Energy & Environmental Review: August 17, 2026

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. Droz is also the author of the popular Substack Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues.

Unreliables (General):
FMEA – Generation: Wind & Solar

Wind Energy:
*** A Renaissance Life – Jon E. Boone, Fighting Ill Wind
Atlantic Shores permit headed for BOEM review
World-first typhoon-resistant wind platform starts powering oil rigs in China

Nuclear Energy:
America is watching the world’s movement to nuclear power generation
Romania begins shutdown of nuclear plant’s 2nd reactor amid low water levels on Danube River

Miscellaneous Energy News:
*** We Need an Energy Explosion, Not an Energy Transition | Panel Discussion
Embodied energy – The first step in understanding eROI
Holtec’s Air-Cooled Condenser Technology is Poised to Solve the Growing Water Scarcity Challenge Faced by Power Plants Across the Globe

Manmade Global Warming:
*** When Will The Climate Liars Stop Lying?…

CO2 is Winning (Mitigation fail)

“The future of rational climate policy is adaptation, not mitigation that works against adaptation. Social justice demands that climate policy not increase energy prices and restrict consumer sovereignty.”

Want to prosper in the energy/climate arena? Avoid wasteful, futile climate ‘mitigation’ policy. Want to ruin your economy for no effect on climate? Rush ahead with wind, solar, batteries, EVs, and forced conservation. The UK/EU experience speaks for itself.

Examine the graph below, and ask yourself which economies are prospering and which are retrogressing. The jumps between 2014 and 2024 would be magnified today.

The future of rational climate policy is adaptation, not mitigation that works against adaptation. Social justice demands that climate policy not increase energy prices and restrict consumer sovereignty.

Appendix: Prior Adaptation Articles

Adaptation Momentum, Mitigation Fatigue (August 5, 2026)

Global Air Conditioning: Adaptation in Action (July 21, 2026)

Adaptation: Think about It (July 2, 2026)

The Argument for Adaptation and Resilience (Part I: Theory) July 14, 2025

Examples of Adaptation and Resilience (Part II: Examples) July 15, 2025

Climate Adaptation vs.…

The Weak EV Narrative (fix is in with NYT essay)

“

Matthew Shaer’s 5,500-word New York Times essay, “The American E.V. Has Been Crushed. Will It Take the U.S. Auto Industry with It?” (July 15, 2026), documents the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) bust. Very useful. But then he spins a false narrative. And for credibility, the article comes with a statement: “Matthew Shaer spoke with dozens of auto industry analysts and academics for this article” … but not anyone who challenges the EV narrative in light of the failed domestic policy.

Shaer’s essay is a Malthusian masterpiece: doom-and-gloom with a prediction waiting to be refuted. It’s subtitle:

The largest U.S. automakers have backed away from electric vehicles, even as global sales are booming. The decision may make them obsolete.

The first sentence is factual and correct. The second sentence is wrong–and missing the other side of the story.…

“Cheap” Solar Does Not Need Subsidies, Right? (wrong)

Climate Blame Game: Global Central Planning Needed?

Junk Academic Climate/Energy Articles: A Sampling

Climate Alarm and “Green” Energy: Protest from San Antonio

On Energy Density (Richard Lyon educates)

Adaptation Momentum, Mitigation Fatigue

Climate Journalism in Decline