“Government does not solve problems. It subsidizes them.” (Ronald Reagan)

“The purpose of the social sciences is to impart reliable information to both understand reality and avoid problems before they occur. But here we are with a faulty shared narrative. And the public is catching on with electricity, as they already have with transportation.” (RLB, below)

E&E News is the media center for the cause of (government-driven) energy transformation. Its many reporters assume but do not debate climate alarmism, the necessary but not sufficient premise behind the wind/solar/battery cause. Still, E&E reporters are looking for interesting stories and report on some of the problems of the “transition.” That gets to energy reality.

This Monday’s article, “California Dilemma,” mainstreams the fact that politically correct renewables are expensive, unreliable, and problematic at scale.…

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

Of special interest in this issue is an article by Donn Dears, “Texas Remains in Peril.”

Greed Energy Economics:
*** Report: Cost of onshore wind has been rising for 20 years
*** Some Cost of Renewable Electricity Web pages
Net Zero Watch pours scorn on Tony Blair Institute claims about ‘cheap’ onshore wind
Revisiting the Keystone XL Pipeline and Joe Biden’s False Promise of ‘Green Jobs’
Activists, progressives say NY needs to spend $15B in climate fight
College symposium on climate change should look at costs of putting big solar, wind energy in rural NY

Wind Energy — Offshore:
*** Furious Fishermen Take On Offshore Wind Industry Wrecking Atlantic Fishing Grounds
Video: How offshore wind development threatens the environment, and human livelihoods
Biden 30,000 MW Offshore Wind by 2030 — An Expensive Fantasy
New York State just sealed a deal for 2.5 GW of offshore wind
Developer Requests Delay Putting One of NY’s First Offshore Wind Projects in Operation

Wind Energy — Other:
Texas Energy System Remains in Peril
Two More Contributions On The Impossibility Of Electrifying Everything Using Only Wind, Solar And Batteries
Another Low Blow — Wind Energy Falters (Again)
VCEA makes Virginia’s electric grid dangerously unreliable
New York’s Heritage Wind Decision Aims To Reduce Project’s Impact On Birds
Backlash Against Renewables Surged In 2021, With 31 Big Wind And 13 Big Solar Projects Vetoed Across US

Solar Energy:
*** Unreliability makes solar power impossibly expensive
Supervisors delay decision on VA solar facility as neighbors speak against proposal
Pennsylvania community may ban future solar projects in ag zone

Nuclear Energy:
*** Nuclear power: The case for small modular reactors
*** Modular Molten Salt Reactors Starting 2028
*** Report: Without Nuclear energy, there is no large-scale decarbonization
This Alaskan Air Base Will Host An Experimental Mini Nuclear Reactor
The Idaho National Lab Director speaks out for urgent action in support of nuclear
Russia will use nuclear energy from the world’s first land-based small modular reactor
Lab hits milestone on long road to fusion power
South Korea to explore hydrogen production in ‘close to its largest’ nuclear plant
California’s Nuke Follies

Fossil Fuel Energy:
*** Extreme Shortages Guaranteed!…

I recently came across an exchange between a proponent and opponent of the proposed Morgnec Road Solar LLC installation on the 400-acre Clark farm, located on Route 291 at the eastern border of Chestertown, Maryland. The rebuttal by Frank Lewis (to Pamela Reeder) is noteworthy, throwing punch after punch against the idea that solar has any advantage, just disadvantages.

The “Shared Letter to County Commissioners: Proposed Morgnec Solar Project” (September 24, 2021) follows:

Paula B. Reeder

With climate change-related issues becoming ever more acute, it is incumbent on all MD municipalities to support the State’s goal of having at least 50% of electric power used in the State generated by renewable power sources by 2030, with 14.5% of the total generated by solar power producers.

Achievement of this goal will require 6 times the amount of solar power generated by existing producers. 

Ed note: In a very unfair fight against Government, anti-industrial environmentalists, Left foundations, and woke corporations, CO2/climate optimists have individuals that punch above their weight. One is Steve Milloy, founder and proprietor of JunkScience. His recent year-end review is reprinted below.

The year 2021 may go down in history as the year that foretold the end of the climate idiocy movement — although the movement is unlikely to take the hint. This year witnessed the follies, failures and lies of climate idiocy laid bare for all to see — that is, if the media had actually reported them.

So here are the 10 biggest failures of the climate movement in 2021. The only reason the climate movement survives past these flops is because the mainstream media keeps it afloat by failing to honestly report the news.…