The Wood et al. op-ed/policy analysis is a whitewash of epic proportions. Maybe the Titanic did not sink, and renewables forcing was not the iceberg behind Texas’s failed electricity grid in February.
Why did natural gas underperform during the Texas power crisis? Why did Atlas Shrug? Incentives matter.
The RMS Titanic sank, and the Electric Reliability Commission of Texas (ERCOT) failed in an ocean of government intervention. But you would scarcely know the latter from the narrative offered by experts, regulators, planners, and heads at the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), the governing body behind ERCOT.
The narrative is predictable. Natural gas was the problem. Corrective regulation from the Texas Legislature and the PUCT is needed. ERCOT needs a promotion with more experts and planners. Fine tuning, not fundamental reform.
…“Commissioner Charles “Chuck” Chestnut IV said it’s not up to others to say that solar is more important than how a Black community feels about its property value. ‘You can’t … turn a deaf ear and say, ‘Oh, this isn’t environmental racism’.”
“Many Archer residents … want nothing to do with a 50-megawatt solar and 12-MW battery storage project proposed by Origis Energy and Gainesville Regional Utilities….”
Renewable energy for electrical generation has not one but two Achilles Heels. One is intermittency with a product that cannot be economically stored to provide continuous power for times that the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining. Second is the outsized land requirement that comes with an industrial wind ‘farm’ or a solar ‘park.’
In terms of the relatively less well off, both characteristics are anti-poor and ‘racist’ in terms of those of color.
…Ed. note: Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of Vision to Execution and author at WeThePeopleSpeaking.com. This post, Long-Range Strategic Planning & The Green Movement,” slightly edited, was recently published in ARRA News Service.
“All of this data leads us back to the question, can we spend trillions of dollars in support of a political-motivated soundbite that may or may not produce a net loss of carbon emissions and/or may not be feasible given the known quantities of minerals needed?”
“… the vast majority of the 195 countries cannot afford any of the Green movement. Do we print a few extra trillion dollars to bankroll them into Green compliance?”
President Biden has set goals for the U.S. to “Achieve 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035″, “Net-zero emissions by 2050,” and “Cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030”. Additionally, the party in power is pushing to have a majority of US-manufactured cars be electric by 2030 and every car on the road to be electric by 2040.
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