FILE – The Chevron Richmond Refinery operates in Point Richmond, Calif., Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) From time to time in the national conversation, we hear references to “cognitive dissonance.” It’s the discomfort we feel when our actions and beliefs conflict with reality. The results include anxiety, guilt and efforts to downplay the conflict. The consequences are much more severe when the conflict involves a life-threatening situation. Americans have been locked in cognitive dissonance about climate change for more than 30 years. The result is growing financial and emotional stress as climate-related disasters destroy homes , threaten industries , and increase both federal spending and consumer prices . The federal government’s official goal is to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030, just five years from now, on the way to decarbonizing the economy by 2050. Yet the government still encourages fossil-fuel production with public subsidies and favors, including tax breaks, research grants and access to public lands. According to the International Monetary Fund, American society’s direct and indirect support for fossil fuels totaled a staggering $757 billion , or $2,243 per person, in 2022, the most recent year the fund analyzed. That’s more than twice the $370 billion investment the Inflation Reduction Act allocates for clean energy over the next 10 years. So 80 percent of America’s energy still comes from fossil fuels , the U.S. is the world’s second-biggest source of carbon emissions, and we produce more oil and gas than any other country. To put it plainly, the federal government is engaged in a carbon cartel with the fossil energy sector. Oil companies and their investors are reaping unprecedented profits by feeding the world’s oil addiction, along with the inequities and misery it causes. Our national energy policy is self-defeating, causing climate change while […]