CBS News has found a way to stuff two types of propaganda into a single news story: Democrat propaganda and climate propaganda, as seen on the latest Eye on America item touting the grotesquely misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Watch as the incentive system plays out in real time, in this dialogue between correspondent David Schecter and a climate entrepreneur whose project is 90% funded by the government:
DAVID SCHECTER: This may look to you and me like a corrugated roof top on a gas station. But to the solar installer Clay Copeland, it looks like a profit.
Did you get into solar because of climate change?
CLAY COPELAND: I got into solar because it's an excellent business model, right? The environment wins. The economy wins.
SCHECTER: Copeland’s is one of many green businesses flourishing in politically red south Georgia, where the country’s largest electric vehicle factory is under construction. And other investments are being driven by the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA, passed by the Biden Administration, is infusing $370 billion to support the renewable energy transition. Copeland says IRA incentives will support 90% of this future solar project.
When you vote, will you be thinking about climate?
COPELAND: Absolutely.
SCHECTER: Clay’s work led to a shift in how he thinks about climate change, and he’s not alone.
The story is supposed to be about climate change but at its heart it is about the government’s propensity to throw cash at problems, hoping that they will go away. Interestingly enough, viewers do not see President Joe Biden’s admission that the “Inflation Reduction Act” should’ve been called something else inasmuch as it never reduced inflation (but likely aggravated it).
Instead, they are treated to platitudes about climate change, fearmongering about hurricanes, and subtle shaming of a GOP congressman who didn’t vote for the IRA but nonetheless has IRA projects in his district.
The interview concludes with the young entrepreneur assuring Schecter that he’d urge his local Member of Congress to vote for the IRA were it to be up for a vote. The young gentleman most assuredly says “yes”. Given the incentives at stake, why wouldn’t he? And why is this presented as serious, thoughtful support for the IRA?
Ultimately, this is so because it is in the Regime Media’s best interests to continue to defend the so-called inflation Reduction Act as though it were precisely that, and not a pork-laden deal loaded with the types of incentives that enable climate cronyism.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on the CBS Evening News on Monday, September 23rd, 2024:
NORAH O’DONNELL: This week in New York City, politicians, business leaders and scientists from all over the globe are meeting to discuss climate change. This conference unfolds against the backdrop of a clear disconnect. Polls show the public wants Congress to do more about climate change, but many elected officials vote against ideas to address the problem. CBS's David Schechter has tonight's Eye on America.
DAVID SCHECTER: This may look to you and me like a corrugated roof top on a gas station. But to the solar installer Clay Copeland, it looks like a profit.
Did you get into solar because of climate change?
CLAY COPELAND: I got into solar because it's an excellent business model, right? The environment wins. The economy wins.
SCHECTER: Copeland’s is one of many green businesses flourishing in politically red south Georgia, where the country’s largest electric vehicle factory is under construction. And other investments are being driven by the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA, passed by the Biden Administration, is infusing $370 billion to support the renewable energy transition. Copeland says IRA incentives will support 90% of this future solar project.
When you vote, will you be thinking about climate?
COPELAND: Absolutely.
SCHECTER: Clay’s work led to a shift in how he thinks about climate change, and he’s not alone.
70% of Americans say global warming will hurt future generations, and 62% say Congress should do more about the problem.
BUDDY CARTER: I want chocolate chip. Single scoop on a waffle cone.
SCHECTER: We got a taste of the district with Republican Congressman Buddy Carter.
Hit the jackpot here.
CARTER: I'm telling you it's great.
SCHECTER: Across the country, two-thirds of all IRA projects are going to GOP-held congressional districts. Carter's district is gaining 4500 new green jobs plus $3.5 billion in new investments like EV battery and component factories. In Congress, Carter, who is running for reelection in November, voted against the IRA. He says he opposed the bill because of a nonclimate element that lowers the cost of some prescription drugs, but he says stifles innovation.
Is there a contradiction in benefiting from the IRA, but then also saying “I'm not going to vote for this thing?”
CARTER: Why did leadership put all that together? Why didn't they let us vote on it separately? It probably would've gotten some Republican votes.
SCHECTER: You think so?
CARTER: I- I’m sure it would.
SCHECTER: Would you have voted for it?
CARTER: I- you know, I didn’t look at it. That was so egregious to me, the prescription drug portion, that that's all it took.
SCHECTER: Carter helps lead a group of more than 80 Republicans who acknowledge that climate is changing, but fight against what they call radical climate proposals that would hurt the economy. Like the IRA. And when it comes to why the climate is changing, the clear-cut science says it's the emissions from our cars, factories, and power plants. But Carter isn't so sure.
If it's not carbon dioxide that we are releasing that’s changing the climate, what is it?
CARTER: Yeah, I'm not a scientist in that realm, so I don't- I don’t know what it could be, but I suspect that it could be just natural phenomenon.
SCHECTER: In Congressman Carter’s district, 53% of people worry about climate change. It's a place where they are exposed to the threats of sea level rise and extreme storms, like Hurricane Debbie, that folks are still cleaning up from. But Carter votes against environmental issues 96% of the time. If the IRA was up for a vote today, what should your elected officials do?
COPELAND: They should pass it.
SCHECTER: Millions of voters like Clay Copeland are speaking, but are their elected officials listening? For Eye on America: David Schecter, Savannah, Georgia.
