“The doomsters’ favorite subject today is climate change. This has a number of attractions for them. First, the science is extremely obscure so they cannot easily be proved wrong. Second, we all have ideas about the weather: traditionally, the English on first acquaintance talk of little else. Third, since clearly no plan to alter climate could be considered on anything but a global scale, it provides a marvelous excuse for worldwide, supra-national socialism.” – Margaret Thatcher (2002)

Margaret Thatcher changed her mind on climate alarmism–against. Current UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, responding to “populist sentiment,” is backtracking on his country’s aggressive climate policies, a long overdue, pragmatic mid-course correction.

One could tie the two events together to explain why public policies making energy more expensive and less reliable are anathema for a country that produces only one percent of global emissions.…

Ed. Note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnighly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.

Unreliables (General):
*** Michael Bloomberg’s $1 Billion Assault on The Electric Grid
Solar, wind developers rebuffed in NY
The myth of affordable green energy is over

Wind Energy — Offshore:
Offshore Wind is an Economic and Environmental Catastrophe
How’s That Offshore Project Going, Man
NY delivers crippling blow to green energy development, jeopardizing Biden’s climate goals
Biden admin hit with lawsuit over offshore wind plans as locals rise up

Wind Energy — Other:
*** Taking the Wind Out of Climate Change (referencing 60± studies)

Solar Energy:
‘Europe isn’t profitable’ – Solar industry warns of hurdles to EU’s green tech drive

Fossil Fuel Energy:
*** The Nations that Dominate the Global Economy
*** AAF on US Drained Petroleum Reserve
*** Drill, Baby, Drill
*** EIA: Global fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions to rise through 2050 
Imagine No Jets, Ships, Defense, or Space Program

Electric Vehicles (EVs):
*** China’s graphite curbs send green warning shot
*** EV Battery Factory Will Require So Much Energy It Needs a Coal Plant to Power It
Electric cars risk becoming uninsurable

Miscellaneous Energy:
*** Powering The Unplugged
*** How the Inflation Reduction Act Bankrolls EPA Overreach
The heat-pump nightmare is far from over
Green Hydrogen Needs Vast Subsidies 
Critics Assail Biden’s ‘War on American Energy’ on National Energy Appreciation Day 

Manmade Global Warming — Some Deceptions:
*** No Way, Norway
Era of ‘Unquestioned and Unchallenged’ Climate Change Claims Is Over
How Groupthink, Misinformation, and Lack of Self-Correction Undermined Climate Science
Is New York Times Senior Writer David Leonhardt Lying, Lazy, or Just Stupid?…

“Hydrogen from electrolysis, called green hydrogen, typically costs more than $5 per kilogram, or more than five times the price when produced from natural gas.”

“The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act offers an astounding subsidy of $3 to produce a kilogram of green hydrogen, three times the market price. Imagine a subsidy of $150,000 to purchase a $50,000 electric car or a subsidy of $12 to produce a $4 gallon of gasoline. There appears to be no end to the cash governments will pay to try to establish a hydrogen economy.”

World leaders tout “green hydrogen” as an essential fuel in the renewable energy transition. Today, heavy industries use huge amounts of coal and natural gas to produce products needed by society. Governments propose to replace hydrocarbon fuels with hydrogen fuel, using hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies.…

“Just the possibility that EPA will enact such sweeping regulations will slow investment in new power generation that all U.S. power grids need. Recent grid warnings about possible outages this summer will likely continue into the winter while potential new-generation projects proceed cautiously.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed new greenhouse gas standards for fossil-fuel-fired power plants. These draconian regulations, part of the Biden Administration’s “all of government” climate policy—which is at odds with affordable, reliable energy—threaten the stability of the U.S. power grid.

The EPA plan is the “nuclear option” of regulations because the agency is not just proposing new regulations designed to meet more stringent clean air standards with fines if the criteria are not met. Instead, EPA seeks to impose unachievable CO2 emissions targets that will shut down existing coal and natural gas power plants and threaten the viability of the nation’s power grids.…