Biden because he was the only viable choice between him and Trump. But to me, although I get that mentality, all that sounds like is an excuse…especially considering the total mess he’s made of this country in such a short period of time!
My question to you is, which one of the TWELVE democrat candidates running for president would have been your preferred choice thanks for your input ;)
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PermalinkI apologize didn’t see this l, I don’t know that I can answer their was never going to be a candidate other than Biden. Im not a fan of Bernie sanders and they were never going to let him win anyway. I don’t know if I can even name the other 10 to tell you the truth.
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PermalinkAnd yet you accuse others of being “too lazy to do any research” lol.
Absolutely no hesitation on my part…definitely Tulsi Gabbard on the democrat side. Would have made a great VP also just the wrong set of values and the wrong skin color ;)
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PermalinkI couldn’t pick tulsi gabbard out of a lineup, and I know nothing at all about her. I couldn’t care less about anyone with no chance to be the candidate. I’ve voted for someone in the two parties for president exactly twice 16 and 20. Call it lazy to f you want, but I just don’t care enough to know 16 candidates with the same chance as you or I to win.
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PermalinkI couldn’t pick tulsi gabbard out of a lineup, and I know nothing at all about her. I couldn’t care less about anyone with no chance to be the candidate. I’ve voted for someone in the two parties for president exactly twice 16 and 20. Call it lazy to f you want, but I just don’t care enough to know 16 candidates with the same chance as you or I to win.
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PermalinkOk go crawl back under your rock I’m done with you ;)
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PermalinkLol I know you don’t understand not being part of the two party nonsense. They got you long ago I assume. Ill let you spout your party line nonsense in peace, enjoy your echo chamber
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PermalinkHaha you’re the one who blindly voted for the party line candidate I would never describe Trump that way ;)
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PermalinkLol I know you don’t understand not being part of the two party nonsense. They got you long ago I assume. Ill let you spout your party line nonsense in peace, enjoy your echo chamber
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PermalinkHmmm I thought you said “ask me anything and I’ll answer” what happened? Oh well missed opportunity on your part ;)
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PermalinkHaha you’re the one who called me “scary”. Again, agree or disagree, all of my thoughts and beliefs are my own ;)
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Permalinki do believe that you believe this.
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PermalinkI believe you believe what you believe too…but that doesn’t make you right ;)
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PermalinkDon’t be scared The Great Uniter (Joe Biden) said he is going to fix everything lol.
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