Worse yet, such policies may do little to address the actual climate. California, the hotbed of climate lunacy, has reduced its greenhouse gases since 2007 at a rate 40th per capita among the states. Similar failures can be seen in Germany where much heralded energiewende have led to soaring energy costs but disappointing results in terms of emissions declines.

Of course, such draconian policies still are embraced by those who won’t lose their jobs, or see their living standards decline. The “clean rich” fly in private jets, even to climate oriented events, develop luxury resorts far from population centers and consume prodigiously but they still ask everyone else to curb their far more modest lifestyles.

These worthies often snigger at the materialist orientation of the hoi polloi. In Australia the election results led local celebrities to brand their fellow citizens as unremittingly “dumb,” something that has been echoed by celebrities, university professors and senior bureaucrats throughout the west.