For the Republicans, there can be no doubt about it, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the gift that just keeps on giving. And she might even be one of the main reasons why Donald Trump could be re-elected to serve a second term in office. Just take a look at her latest prediction that switching completely to renewable energy will not only stop climate change but also completely transform society, even ending racism!

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez insisted at the Climate Town Hall that stopping climate change will end racism.

Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/BcVhrtlgjn

— Accuracy In Media (@AccuracyInMedia) December 6, 2018

At only twenty-nine, Ocasio-Cortez is a political phenomenon. She is the youngest woman ever elected to the U.S. House of Congress. And while you’ve got to appreciate the self-avowed socialist’s passion and enthusiasm, it’s not always matched with the requisite wisdom, knowledge or understanding. According to CBS news, in less than six weeks of being elected, Ocasio-Cortez has already made the following embarrassing gaffes:

• Claimed “unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs.“
• Referred to Israel’s“occupation of Palestine” and struggled to explain what that meant
• Claimed the “upper-middle class doesn’t exist anymore.”
• Wrongly accused her defeated Democratic opponent of plotting a third-party challenge against her.

Then there was her threat to subpoena Donald Trump Jnr—even though an individual senator doesn’t have the power to do so and they are also not allowed to threaten punitive action against someone who disagrees with them—because of the this meme:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrELOVXlhGs/?utm_source=ig_embed

But back to Ocasio-Cortez’s belief that climate change is an ‘existential threat’. What’s more, she also argues that, “Defeating Nazis is my Blueprint to Defeating Global Warming”.

The only problem is, as Cillian Zeal at the Conservative Tribune has argued:

The blueprint we have of doing this before involves building a lot of fighter planes, submarines and tanks and powering them with fossil fuels. And then killing a lot of people on the other side — by the millions.

But shh.

At least that had the sort-of-kind-of connection to reality by envisioning total mobilization of an economy to a cause, even if it was a ridiculous cause for which total mobilization would be impossible. In what world is this going to create “racial justice?”Are windmills going to end racism? Are we going to get tidal power up and running and suddenly the alt-right and the New Black Panthers are going to hold hands and sing “I’d like to buy the world a carbon credit?”

And on economic and social justice — are solar panels going to make income inequality go away and convince every Republican to ask new friends what their preferred gender pronouns are? I’m kind of drawing a blank on how the particulars of this are going to work.

One of the fundamental problems with the current climate hysteria is not only do alarmists over-egg the pudding in decrying how bad the environmental situation is, but their proposed solution also enters into the realm of utopian fantasy.

In a world where image dominates, Ocasio-Cortez enjoys a massive social media following. She’s young, attractive and full of boundless energy and idealism. But to lead a country effectively much more is needed than that. You also need to be in touch with the scientific, social and economic realities behind your policies. Especially when they could lead to the deindustrialisation of one of the most powerful economies of the world. As Margaret Thatcher famously once said:

The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.

Mark Powell is the Associate Pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, Strathfield.

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