I had hopes when Robert F. Kennedy Junior (RFK-Jr) threw his hat in the ring against Biden for a 2024 Presidential run that it might bring a breath of moderation to the Democrat Party.
That was very unlikely, however, because Democrats already hated him for his anti-vax stance and for stating that anti-depressants might be to blame for some school shootings. According to the Democrat faithful these positions are dangerous conspiracy theories and blatant misinformation. (NPR really, really hates this guy).
www.npr.org/2023/07/13/1187272781/rfk-jr-kennedy-conspiracy-theories-social-media-presidential-campaign
Environmentalism
RFK-Jr has a long career as an environmental lawyer. I'm an environmentalist myself so I had to dig into his background a bit. I'm sad to say the guy is an idiot.
Obviously he wants to transition away from fossil fuels to "green" energy. OK, I get that. However, he is also opposed to nuclear and has fought against hydro projects in Quebec, Chile and Belize.
It is unclear where he imagines energy will come from as we transition away from fossil fuels.
The Plastic Crisis
Last Friday, RFK-Jr laid out his plan for dealing with Plastic Pollution. This is a genuine environmental issue that needs to be addressed. I used to SCUBA dive once or twice a year in the Caribbean and the $hit is everywhere. So, I wanted to know what RFK had to say.
SEPPUKU
To make a long story short, RFK committed political suicide on Friday when he announced his plan to solve the Plastic Pollution Crisis "I will ban fracking, which provides the feedstock for most of the plastics produced in the U.S."
thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/4204203-biden-has-totally-failed-to-curb-plastics-pollution-i-have-a-plan-to-fix-it/
First, the Plastic Pollution problem isn't with plastic itself. Plastics are used in virtually everything... and most of these items are 'durable'. Appliances, cars, furniture, clothing, plumbing, electrical insulation and so forth. Durable items are not the primary problem. The majority of the pollution comes from single-use disposable crap or from cheap throw-away products.
Second and most important, it is genuinely stupid to take a sledgehammer to our economy to fight Plastic Pollution. As illustrated by Visual Capitalist, about 85% of a barrel of oil is used for energy and only 10% is used to produce plastics (and more than half of those plastics are 'good').
Conclusion
RFK-Jr has a plan. Unfortunately, his plan to fix one problem will create far, FAR bigger problems.
Like President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, I have a three-part plan... AND... I give you my word... my plan is better.
- I've got a guy named 'Not Sure' and he's gonna figure out how to make flimsy, bio-degradable plastic out of corn.
- We're gonna stop paying farmers to grow corn for ethanol and start paying them to grow corn for plastics. (BTW, ethanol is a really crappy fuel).
- We're gonna pass legislation to make all single-use plastic crap from high-fructose corn plastic. YAY! (And he's gonna fix the dust storms too!)
RFK's plan (to destroy the American economy) might make Democrats hate him a teeny bit less... but I can't imagine that ANY Republican will support him now.
Bye, Bye.