The reality is that all the mineral products and metals needed to make wind turbines, solar panels, and EV batteries are mined and processed in places like Baotou, Inner Mongolia, Bolivia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, mostly under Chinese control. Decommissioning and restoration of those mining landscapes back to their original pristine condition is not in the cards in developing countries. Recycling of worn-out turbine blades, solar panels, and EV batteries in wealthy … [Read more...]
Breakthrough! A Big Utility Says Net-Zero May Not Be Reliable
Dominion Energy, the big Virginia utility, has finally admitted that net-zero may not work. I have been writing about Dominion, which operates under the net-zero Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), for a while now. VCEA requires Dominion to shut down all gas, oil, and coal-fired power by 2045. My point has been that VCEA cannot be done. Now Dominion has met me halfway, saying in their new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that maybe it cannot be done. So far, so good. In their new 2022 IRP, … [Read more...]
California: Atmospheric River and Misguided Climate Fear
For more than three weeks earlier this year, California was pummeled by a series of storms arriving one after another from the Pacific Ocean. Torrential rains, mudslides, power outages, and floods plague state residents from north of San Francisco down to Los Angeles, four hundred miles to the south. Scientists attribute this event to an “atmospheric river” condition in the Pacific Ocean. Many also claim that this phenomenon is due to human-caused climate change. According to the National … [Read more...]
Australia’s Great Coral Reef Is Alive and Well. Why Hide That Fact?
(This file has been updated.) Peter Ridd, who examined current data about Australia’s Great Coral Reef, demolishes fears that the reef is sick or dying. He asks why the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is obscuring that fact by failing to aggregate the data. Image: Creative Commons under Unsplash However, perhaps recognizing that Ridd (a controversial figure) was studying the reef, AIMS has just announced that two-thirds of the reef has the most coral cover it has since … [Read more...]
Let Them Eat Bugs
They started a war on our cattleWhich led to a hell of a battle.Our burgers are now made of crickets,And buying real beef needs their tickets,Imprinted with silly Green prattle. … [Read more...]
FERC Considers Constraining Renewables
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC, rhymes with jerk) is taking comments on a proposed order that might actually constrain the destructive impact of renewables on America’s grid. FERC would order the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC, also rhymes with jerk) to do something about the growing adverse impact of renewables. NERC is a private corporation endowed with federal authority to keep America’s lights on. NERC makes and enforces the regulations governing … [Read more...]
The False Promise of Electric Cars
The following is a guest article by Andrew Stuttaford. "The more the state ‘plans,’” wrote Hayek, “the more difficult planning becomes for the individual.” This may resonate with the driver of an electric vehicle (EV) who has pulled up at a charging station in the middle of nowhere, only to find it broken. In January last year, Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis, the world’s fifth-largest carmaker (it was formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot), described electrification as … [Read more...]
Wind Farms Wrong for Right Whales
Wind energy is presented by climate alarmists as a planet saver – a friend of Earth’s flora and fauna. Nothing could be further from the truth, which is becoming more apparent with increasing deaths among whales along the United States’ East Coast. Image: Creative Commons under Unsplash Though dismissed by official agencies charged with wildlife protection, evidence is pointing to offshore wind projects as threats to whales, especially the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Wind … [Read more...]
Where’s the electricity?
One of the best-known quotes was “where’s the beef?“ from Clara Peller, who was a manicurist and American character actress who, at the age of 81, starred in the 1984 advertising campaign for the Wendy’s fast food restaurant chain. Image: Creative Commons under Unsplash Today, the huge dark cloud over EV projected sales is the availability of electricity to charge batteries which leads us to the quote for the foreseeable future. Where’s the electricity? The … [Read more...]
The End of Oil Would be the End of Civilization
Six thousand products in our daily lives are made from oil derivatives that are manufactured out of crude oil. Besides all the obvious things derived from crude oil — gasoline, diesel fuel, av gas, kerosene, propane, butane, and all plastics used in hospitals and food storage — did you know that our homes are full of products derived from petroleum in their production? Things like construction materials such as roofing and housing insulation, linoleum flooring, furniture, appliances, and home … [Read more...]
