“Altamont Pass has been a black eye on the entire wind industry since its construction.” (National Audubon Society, below)

“… the need for renewable energy is not an excuse to … wipe out local populations of wildlife. Wind companies are making billions and can afford to ensure projects are responsibly sited and include adequate mitigations to reduce impacts to sensitive species.” (Ariana Rickard, Mount Diablo Audubon Society, below)

Altamont Pass again? Back in 1997, my Policy Analysis for the Cato Institute, “Renewable Energy: Not Cheap, Not ‘Green’,” included a section, “The ‘Avian Mortality’ Problem,” that focused on Altamont Pass, then the nation’s largest wind farm and a documented killing field for protected birds.

That 625-MW project was just a short car ride away from the San Francisco headquarters of the Natural Resources Defense Council.…

“Personally, I don’t see any interest on the other side to debate anything. Rather, they seem to think their environmental nirvana can only be achieved by replacing our free-market system. For that, they want a ‘green’ form of command-and-control socialism.” (Mark Krebs, below)

Q. Yesterday, you explained how DOE’s Office of Energy Efficient and Renewable Energy employs “garbage-in, garbage-out” (GIGO) to justify more stringent gas-appliance regulation. But step back: specifically, when and how did electrification become official energy policy?

A. Electrification, aka “deep decarbonization,” was in the background through at least the Obama and Trump Administrations. But it had come out of the woodwork with a vengeance under Biden. This started with an unprecedented gush of Executive Orders starting on day one. This implementation is now well underway.

 Q. Please identify the primary Biden Administration regulatory chain of events that empowered this present “transition” to electrification through refocusing its mission on “carbon efficiency.”…

Ed. note: This fortnightly Master Resource post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, published every other week 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 the always-readable Michael Shellenberger: Why Greta’s Climate Panic Failed: here.

Greed Energy Economics:
*** How green policies are fueling the energy crisis
*** Calculating The Full Costs Of Electrifying Everything Using Only Wind, Solar And Batteries
A wind and solar electric grid? That’s a terrible idea
Families are “rationing fuel or turning off fridge freezers” due to soaring energy prices
Climate “Leadership” Will Cost New Yorkers More than $5,000 Each

Wind Energy:
*** Finally, Bloomberg Admits Renewables Mania Caused Energy Shortages
Huge wind energy project gets harpooned by new federal lawsuit
A Detailed Submission Against a Great Lakes Wind Project
Will Europe Abandon Green Energy?…

“… we need to change the focus of conversation, and here is where business leaders can take charge. Focus on a 21^st century vision for electric power infrastructure, with abundant, cheap and clean electricity. Sell prosperity and thrivability as the motivations for this. Support innovation. Not greenwashing.” (Judith Curry, below)

She is perhaps the most truthful, open-minded, credentialed arbiter in the politicized climate debate. As I have previously stated:

“One plus the truth equals a majority,” the saying goes. This certainly applies to Judith Curry, a distinguished academic and professional climate scientist now retired from Georgia Tech. (For previous posts at MasterResource on Dr. Curry, see here.)

The latest from Dr. Curry comes from her presentation at a conference last week, “Energy and Decarbonization – A New Jersey Business Perspective.”…