Author:  R. Alan Harrop,Ph.D.

As we celebrate the 250th Anniversary of America, the future and preservation of this great country depends on the wisdom of the people. As President Washington correctly stated in his inaugural address, the country’s survival depends on having wise, patriotic, and principled citizens who are able to recognize threats to freedom. Sadly, we are at a time when for several reasons many of our citizens have become victims of scams and misinformation that threaten us from within. Let’s examine one of those scams to see how it was brought about and how we can prevent a recurrence.

The most recent and impactful scam has been that climate change is caused by mankind. This scam perpetrated by the Left has been devastating in many ways. Much of this scam can be traced to the writings and preaching of Vice President,
Al Gore. His book, “An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming,” was published in 2006. This was followed by a documentary that was shown to millions of school children, provoking fear. As a result of this indoctrination, most of the younger generations are confirmed climate alarmists. The message was so carefully and fully implemented, that the Obama and Biden administrations instituted policies and regulations that have been destructive to this country.

There never was a rational public debate on the facts and merit of the man-made climate change hoax. It was presented as “settled science.” There was instead a rush to implement programs based on the fear of devastating climate warming that would destroy our world. Some even preached that the world as we have known it would cease to exist in 12 years if fossil fuels and other toxins were not eliminated! The fact that the earth’s climate has gone through several extreme cooling and warming cycles that were not influenced by man’s activities was completely ignored, and anyone questioning the activists was labeled as a “climate change denier.” This is typical Marxist strategy to silence opposition.

The outcome of this scam was an enormous expenditure of taxpayer money over the past twenty years. It is estimated that over $700 billion federal, state, local, and private funds have been spent on solar and wind energy, research into climate change, tax incentives, electric vehicle rebates, and energy efficiency regulations on homes and industries in the past ten years alone. In addition, as a result of Obama and Biden having the United States join the Paris Climate Accords, the United States has spent over $130 billion funding climate change projects in foreign countries. Meanwhile, who benefited from this spending? You got it–Communist China since they were the major exporter of solar panels and wind turbines as well as lithium batteries.

What was the outcome of all this spending and burden on the U.S. taxpayer? There has been no positive outcome since the climate has essentially remained the same. Older citizens, who were wiser and not duped by this Leftist propaganda, finally fought back and elected President Donald Trump. He has reversed most of the climate change agenda, allowing our country to expand energy production and grow our economy.

The lesson here is very clear. Social media, the fake news outlets, and indoctrination of our youth by gullible left leaning teachers, gave the climate extremists the tools to delude some of our citizens. Instead of teaching students how to think; they were taught what to think. Wisdom is the ability to rationally examine the facts and draw conclusions consistent with the truth–something the climate extremists are unable to do. Learning to be skeptical of propaganda is critical to preserving this country. Preserving the country also requires the intelligence to recognize misinformation and the courage to resist. As far as the indoctrination of our children is concerned, I have little trust in the majority of teachers since most are left-leaning. This is why I strongly advocate the use of video cameras in all public-school classrooms so that parents can monitor and be aware of what their children are being taught. If there is nothing to hide, why would a teacher object? Accountability is necessary.