This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnightly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.
Greed Energy Economics:
*** Fact Check Team: Inflation Reduction Act may cost taxpayers trillions by 2050
*** Real Property Tax Law § 575-b Held Unconstitutional by New York Trial Court: What This Means for Assessment of Renewable Energy Projects
28 energy leaders call for eliminating IRA subsidies—even ones they benefit from
NY Gov Pushes New Energy Tax Past Next Election
Unreliables (General):
*** The Battery Backlash Is Real, It’s Global, And It’s Growing
*** Ireland’s Renewable Energy Targets for 2030 — A Reality Check
More Wind & Solar Projects Spiked.…
“Little doubt that civil disobedience makes the perpetrator feel virtuous. But the anti-CO2, anti-industrialization movement is at war with society, reality, and itself. This fringe is urged to question a false cause with study and reflection … Real environmentalism please!”
No more throwing soup (Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”), breaking glass (the Magna Carta), and spraying orange Paint (Stonehenge)? The Guardian reported yesterday:
…Just Stop Oil to ‘hang up the hi-vis’ after three years of climate action …. Final gathering in April will mark end of street protests although campaign to continue ‘in courts and prisons’ ….
Dozens of protesters have been jailed. Last summer, five supporters of Just Stop Oil were given multi-year sentences for planning road-block protests on the M25. Even after their terms were reduced on appeal this month, they remain the longest ever handed down for non-violent civil disobedience.
“Scientists, engineers, and policymakers must reject symbolic solutions and focus on measurable, scalable, and scientifically robust strategies. Not all gases are equally dangerous, and not all solutions are equally wise.”
S.L. Cressey’s No Son, There Won’t Be a Hydrogen Economy is a sharp, data-driven critique of the growing hype surrounding hydrogen as a future energy source. The central argument of the book is clear and unwavering: while hydrogen may have limited industrial and aerospace applications, the broader vision of a global “hydrogen economy” is fundamentally flawed—technically, economically, and especially environmentally.
The hydrogen movement, in short, can be likened to “cargo cult science”—a term popularized by physicist Richard Feynman to describe efforts that mimic the appearance of scientific rigor without engaging with its foundational principles.
The book dispels the prospects of hydrogen as a miracle climate solution.…