Green Retreat: The Early Trump Effect
By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 15, 2025It 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.…
Continue ReadingAm I a Stooge of the Climate Alarmist Left?
By David R. Legates -- May 14, 2025Science does show us that more carbon dioxide leads to a little bit of warming and that both that little warming and the fertilizing effect of the carbon dioxide are likely to be beneficial. Carbon dioxide will not, however, become an existential threat to the planet. (below)
“Mister Legates, I am a big fan of the Cornwall Alliance. However, you, sir, are merely a stooge for the climate alarmist Left, which has an obvious agenda to destroy our economy with its NetZero and its ban on natural gas appliances and its electric vehicle mandates. Anyone who has even a rudimentary understanding of science would clearly know that ….”
Okay, so, nobody really sent that first paragraph to me. But the gist accurately combines views that various people have said.
Background
Over the years, even before I joined the Cornwall Alliance, I received numerous complaints from people sending me emails—who, I believe, are well-meaning—that take issue with my position on carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, as a pollutant, and as the single most existential threat to the planet as a whole.…
Continue ReadingEuropean Blackout Update (yes, it was solar)
By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 13, 2025“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.…