So, the latest installment of 'Mining Companies Are Bad, M'kay?' dropped this week, starring our favorite virtue-signaling politicians. This time, Bennelong MP Jerome Laxale, fresh off his oat milk latte, is clutching his pearls over a Guardian/ABC exposé revealing that BHP, gasp, delayed some of their virtue-signaling 'green' projects. Apparently, the memo about 'profits are bad' hasn't reached the C-suite yet. Color me shocked. I mean, who cares about actually producing things when you can just LARP as Captain Planet?

Laxale, bless his heart, is now demanding changes to the diesel tax credits scheme because, you know, companies using diesel to checks notes extract resources from the ground is somehow evil. Apparently, he wants to cap those pesky credits at $50 million per company, because, again, making money is bad. Because companies should be more like government: burning taxpayer cash to keep the lights on.

The usual suspects over at the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) are, of course, wetting themselves with glee. Louise Crawford, LEAN's national co-convener, is practically orgasmic at the thought of forcing miners to electrify, even if it means higher prices and unreliable energy for everyone else. Because 'green' is the only color that matters, right?

According to the Guardian, BHP supposedly paid less than $9 million under the safeguard mechanism (whatever that is) while raking in $622 million in fuel tax credits. Cue the outrage! Never mind that BHP employs thousands of people and contributes billions to the economy. They're evil because...diesel. The fact that fuel excise revenue helps fund road construction and maintenance seems to be lost on these folks.

Meanwhile, Andrew Forrest's Fortescue, because even billionaires need to stay relevant, is siding with the greens on this one. Probably angling for some brownie points (or maybe just another government handout). Either way, don't be fooled: this is all about optics and virtue signaling, not actual environmental progress.

I'm sure the voters of Bennelong are thrilled that their representative is focusing on this instead of, I don't know, the economy, cost of living, or maybe even fixing potholes. But hey, at least he's fighting the good fight against...diesel. Stay classy, Jerome.

Let's not forget that the safeguard mechanism is just another way for the government to meddle in the economy and pick winners and losers. And let's be honest, the only winners here are the consultants and bureaucrats who get rich off of this green grift. The losers? Everyone else.