The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy and environmental policies. Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science (please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information).

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every three weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and the environment. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

Some of the more important articles in this issue are:

US Tax Subsidies For Renewables Now Far Outpaces Fossil Fuels

Wind Industry Titan Soaks Up Billions in Tax Subsidies

Oklahoma ends wind power subsidy

Solar Power: An Environmental Disaster

The Real Threat is ‘Big Environment’

53 year old coal plant generates more electricity that all wind facilities combined

DOE study on electric grid to be done by “renewable skeptic”

We must protect Texas’ military installations from encroaching wind turbines

Failed Economics Of Renewable Energy: The Facts

End of Global Warming Debate — It’s As Easy As 1-2-3

Every green initiative imposed on us by politicians has ended in disaster

Exiting the Paris Climate Agreement

Peer-Reviewed: Paris climate promises will reduce temps in 2100 by 0.05°C

Please: Sign Petition Against Paris Agreement

Real science must guide policy

Major U.S.…

“About $3 trillion has been spent globally on renewable energy since 2004, and the figure has now stabilized at about $300 billion for each one of the last six years.”

This post describes renewable-energy performance in the United States through 2016 as reported in annual reports of the Department of Energy (DOE).^[1] The DOE lists six renewable sources: Wind, Solar, Hydro, Wood, Waste, and Geothermal. The term “solar” means the combined output of both photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar plants (CSP).

Renewable sources are usually divided into two groups: “Wind and Solar” (W&S), and “Other” (H&W&W&G). Accordingly, the following two graphs show the history of the two groups’ outputs in separate charts: W&S first and H&W&W&G second. A quick glance at both graphs reveals the upward trending lines in the first chart and the near horizontal lines in the second, with wiggles in the line for hydro output caused by differences in rainfall and irrigation demand from one year to the next.…

“Power plants, usually natural gas, must be kept in spinning reserve, ready to come online when the wind stops blowing or the sun stops shining. There is the cost of natural gas to keep these units operating off-line, as well as maintenance costs from the added wear and tear on these units.”

“The strongest winds, which are the best for generating electricity, are found hundreds, if not a thousand or more miles away from where the electricity is used. [Fossil-fuel] power plants are located closer to where the electricity is used.”

“Coal-fired and NGCC power plants were built to operate as baseload plants operating continuously. Cycling results in an increase in the number of cold-starts and shutdowns.”

The renewable-energy lobby has the advantage of many citizens having short attention spans and not being experts in the field.…

“Armed with Gore’s utility bills for the last two years, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research charged Monday that the gas and electric bills for the former vice president’s 20-room home and pool house devoured … more than 20 times the national average….”

“‘I appreciate the solar panels,’ [Drew Johnson of TCPR] said, ‘but he also has natural gas lanterns in his yard, a heated pool, and an electric gate. While I appreciate that he’s switching out some light bulbs, he is not living the lifestyle that he advocates.'”

– Jake Tapper, “Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’? A $30,000 Utility Bill.” ABC News, February 2007.

Neo-Malthusians who profess the need for government to save the world from peaceful consumers and producers face some hard realities in their lemming-like war against fossil fuels.…