“The infant industry argument is a smoke screen. The so-called infants never grow up.” (Milton and Rose Friedman, Free to Choose, 1979, p. 49)

The idea of a transition to a “new energy future” is historically incorrect with wind power, grid solar, and battery-driven cars and trucks. All have a history of non-competitiveness with or displacement by fossil fuels. Energy density explains much of why the renewable energy era gave way to a far better world of coal, oil, and natural gas in recent centuries.

This is taken from a 2014 article by Zachary Shahan for Renewable Energy World, History of Wind Turbines.

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1887: The first known wind turbine used to produce electricity is built in Scotland. The wind turbine is created by Prof James Blyth of Anderson’s College, Glasgow (now known as Strathclyde University).…

“The infant industry argument is a smoke screen,” wrote Milton and Rose Friedman in their 1979 classic, Free to Choose. “The so-called infants never grow up.” And several years later, the two wrote: “Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.” [1]

Previous posts have documented the “permanent subsidies” of industrial wind power (14 extensions) and of solar power (15 extensions). [2] Add nuclear liability protection to this list, although the technology has long been declared safe by the industry and its proponents.

The Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act of 1957 became law as Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. It was supposed to be a ten-year window to allow commercial nuclear power to prove its economy and safety. But the so-called Price-Anderson Act–capping damage claims “to protect the public and to encourage the development of the atomic energy industry”–is still with us, some two-thirds of a century later.…

Ed. Note: 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.

Wind Energy:
Feds say “damn the whales” in the Gulf of Maine
*** Taking the Wind Out of Climate Change (referencing 60± studies)
*** Cooking the Books 2: Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Estimates for Wind
*** Short video: Green Madness – The Waste and Destruction of One Industrial Wind Turbine Project
Video: The Problem with Wind Energy

Solar Energy:
NY Community Bans Solar Projects
Another NY Community Reconsiders Solar Projects
Solar Projects are Taking US Back to the Dark Ages

Nuclear Energy:
*** Nuclear Power 101: Safe, Reliable & Affordable Power Generation In-a-Nutshell
*** The stage is being set for an American nuclear power revolution

Fossil Fuel Energy:
225 Ways President Biden and the Democrats Have Made it Harder to Produce Oil & Gas

Electric Vehicles (EVs):
*** China Is The Big Winner Of North American EV Policies
*** Should Electric Vehicles be Illegal?…

“Petrochemicals derived from oil and natural gas make the manufacturing of over 6,000 everyday products and high-tech devices possible.” — U.S. DOE

According to the U.S. Department of Energy,

When you think about oil there is probably one thing that immediately comes to mind: motor oil for your car or lawn mower. And, when you hear about natural gas, you may think about heating your home, cooking, or even electric power generation.

But, there are many other uses for these hydrocarbons than what meets the eye. Petrochemicals derived from oil and natural gas make the manufacturing of over 6,000 everyday products and high-tech devices possible.

Major petrochemicals—including ethylene, propylene, acetylene, benzene, and toluene, as well as natural gas constituents like methane, propane, and ethane—are the feedstock chemicals for the production of many of the items we use and depend on every day.