[Editor note: The current (May) problems of the Texas Grid reflect a socialized wholesale market (ERCOT) in light of the wind/solar cancer that has wounded the ‘reliables.’ Specifically, negative pricing of windpower, a decade-old phenomenon, has ruined margins for natural gas and coal plants, causing premature retirements, decisions against new capacity, and less maintenance.]

History matters to understand the wounded Texas electricity grid of today. There were warnings time and again that the distorted market would have reliability issues, and reliability issues would cause price spikes for the worst of all worlds.

Consider the study Negative Electricity Prices and the Production Tax Credit” by Frank Huntowski, Aaron Patterson, and Michael Schnitzer (The NorthBridge Group: September 10, 2012), which was commissioned by Exelon, whose nuclear-plant margins were badly compromised by wind’s “predatory” pricing.…

“Back to the greenwash misdirection…. Why not add U.S. DOE secretary Jennifer “Please get your rig count up” Granholm to the list? How about the wind and solar developers who really don’t care about the damage they cause around them? How about the whole biomass industry?”

Paul Watchman is an amiable chap I have gotten to know on social media. Patient and polite, seems open-minded and respectful of opposing views, including mine toward Net Zero.

Watchman has many titles and positions in the climate debate, including Special Legal Adviser at UNEP Principles of Sustainable Development Net Zero Insurance Underwriters Alliance. This Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow is deep in the intellectual climate vanguard. [1]

“Greenwashing Day”

In a post titled “Greenwashing Day,” Watchman cuts loose on what he sees as a lot of fake greenery in the Net Zero cause.…

Saturday (tomorrow), May 14, 2022, is World Migratory Bird Day 2022. The environmental group behind the campaign states:

Light pollution can adversely affect migratory birds on:
🔴 Behavior
🔴 Activity levels
🔴 Energy expenditure
🔴 Orientation when flying at night
🔴 Migration timing & routes

The theme this year is Dim the Lights:

Artificial light is increasing globally by at least 2 per cent per year and it is known to adversely affect many bird species. Light pollution is a significant threat to migratory birds, causing disorientation when they fly at night, leading to collisions with buildings, perturbing their internal clocks, or interfering with their ability to undertake long-distance migrations.  

Solutions to light pollution are readily available. For instance, more and more cities in the world are taking measures to dim building lights during migration phases in spring and autumn.

Ed. note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a fortnightly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete MBN for this post can be found here.

Greed Energy Economics:
*** Wind Power’s ‘Colossal Market Failure’ Threatens Climate Fight
*** Putin ‘colluded’ with green movements
Short video: Renewable Energy — The Biggest Scam We All Fell For
Green Nightmares
Delaying tactics by wind industry will cost consumers hundreds of millions
Video: The Great Renewable Energy Con
Low-cost power pledge is blown away by the wily wind developers

Renewable Energy Health and Ecosystem Consequences:
Analyzing bird population declines due to renewable power sources in California
Offshore wind: The leading birdwatching group doesn’t object to wind farms that will kill birds

Wind Energy — Offshore:
*** Latest Offshore Wind Project Paid to Switch Off 25% of the Time
Conservation groups call for federal review of offshore wind impact on ecosystems
Right whale defenders question energy industry donations
Jacobs Launches Effort to Prevent Wind Turbines in Great Lakes

Wind Energy — Onshore:
*** Numbers Game: Smashing The Wind & Solar Power Storage Myth With Arithmetic
*** Wind Projects Rejections Across U.S.…