Quincy McKnight Campaign Fails to Raise Cash

Hattie Bryant

by Hattie Bryant- At FEC.gov you can find this statement, “An individual running for federal office must register and file financial reports when he or she raises or spends more than $5,000 in contributions or expenditures.”

This has been hard for Quincy McKnight a candidate for the Tennessee 5th District congressional seat. You may have read the two articles I wrote about him. These are easy to find: How is Quincy McKnight financing his campaign? And, Update: The Risky Business of Quincy McKnight.

As you’ll learn from my earlier posts, I am tracking this candidate because I believe that candidates like Quincy McKnight are damaging our process. His FEC filing reports show he has not been successful at garnering donations from third parties, and it appears he is using his candidacy to gain access not available to the average citizen. 

For example, at the February 2021 CPAC meeting in Orlando, many saw Quincy dining with Congressmen Jim Jordan and Mark Green. Following his return from Orlando, Quincy often bragged in local area gatherings of his CPAC meetings and dinners. It's clear CPAC occurred after Quincy declared his candidacy, but his FEC report shows no contributions/donations until May and fails to claim any late February (CPAC) expenses. Interestingly, following that dinner with Congressman Jordan, Thomas Datwyler, Jordan’s own campaign treasurer is now listed as the treasurer for Quincy McKnight for Congress. (If you read the earlier articles, you recall that a trusted local CPA who served as the original treasurer for McKnight for Congress campaign quit because Quincy did not report any donations or expenses.) 

Here’s the current FEC cash report of the candidates running for the 5th. 

I have found mistakes in the current report filed by Mr. Datwyler, and contacted him via email and voice message that I am expecting him to file an amended report to fix the mistakes. As he has not responded so far, I’ll watch and wait for Mr. Datwyler to make right the Quincy McKnight For Congress Inc. FEC report. 

Just maybe he will be the second treasurer to quit. 

 Anyone who throws his or her hat in the ring should be vetted, challenged, and questioned before anyone is asked for a donation. The good news is that Quincy McKnight is not a candidate for the Republican Party—no one is. To become a candidate a person must obtain a nominating petition when redistricting is completed. That petition requires voter signatures, and the petition must be submitted to the State Election Commission by noon on April 7, 2022. At sos.tn.gov we read, “Primary candidates must also file a duplicate of the petition on that same deadline with the chairperson of their party’s sate executive committee.” 

Voting records are public and I know from seeing Quincy’s voting records that he does not qualify to run as a Bona Fide Republican. The party state and/or county executive committees will determine this to be the case. 

If character in candidates matter, you might want to know that he still has a wife, and yet he still lives with the girlfriend. Perhaps you, like me, were told that he will marry the woman he lives with; that has not happened. I was told by a high-profile politically involved woman who is invited to the wedding that this would happen in October. According to the Circuit Court on November 3, 2021, there was a divorce file opened in 2018 that was dismissed in 2019. There is a 2020 file for divorce open but no divorce. 

As an active volunteer in the Davidson County Republican Party, I stand amazed that this campaign pretends to stand. We deserve better. 

Hattie Bryant lives downtown Nashville and is active in civic affairs. You can learn about her at https://www.authorhattiebryant.com. 

Liberals: We Only Lost Tuesday Because Americans Are Racist

As Jonah Goldberg said in his recent newsletter, "Calling voters ‘racist’ when your party loses is a terrible political strategy." 

Democrats sweep city council elections in Knoxville

Democrats sweep city council elections in Knoxville

How is Quincy McKnight financing his campaign?

by Hattie Bryant -Running for office can be complicated, especially when it comes to campaign finance. At the time of this writing, we have four candidates running for the 5th congressional seat. Jim Cooper, Jacquelyn Kelly, Robby Starbuck, and Quincy McKnight. As a Republican I find it interesting that according to the public records found at https://www.fec.gov/data/elections/house/TN/05/2022/ that as of the end of the 2nd quarter, Jim Cooper is way ahead in the race for cash. 

While it’s good for us to know what the Democrats are doing, at this point I am doing research on the two Republican candidates because I have never voted for a democrat in my life. My goal is to make sure we have the best, serious candidate as we just might have a shot to unseat Cooper in 2022. 

Until a few days ago, I was in an organization with McKnight’s girlfriend and when I heard he was running, I asked her about him. In person she told me that he lives with her then she texted me, “He’s got more money than probably any candidate that will run.” 

McKnight texted me, “I’m self-funding my campaign…Troy Brewer is my treasurer.”  When I went to https://quincyforcongress.com I find on the home page a large “DONATE” opportunity. When he ran into my friend in the Washington D.C. airport, he told her that he was there because a certain congressman was going to do a fundraiser for him. 

These mixed messages inspired me to do my own personal research on this candidate. Here’s what I found. 

Looking Back at 2014 

I have only lived in Nashville since January of 2019, so I wasn’t here when Mr. McKnight ran for the state senate in 2014.  A Tennessean article from August 6, 2014, states that when McKnight ran for the GOP nomination in Senate District 21, he “had not filed any reports with the Tennessee Registry of Election until this afternoon.” The article also refers to Drew Rawlins, Tennessee’s Registry of Election Finance then-election executive director, who reiterated that candidates for state offices are required by state law to file campaign financial disclosures even if they haven't raised or spent any money. Very few candidates completely ignore the requirement, and the ones who do generally aren't campaigning seriously, he said. McKnight said in this article, "We did raise money; however, it just didn't get (reported) turned in.” 

Here is a screen shot of when and what McKnight filed in that race seven years ago. 

Not sure if the article is what got McKnight to do a filing, but you can see that he did file his first-quarter report, due 4/15/2014 four months late and on the same day as this article appeared. You can also see that in January of this year, 2021, he filed reports that were required of him during that campaign season of 2014. 

The minutes from the Tennessee Ethics Commission meeting held on December 16, 2014 show that it fined McKnight $1,000 for failing to report. I have no idea if he paid the $1,000 fine, but in January of this year, 2021, he filed reports that were required of him during that campaign season of 2014. If you search these records yourself for the treasurer of the McKnight campaign, you’ll see that he served as treasurer of his campaign which is perfectly legal. 

The address is where his wife lives even now according to how she is registered to vote. 

If you search yourself, you will find that all of McKnight’s reports look like this: 

Again, I was not here in 2014. For those of you who were, did you ever see a yard sign? Did you ever attend an event where he spoke? Did he have a website? Did he have any flyers? Did anyone donate to the campaign? These reports say no to all of those questions. (Please note: Tennessee does not have a spending or income threshold for filing financial reports as does the Federal Government.) 

Let’s look at 2021 

Troy Brewer is a CPA who over the years has served as treasurer for many Republicans running for state and federal officers. Troy Brewer was treasurer for Mr. McKnight and filed FEC Form 99 Statement of Candidacy, for Quincy McKnight for Congress on 2/19/2021. Candidates who are self-funded have the same reporting requirements as any other candidates. Neither of these reports could be found on the FEC database and shows no data available in table for Mr. McKnight. Also, once a candidate for Federal office, House of Representatives, meets the spending or income thresholds mentioned above, they are required to file a personal financial disclosure with the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. A search of the Clerk’s database could find no report filed for Quincy McKnight. Information about this requirement can be found at https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/registering-candidate/other-agency-requirements/” 

On 7/14/ 2021, Mr. Brewer resigned from the campaign. I called Mr. Brewer to ask why and he told me that Quincy had not provided the information needed for the report due on 7/15/2021, so he resigned as treasurer for that campaign. You can find Mr. Brewer’s letter of resignation as campaign records are open to the public. Go to this link https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00769950/1526750/ then choose “View Miscellaneous Document” to see this: 

To: Federal Election Commission 

Ref: Report Analysis 

As of July 14, 11:59 pm, I resign as Treasurer of Quincy McKnight for Congress Committee, FEC ID C00769950. Effective Immediately. 

Thank you, 

Troy Brewer, CPA 

Now that Mr. Brewer has resigned, Mr. McKnight was required to replace the treasurer in 10 days and that has not happened. Here’s an excerpt from a Federal Election Commission Letter to Mr. McKnight:

QUINCY MCKNIGHT 

QUINCY MCKNIGHT FOR CONGRESS INC. 750 OLD HICKORY BLVD SUITE 750 NASHVILLE, TN 37027 

IDENTIFICATION NUMBER: C00769950 

Dear Candidate: 

 RQ-1 

 August 3, 2021 

Response Due Date 09/07/2021 

It has come to the attention of the Commission that your treasurer for Quincy McKnight for Congress Inc. has resigned and the Commission has received no information regarding a new treasurer. A treasurer must be appointed within ten (10) days of the resignation of the previous treasurer. (11 CFR § 102.2(a)(2)) It is required that for any committee to conduct any business, they must have an active treasurer. Failure to appoint a treasurer will result in the inability of the committee to accept contributions and make disbursements. (11 CFR §§ 102.7(a) and (b)) 

More Questions than Answers 

Typical of the government it does not make finding things so easy. So far, I have not found any record of Quincy McKnight’s personal financial disclosure. Not sure if he’s done it or if I’m just not so good at discovery. I can’t find any records of Mr. McKnight owning property which I asked him about and he texted me, “I have a trust. It’s private. All my financials and private info are in a trust.” Sure, trusts are legal. 

Here’s the score today for the race to win the 5th: 

 

Cooper $783,697.13 

 Kelly $140,423.89 

 Starbuck $44,131.30 

 McKnight $0 

How does this make you feel about Mr. McKnight as a candidate? What does it tell you about him? How is he financing his campaign? What will Jim Cooper’s opposition research uncover about this candidate? Since this is a small part of my research on this candidate, I am betting Cooper’s campaign staff has more than I have. Good for us all to know sooner than later. 

Hattie Bryant is a Nashvillian active in civic affairs and is an author. You can learn about me at authorhattiebryant.com.

Update: The Risky Business of Quincy McKnight

Hattie Bryant

by Hattie Bryant - Anyone reading this column probably knows that Quincy McKnight is running for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat. Because of my past work experience I know his type and, frankly, he gives me the creeps. 

From 1994 until 2007 my husband and I produced a television series called Small Business School. It aired on most PBS-member stations and was sponsored by IBM, BusinessWeek, AT&T, the United States Postal Service, Mass Mutual, Travelers, Dun & Brandstreet, Microsoft, Verizon, Thomson Learning and Qwest. We re-purposed these programs into video companions for 50 college textbooks for Thomson Learning and Prentice-Hall. I am an expert on small business. 

Mr. McKnight represents one of the archetypes of small business owners. An expert at merchant payment processing, he is a salesman, par excellence, with a big, bold, charismatic personality. This type of businessperson (think owners of car dealerships) can succeed at building a business but only when they are able to hire process leaders to manage the backend. This is what Mr. McKnight has never been able to do. 

Before Mr. McKnight launched the merchant payment processing company Covenant Pay Partners (CPP) in March of 2020, his other merchant payment company QPay failed. While Mr. McKnight purports he sold QPay, the TN Department of Revenue records show otherwise as QPay remains on the books but is designated dormant since 2007. From what I’m told, Mr. McKnight had to look for a job as he needed cash. Perhaps more importantly, he needed cash to satisfy payments due to rulings by a bankruptcy judge.  

Yesterday I spoke to an executive with a large merchant card processor in Nashville who told me that in September of 2019 Mr. McKnight applied for a position at his company. This executive said Mr. McKnight’s resume is total fabrication. For example, Mr. McKnight says he worked for JP Morgan, no. He has never worked for JP Morgan. This company took Mr. McKnight through its multi-visit interview process and on a scale of zero-10 he scored zero on every part of the interview process. 

This information alone is enough for me to disqualify Mr. McKnight as a candidate to work for us in Washington D. C. Yet, there’s more. 

Mr. McKnight did get a job at NaviHealth I believe. I have no idea what he did there but, in that time, he met his now partner, Dan Percey. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr. Percey has an MBA. Apparently, Mr. Percey saw in Mr. McKnight the charming, charismatic person many see, especially women. Mr. Percey learned process leadership to earn that MBA so just maybe Mr. Percey could be the process leader to help Mr. McKnight succeed. By the way, others in the community have tried to help Mr. McKnight but even the elders of his church purportedly failed, and they had to ask him to leave the congregation. I was told, “He was thrown out of his church.”  

According to publicly accessible business records, Quincy McKnight and Dan Percey formed Covenant Pay Partners as a registered Independent Sales Organization (ISO) sponsored by Wells Fargo, a member of the Visa Credit Card Association. Mr. McKnight holds 51% and Mr. Percey 49%. This arrangement is not because Mr. McKnight has the leadership ability to be the majority owner, it is because Mr. Percey is smart. Making Mr. McKnight the majority owner means Covenant Pay Partners qualifies for the Small Business Administration 8(a) program for disadvantaged business. This means Covenant Pay Partners has access to work that Mr. Percey, as a white man, could never approach. Today the black business owner has even more advantage than the law allows as big corporations are now all “woke.” A large corporation will make it part of their own marketing strategy to find black and brown-owned companies to buy from since the Federal Government has a goal to award at least 5% of all its contracts to 8(a) certified businesses. Can’t you just see Mr. Percey’s cash register ringing in his head?  

I know much about this minority-owned business approach because I have attended many national meetings of the Small Business Administration. I have met many men like Mr. Percey who use minorities as their front. Of course, it’s legal. The certification process is arduous, and at this time I do not know if the certification has been completed but on the website of Covenant Pay Partners, we see this:  

As a minority-owned business, Covenant Pay Partners is intimately familiar with the challenges such companies face; we strive to support and promote racial equality and all those who seek it.  

From what I gather, Covenant Pay Partners offers its services to retailers, and it has nothing to distinguish itself from dozens of local competitors other than by exploiting its minority-owned status. Go to the website of any other payment processors and you’ll see that they all offer the same services. Covenant Pay Partners owns nothing and has no proprietary technology as it, like their competitors, uses existing payment facilitators such as NuCor and First Data to process payments for merchants. These facilitators charge for the transactions coming through their platforms, so Covenant Pay must add to that charge to make any money.  

Therefore, how does a merchant card processor differentiate itself in the marketplace?  

In my assessment, Mr. Percey hit on a brilliant idea. He, like most of us discovered that in 2019 PayPal, one of the largest card processors in the world, enlisted the Southern Poverty Law Center to assist in determining which customers to allow onto the PayPal enterprise and which to exclude. Guess who PayPal excludes? Conservatives. It is not inconceivable that Mr. Percey calculates if they run Mr. McKnight as a Republican for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, it’s a win-win. First, a win for Covenant Pay Partners as it will scoop up the companies dismissed by PayPal. Second, it’s a win for the local Republican party as we certainly need a black or brown face, right? We are way too white.  

The problem with running Mr. McKnight for public office is his history is a mess. Wives and other women everywhere create a sticky wicket. A few sources reveal that many pushed Mr. McKnight to marry his current girlfriend, Hana. A quick scan for marriage licenses indicates that hasn’t happened. In fact, it hasn’t happened because Mr. McKnight is still married to his second wife.  

Then there’s the problem of Mr. McKnight’s failure to comply with election rules when he ran in 2014 for Tennessee State Senate District 21. Specifically, the TN Bureau of Election and Campaign Finance (BECF) and the TN Registry of Elections Finance (TERF) indicated that Mr. McKnight failed to file required campaign finance documents and missed several mandatory reporting dates. Furthermore, the Tennessee government ultimately fined Mr. McKnight after he ignored a notice to appear before the Election of Registry Finance. Since he is currently running for TN’s 5th Congressional District, it’s obvious he cleaned up his missed obligations to the Tennessee gov’t which included the payment of his delinquent fines.  

According to the Federal Election Commission, Mr. McKnight filed his FEC Forms 1 and 2 in February 2021. He hired Troy Brewer as his campaign’s treasurer. As the first to declare for the 5th district, no doubt Quincy gained attention from some powerful people in the political class. Several sources indicate Mr. McKnight received calls from Ward Baker regarding campaign advice and the need to clean up his personal life. Rumor has it that Quincy owed child support with an arrearage of many thousands of dollars.  

In spite of all this, one can guess the business plan for Covenant Pay Partners. Through Mr. McKnight’s run for congress, he makes contacts with business leaders and politicians. He then forwards those contacts to Mr. Percey who converts those business contacts to CPP clients. Recall Mr. McKnight’s close contact with Vernon Jones in early 2021?  

Are you ready for this? Vernon Jones endorsed Mr. McKnight, right? Everybody knows that and many old guard white Republicans were very impressed. In fact, Williamson County Republican Party paid travel and hotel expenses for Mr. Jones to speak on October 30, 2020. I can not confirm how many days he spent in Nashville or if he spoke for other groups while he was here. It would not surprise me if somehow Quincy McKnight met Mr. Jones around that time.   According to WCRP members, Mr. Jones spoke with several groups to include the Young Republicans.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, you may have noticed on the CPP website that Vernon Jones was named Vice President of Government Relations for Covenant Pay Partners. Wonder what he was paid or is currently paid to work for Covenant Pay? You can see the connection: Mr. Jones leverages his high profile to engage businesses and politicians. He then introduces Mr. McKnight who passes the contact to Mr. Percey. Mr. Percey converts the contact to a CPP client and Mr. Jones receives a commission on the deal. For a while, Mr. McKnight bragged that he was picking up Edible Arrangements headquartered in Atlanta. It’s not a giant leap of logic as to whether Mr. Jones brokered this connection. Perhaps someone can pick this up and dig a little deeper.  

It appeared all headed in the right direction for Mr. McKnight…until recently.  

Information from the FEC indicates Mr. Brewer resigned in July as Mr. McKnight’s campaign treasurer. Additionally, the FEC records that the Quincy McKnight for Congress Campaign raised zero dollars since launching his campaign. This is disastrous for a candidate especially when running against an incumbent with a one-million-dollar war chest, a second democrat in the primary with a criminal record sitting on top of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in campaign funds and a Republican challenger, Mr. Robby Starbuck, who reports nearly fifty thousand in campaign funds after only a few weeks in the race.  

Regardless of Mr. McKnight’s personal difficulties and his former campaign complications, Covenant Pay Partners probably calculates that keeping Mr. McKnight in the congressional race promotes their very small business which contains only a few 1099 salespeople and furthers this small business’ chances of becoming a national powerhouse. Just think if Mr. McKnight wins this race, he’ll be another Hillary Clinton pay-to-play politician.  

Keeping in mind the quotes: “Your brand name is only as good as your reputation.” – Richard Branson “Your personal brand is a promise to your clients… a promise of quality, consistency, competency, and reliability.” – Jason Hartman  

The statements below are what people I have talked to who have either interviewed Mr. McKnight for a job or who have worked with him in business have to say about his actions and reputation: 

• He spends more than he makes. 
• His net worth is probably zero. 
• He has stiffed attorneys around town. 
• He treats his business like a personal piggy bank. 
• He makes contacts while running for Congress and playing rich guy in local bars. 
• He’s undisciplined in every aspect of his life. 
• He lies more than he tells the truth. 
• He’s not a serious businessman. 
• He’s not a serious candidate. 
• He doesn’t have a trust. 
• He doesn’t have investors. 
• He’s immoral, unethical, and deceitful. 
• He lives with a girlfriend while he still has a wife. 
• His sisters have nothing to do with him.  

At a recent meeting of the Cheatham County Republican Party, an active member caught Mr. McKnight as he removed candidate Robby Starbuck’s campaign print material from a table and threw it in the trash. Mr. McKnight then placed his own campaign material on the table.  

As a Republican for decades, I have never been more embarrassed for my party. Keep in mind that Bill Freeman, the largest Democrat donor in Nashville, owns the Nashville Post and the Nashville Scene. If Mr. McKnight continues his congressional campaign, we are bound to see what Mr. Freeman’s team of reporters already have ready to print to make it easy for Jim Cooper to win big and keep us Republicans on the defense. They won’t be near as kind to Mr. McKnight as I have been. 

Hattie Bryant is a Nashvillian active in civic and political affairs and is a successful author. You can learn about me at authorhattiebryant.com.

Also see, "How is Quincy McKnight financing his campaign?" by Hattie Bryant. 

This 8/25/2021 update contains minor changes made at the request of the author. Rod

Visitors cancel as party bus restrictions send ripple effect across Nashville

Visitors cancel as party bus restrictions send ripple effect across Nashville

The National Republican Congressional Committee targets Jim Cooper.

By BRITTANY BERNSTEIN, National Review, November 3, 2021- The House GOP campaign arm is now targeting an additional 13 Democratic House seats ahead of the 2022 midterms after Republicans had a number of surprising successes on Election Day, including a win for Republican Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia gubernatorial election. 

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) now has its sights set on the seats of Representatives Greg Stanton of Arizona, Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, Joe Courtney of Connecticut, Darren Soto of Florida, Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Frank Mrvan of Indiana, David Trone of Maryland, G. K. Butterfield of North Carolina, Annie Kuster of New Hampshire, Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia. 

The new additions bring the total to 70 House Democrats who will be targeted ahead of the 2022 midterms. (link)

One picture captures the seriousness with which world leaders take climate change and the strategy for combating it.

 For my analysis of the topic of climate change see the following essays: 

Get real about Climate Change. Part 1: Climate change is an established fact and time is running out to do anything about it.

Get real about Climate Change. Part 2: So far what we are doing about climate change is ineffective, anemic, symbolic, or counterproductive.

Get real about Climate Change. Part 3: Why are efforts to combat climate change such a failure?

Get real about Climate Change. Part 4: Admit that the Paris Accords has failed, ditch it, and establish an international mechanism to foster greenhouse reductions.

Get real about Climate Change. Part 5: It's Time for America to Embrace Carbon Border Adjustments

The Case for Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

How To Turn The GOP Green, an essay by Andrew Sullivan

How To Turn The GOP Green, an essay by Andrew Sullivan

by Rod Williams - Andrew Sullivan is sometimes described as a "neocon."  That term once actually meant something before it became a pejorative to denounce George Bush. Sullivan is a British-American author, editor, and blogger and the former editor of The New Republic, and the author or editor of a bunch of books.  He describes his political philosophy as "liberal conservatism."  He has insights and while I am more socially conservative than he, I think Sullivan is a smart guy with astute insights. 

Recently Sullivan wrote an essay,  How to Turn the Republican Party Green, in which he says we need both parties engaged to prevent environmental catastrophe. The way we do it says Sullivan is, "framing things with the following triad: “nuclear power, economic nationalism, and owning the libs.” 

Sullivan wants to “give Republicans cultural permission to save the world. Which means, in part, not saying we are going to ‘save the world,’ and keeping Al Gore and Prince Charles out of it.” 

Sullivan says that as the Climateers move further to the left and take apocalyptic, irrational, cult-like, policy positions, it has given an opening for those who take a more sensible approach.  "Nuclear is the key," he says.  Below are excerpts:

Nuclear is the key. Lefties hate it. They really do. And it is completely irrational to both hate nuclear power and believe that climate change is an urgent, existential threat.

When you hear that humans just need to find a reliable, plentiful energy source that doesn’t blacken our lungs and burn the planet to a crisp, remember that we have already found one.

 In America, in the mid-20th century — and just in time! Once again, our American technological ingenuity saved our asses. Nuclear power provides energy as effectively as fossil fuels but does not add anything to carbon emissions. It provides consistent energy in a very compact space, especially compared with wind and solar. It is not dependent on the weather. But for some reason, in the early-21st century, we decided to back away from nuclear.

Worse: leaders like Angela Merkel actually vowed to completely close down nuclear power — massively increasing Germany’s energy costs, giving Putin huge leverage, and now helping to cause a huge spike in electricity across the continent.

Compare Germany’s energy plight with France’s, whose energy supplies are more than 70 percent nuclear. France spends about half of what Germany does on electricity — and produces just one tenth of the carbon emissions. That’s why Macron is busy re-booting nuclear power; why Boris’ Tories are rushing to entrench the UK’s relatively low-carbon economy with more nuclear plants; and why several EU states are now petitioning the EU to designate nuclear a sustainable source of energy. For good measure, the new Japanese prime minister just announced, “It’s crucial that we re-start nuclear power plants.”

And yet the United States, the country that invented this technology, is racing in the opposite direction. In one projection from late 2016, “the Center for Energy Economics at the University of Texas has estimated that up to 40 percent of all U.S. nuclear capacity could be closed over the next decade or so.” New York shuttered a major plant this year — and fossil fuel emissions immediately jumped. California is following the path of Germany toward abolition with just one plant left. Only two new reactors have been activated nationwide in the past quarter-century. Biden’s BBB plan has half a trillion in it for moving away from carbon. But try to find any funding for new nuclear. That’s a policy that will make climate change much much worse. It’s a policy that is already causing an uptick in carbon emissions. But the environmental movement and the Green New Dealers back it.

 It doesn’t have to be that way. Imagine if the Democrats had unveiled a big new building program for nuclear plants alongside investing in renewables. It would have immediately transformed the debate. There’s already GOP support. Money quote from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine: “If we are worried about carbon emissions, as we should be, you cannot get any type of attainment without using nuclear energy. You take away nuclear energy in the state of Ohio, we’re never going to reach any ability to have clean air.” Nuclear counts for 52 percent of our non-carbon energy. And we want to reverse it? Are we nuts?

It is time that adults step up and do what needs to be done to combat climate change.  It is clear to me that we will never make progress on combating climate change as long as the climateers are the ones making policy.  It is time for rational people to take the issue away from the quasi-religious romantics who now dominate the climate debate.  I cannot help but feel climateers are more interested in owning the issue rather than solving the issue, and that their policies actually make the problem worse. The only hope for actually doing something about climate change is if Republicans engage. 

The Climate Summit to Nowhere

By The Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal,  Oct. 29, 2021 - World leaders converge on Glasgow for a climate summit this weekend, and don’t laugh. This may be the worst-timed summit in history, but the delegates can still do substantial damage to the global economy, though none of it will matter to the climate.

It’s incongruous bordering on the bizarre to organize a summit like this while Europe is battening down for a winter fuel crisis, President Biden is begging OPEC to produce more oil, China is firing up its coal-fueled power plants amid an electricity shortage, and climate-change plans wilt as soon as they’re exposed to the sunlight of democratic politics. 

...rather than adjust to this political reality, the delegates will make even more unrealistic promises. ... Mr. Biden will claim the U.S. is also committed to net zero. ... commitments of developing countries are even flimsier and depend on bribes from the rich. ... 

The summit underscores the disconnect between the rhetoric over climate and what the world’s publics are willing to do about it. Climateers adopt the rhetoric of the Apocalypse even as they consume fossil fuels as before because they know modern society and development require it. (read it in full)