At a time when the anti-environmental climate movement should be collapsing alongside renewable energy, the Old Guard is doubling down. And Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, is in denial as judged by his recent op-ed in Salon, “Is there an ‘energy crisis’? Not really — fossil fuels are collapsing, and it’s high time (October 25, 2021).

Pope’s subtitle says it all: “Why are energy prices spiking? Mostly because we’re not making the transition to wind and solar fast enough.” That’s exactly wrong as blackouts and conservation alerts in Texas, California, and around the world demonstrate.

Pope’s essay follows in blue with my comments.

The Economist calls it “The Energy Shock.” Forbes and the Wall Street Journal go further, resurrecting a term from the 1970s: “Energy Crisis.”…

“Get ready, blackouts and brownouts are coming,” [Glenn] Youngkin said in a recent debate, criticizing the speed of the energy transition away from traditional fuels like natural gas to wind and solar.

A wind Energy Capacity Credit of 5% of nameplate (conservative) would mean 5,200 MW nameplate yields 260 MW of system adequacy at a cost of $142 Million per MW of System Adequacy Contribution

‘Bloody expensive.’ Major U.S. offshore wind plan hits obstacles,” read the E&E News’ EnergyWire story of October 20, 2021. “Nearly 30 miles from shore, the two turbines spin deceptively slowly, alien steel giants fixed to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. But the lonely pair are just a hint of what Dominion Energy plans here: an offshore wind farm covering an area the size of 85,000 football fields,” the article began.…

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 Michael Shellenberger’s article “Why the Pro-Nuclear Movement Is Winning,” previewing his next book: The War on Nuclear: Why It Hurts Us All.

Greed Energy Economics:
Congress eyes $235B in clean energy subsidies. Here they are
The Real Cost of Government Mandated Wind and Solar
New data on real offshore wind costs
Why Carbon Hysteria And Decarbonization Policies Are Economically Insane
Wait, who agrees NC electricity costs must keep going up? Not consumers
New Book: Green Murder
Study: Electric Cars Cost More To Refuel Than Gasoline Powered Cars
Solar And Wind Are Forcing Poverty On Africa

Renewable Energy: Health and Ecosystem Consequences:
Tucker exposes the hidden impact of green energy
Wind Noise: A Continuing Issue (night amplification)
The Dirty Little Secret: Wind Turbines Create Health Issues
EPA’s Commitments to Action on PFAS

Wind Energy:
Wind Turbine Failures Behind Europe’s Energy Crisis are a Warning for America
No Christmas for wind project operator or neighbors
Icebreaker wind project proposed for Lake Erie needs to find more financing soon
Plug-in cars are the future.…

Another erroneous description of the Institute for Energy Research (IER) from a Progressivist ‘hit-piece’ organization. This one comes from SourceWatch of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), self-described as follows:

The Center for Media and Democracy publishes SourceWatch to track corporations. We provide well-documented information about corporate public relations (PR) campaigns, including corporate front groups, people who “front” corporate campaigns, and PR operations.

This organization instructs readers to “check out the in-depth research from around the world by our partner projects within SourceWatch: Coal Swarm, and FrackSwarm.” But is the entry for IER well researched, up-to-date, and objectively accurate? No, no, and no.

The description (in yellow) follows with my comments/corrections:

The Institute for Energy Research (IER), founded in 1989 from a predecessor non-profit organization registered by Charles G.…