I remember the 1970s like it was yesterday. All the talk back then was about global cooling — another Ice Age was coming, and we were all supposed to be frozen solid by now. I remember the winter of 1977 — because I had to leave high school in Spearfish and move back home to help on the ranch. The snow was so deep and the cold so relentless that roads were shut down for days. We had to dig out livestock by hand and keep everything running without power half the time. It wasn’t theory. It was survival. And as bad as it was, come spring, it all melted. We weren’t frozen in place after all. But what has happened since then is that a lot of people pushing these doomsday predictions have gotten very rich — off the backs of working Americans.

For over 50 years, we’ve been fed a steady diet of fear. First it was cooling, then it was overpopulation, then global warming, and now it’s “climate change” — a phrase so vague it can mean anything. Every decade comes with a new deadline: 10 years to act, 5 years to save the planet, 12 years until disaster. None of it ever comes true, but the money keeps flowing.

Al Gore told us the Arctic would be ice-free by 2013. That didn’t happen. A UK scientist once said children wouldn’t know what snow was by 2020. Still snowing. The United Nations said entire nations would disappear by 2000. Still here. Meanwhile, we’ve spent trillions chasing climate fantasies while the elites cash in.

That brings us to the scam that’s hiding in plain sight: wind and solar subsidies and 45Q.

We’re constantly told these are the cheapest forms of energy. If that were true, they wouldn’t need massive taxpayer subsidies to survive. Wind projects can get 30% of their costs covered by federal tax credits, and when you add in depreciation and transmission subsidies, the public is often covering half or more of the total cost. And that’s not counting the fact that wind still needs backup from coal or gas when the wind doesn’t blow.

Solar isn’t much better. The 30% federal tax credit covers upfront costs, but utilities are also forced to buy excess solar at above-market rates. Then ratepayers — that’s you and me — are stuck footing the bill for grid upgrades, battery storage, and peak-demand backup.

And let’s not forget the 45Q tax credit — the sweetheart deal for carbon capture pipelines and ESG shell games that’s quietly buried in what they call the “Big Beautiful Bill.” That’s another corporate handout dressed up as climate policy.

Meanwhile, billionaires like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are buying up farmland, investing in green tech, and influencing global climate policy — all while preaching to the rest of us about reducing our “carbon footprint.” They’re not just investing — they’re positioning themselves to control the food supply, the energy grid, and the flow of government dollars. It’s not about saving the planet. It’s about consolidating power and wealth — and using climate policy as the excuse.

When it’s all added up, the average household in this country is paying $5 to $10 a month to support wind and solar — whether they use it or not. It’s hidden in your power bill, your tax bill, and the inflation you feel at the grocery store. The cost is real, even if the “crisis” isn’t.

The American people didn’t vote for this. They didn’t ask to subsidize hedge funds and tech investors putting up wind farms in rural America. They didn’t ask to give up reliable, affordable energy in exchange for blackouts and global climate conferences.

It’s time to pull the plug on this green gravy train.

End the subsidies. Scrap the 45Q tax credits. And let the free market decide what kind of energy works. If wind and solar are really viable, they’ll survive without government handouts. If carbon capture really works, let private industry invest in it without forcing taxpayers to prop it up.

Let’s stop letting Washington and Silicon Valley decide what happens to our land, our power grid, and our future. Let’s start trusting the people who’ve worked the land and built this country — not the ones flying private jets to climate summits.

States also need to wise up and protect taxpayers. Every wind turbine and solar panel project should come with a hefty financial bond—money set aside up front to ensure proper removal and land reclamation when these projects reach the end of their life. Otherwise, we’ll be left holding the bag, just like we’ve seen with abandoned oil wells in places like Harding County. If developers can’t afford to clean up after themselves, they shouldn’t be allowed to break ground in the first place.

Everyone needs to wake up — and like the old saying goes, “smell the coffee.” Call your federal delegation and tell them loud and clear: **No more subsidizing this scam.** End the wind and solar handouts. Strip the 45Q tax credits from the Big Beautiful Bill. It’s time to stand up for working families and stop rewarding billionaires who are using climate panic to consolidate control. The bill’s already here — and taxpayers are footing it.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15WCtVgkgJ/.

Thank you Rep. May!