by Scott Waldman
E&E News’ Climate Wire
People being forced to eat bugs. Confiscated cars. Cities going dark as electric lights are turned off. Climate lockdowns.
Welcome to the conspiratorial world of the “Great Reset” theory.
Its followers claim that government officials want to impose draconian lockdowns similar to the worst days of Covid-19 in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The conspiracy theory holds that a global elite is planning to shut down society and restrict personal freedoms, such as eating meat and driving gas-powered cars in their zeal to address climate change.
The Great Reset has been boosted by climate deniers, right-wing media and conservative think tanks that oppose regulations on fossil fuels…
Steve Milloy, who was part of the Trump administration’s EPA transition team, was one of the first to push the Great Reset as a climate-related conspiracy theory. Milloy said he expects the idea to be part of the discussion if Congress conducts climate-related investigations, including one on net zero that he has privately urged Republican aides to take up.
Milloy said upcoming regulations from EPA, such as tighter vehicle emissions rules and methane reductions, could be framed as evidence of the Great Reset.
“I cannot wait to see what the Biden EPA rolls out over the next two years,” he said. “It’s going to be totally consistent with the Great Reset, it’s going to be about control over what we do, control of industry, control, control, control.”
