Liberal billionaire and former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg just gained two new Instagram fans: Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The liberal former mayor and climate activist is just one of 15 people the royal couple follow on the site. According to Town & Country, the royals likely follow him because of the millions he is spending to fight climate change. Bloomberg’s climate efforts have including shutting down coal and now trying to prevent new natural gas plants.
The magazine reported, “In July, the @SussexRoyal handle is being used to highlight environmental issues, and recently followed accounts including the World Wide Fund for Nature, Dr. Jane Goodall, and former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg, who launched Beyond Carbon, a campaign to end climate change, last month.”
Bloomberg = tweeted about London’s Climate Action Week on July 3, “When it comes to tackling the climate crisis, we cannot wait for national governments to act. #LDNClimateAction is yet another example of how cities and mayors like @SadiqKhan are leading by example on the biggest challenges we face.”
Recently, Bloomberg was praised by the liberal media for recently pledging $500 million to end the U.S. coal industry. Salon praised his efforts in June writing, “The billionaire and philanthropist has been committed to reducing fossil fuel in order to tackle climate change for years.”
“As mayor of New York City, he launched an initiative to encourage businesses, universities and other private organizations to commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their offices by up to 40 percent over a ten period.” Salon continued.
Not surprisingly, Salon left out U.S. coal miners’ negative reaction to efforts that would cripple their industry, a criticism included by Yahoo Finance. Yahoo cited West Virginia Coal Association Vice President Chris Hamilton.
“Frankly, we're real disappointed in the mayor that he would select to come after our coal miners and our coal mining families in the states like West Virginia that rely so heavily on coal-fired electric generation and coal mining and all the support jobs that really drive our economy here. And we're not alone.”
The royals’ own country has already tried to shut down its own coal industry. Coal’s share in the UK energy sector has been plummeting for years, in part due to a carbon tax.
The New York Times reported in April that in Britain, “Gas emissions have fallen to their lowest level since 1890. One key factor: A carbon tax that has prompted electric utilities to switch away from coal.”
Prime Minister Theresa May also recently called for a net zero carbon emissions target, which was criticized by UK Treasury Chancellor Philip Hammond.
The Hill reported in June, “Chancellor Philip Hammond last week suggested the net-zero target could cost 1 trillion pounds, necessitating steep cuts from public services.”
The Spectator underscored Britain’s “Green New Deal” unrealism, “To meet the target, Brits will need to make some changes, from ditching gas boilers to building better-insulated homes (and preferably not on flood plains that could be the first to go with rising sea levels) and investing in technology that can suck and bury carbon.”
More recently, the left-wing Guardian called for “full government engagement” (translation: make government bigger in order to make May’s goal a reality), warning that May’s party is hard-wired to fail if it holds “To a belief in the power of free markets.”
The Guardian continued, “Clinging to a belief in the power of free markets, it neglects the fact that to decarbonize the economy greater investment from the state is required.” That would mean more taxes at time when the government is bringing in the most revenue in decades.
The Telegraph reported that Britain’s 2018 tax revenue was at a 30-year high, “Taxes amounted to one-third of GDP last year, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). That is the highest level since 1988 and above average for the past 50 years."
