“This conference is not about free market reform; it is about centrally planned wholesale markets for electricity, as well as open-ended subsidies for wind, solar, and batteries, all at the expense of thermal generation and free-market order.”

The title says it all: Integrating Science and Law & Economics to Inform Energy Policy in a Decarbonized Future.” And the conference is loaded with electricity statists and ‘clean’ energy activists, all experts (as in expert failure and scientism), with plans to tweak/expand government planning in a failed, failing government system. In political terms, it is Biden’s “all of government” all the way.

The premise of the two-day conference is flawed. “Science” in the title suggests the scientific (physical and social) debate behind Net Zero/forced energy transformation. “Law & Economics” is a discipline that certainly questions the vague idea of “decarbonization.”…

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.

Greed Energy Economics:
*** Renewable energy subsidies undermine our economy

Unreliables (General):
*** The big renewable energy lie
*** EPA Regulations & the Future of Grid Reliability
*** Good Observations re Battery Systems
*** Stop Energy Sprawl
Net Zero Energy Storage Presents a Battery of Problems
Local opposition to renewable energy projects ‘widespread and growing’: Columbia University report

Wind Energy — Offshore:
Offshore wind energy will come at a high cost to Northeast taxpayers
Floating wind madness in Maine
Highway funds illegally used for floating wind factories

Wind Energy — Other:
*** Taking the Wind Out of Climate Change (referencing 60± studies)
*** Risch Goes Beast Mode on Tracy Stone-Manning re Idaho Wind Project
*** Lessons from Germany’s Wind Power Disaster – A Decade Later
*** Study: The role of rare earth elements in wind energy and electric mobility
Windless nights make net zero impossible
Good pix of the base of a typical modern wind turbine
Industrial Wind Turbines and their Wimpy Ways
Iowa farmer regrets signing wind turbine lease after both turbines on her land burned to the ground 

Solar Energy:
Lazard’s Low-End LCOE Estimates for Solar Are Still Too Optimistic
Solar Company Collapses, Customers Furious as Dems’ Favorite Power Source Leaves Homeowners High and Dry

Nuclear Energy:
*** In Wyoming, Bill Gates moves ahead with nuclear project aimed at revolutionizing power generation
Sen.…

“Texas politicians have added at least $38 billion to the cost of electricity through higher bills or higher taxes since 2019…. Retail rates haven’t reached the level of New York ($0.24 per KWh) or California ($0.32), but Texas’s rising $0.15 rate is disconcerting.”

With its grid overwhelmed by renewable energy, Texas is putting natural gas back in the game. The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) has received 125 notices of intent that propose more than 55,000 megawatts of new generation, most of it gas-fired.

Texans should not be surprised at this turn of events. Generators are simply following the money. Taxpayer money, that is.

Background

After Winter Storm Uri, public pressure forced Texas politicians to wake up to—though not confess—the damage they had caused by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at generation that only works when the weather permits.…

“A Clean Energy Transition should be occurring but not with the RECKLESS STUPIDITY enhancing the possibility of Trump Again!” (Robert Bibbo, below)

Robert Bibbo, self-described environmental energy analyst and observer, lamented a while back on the growing popularity of Trump relative to President Biden. He stated:

This New York Times Poll Shows Trump Leading in 5 Battleground States. A Point In Time Not Election Day Certainty. Nevertheless! Never Ever Trumpers Should be Concerned.

Bibbo then brought in some historical analysis:

In 2016 The Democratic Brain Trust saddled Hilary with a Clean Power Plant 1 War on Coal. Krugman opines 2x (NYTs) that CPP 1 delivered PA, MI & WI (46 EC votes) to elect Trump45. In 2020 those 46 votes elected Biden. Heading into 2024 the Brain Trust has saddled Biden with a Clean Power Plan 2 War on Fossil Fuels.