Green Retreat: The Early Trump Effect

It never should have happened. Politics, magical thinking, and corporate rent-seeking tried to reverse the physics of energy density to transition away from consumer-chosen, taxpayer-neutral hydrocarbons.

After decades of waste, the politics have changed. So much for not-so-green energy in the U.S.

Renewable advocate George Lawrence reported on LinkedIn, quoting Canary Media:

Trump is killing the country’s clean-energy manufacturing momentum.” This is all about momentum indeed, + the few yrs we have to turn things around.

“In the first three months of this year, firms have already abandoned plans to build nearly $8 billion worth of clean energy projects—mostly factories that would have produced everything from grid batteries to electric vehicles, per new data from E2 [consulting engineers].”

This draconian reversal contrasts with the Biden era, where from 2022 to 2024 only a cumulative $2.1 billion in investments was canceled.…

European Blackout Update (yes, it was solar)

“Could the reliability of the Iberian Peninsula grid be ensured by introducing new technical solutions? Technically, yes—but economically, the feasibility is more challenging.” ( – J.K. Nøland, below)

Jonas Kristiansen Nøland, associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, has a verdict on the Iberian Peninsula blackout. His take follows:

Recent evidence indicates that Europe’s worst blackout, occurring in the Iberian Peninsula, originated from an unstable power grid. This instability likely triggered the cascading chain of events that followed.

In the half-hour leading up to the blackout, two episodes of power and frequency oscillations were observed in the Continental European synchronous area. Grid operators took actions to mitigate these oscillations.

The likely root cause of these undamped “inter-area oscillations” was the inherently low inertia of the Spanish power grid at midday, with approximately 70% of generation provided by inverter-based solar and wind.…

Zsolt Lengyel Goes Censorship (the outliers named)

“The phrase ‘non-alarmist’ suggests that climate science is exaggerated or hysterical, rather than rooted in rigorous research. You may also re-consider your brazen ‘comment flooding‘ strategy: I will block any of you adding your usual anti-science tirades & nonsense.” (- Zsolt Lengyel, February 14, 2025)

And he did just that, but not before I copied some things for the record. History matters, and the history of climate alarm is one of exaggeration and intolerance toward the loyal opposition.

Climate activist (zealot?) Zsolt Lengyel [profile now blocked to me] describes himself as:

Policy-focused climate action dinosaur – having worked on the World’s two pioneering Kyoto Protocol flexible mechanism JI/CDM programmes, the Prototype Carbon Fund of the World Bank and the Dutch Government’s Carboncredit.nl – ERUPT/CERUPT – but with a fresh mind assuming that the future is not what will happen, but what we will do.

Sunnova Hype pre-Bankruptcy

Sunnova’s Net Zero for Stockholders (last ESG report of a ‘second-hander’ company)

Inertia in One Lesson (Dave Edwards on LinkedIn)

Energy for the Masses, Not the Elites (2020 Letter reads well today)

Inside ‘Business Sustainability’ (Yes, it’s just a front)

Climate Anxiety–or Climate Realism?

Deepwater Horizon at 15: Remember “Beyond Petroleum” BP