A Free-Market Energy Blog

Sustainable Fear (from experts to authoritarians)

By Jim Clarkson -- May 26, 2021

There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production – with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth. 

The drop in food output could begin quite soon, perhaps only 10 years from now.  The regions destined to feel its impact are the great wheat-producing lands of Canada and the USSR in the North, along with a number of marginally self-sufficient tropical areas – parts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indochina and Indonesia – where the growing season is dependent upon the rains brought by the monsoon.  —  Newsweek

Another climate-scare article? Yes, but it is from April 28, 1975, almost a half-century ago.

There is nothing wishy-washy about the assertions in popular press stories on the environment.…

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Will Texas Legislators Take on Renewable Energy?

By -- May 25, 2021

“As Texas faces the possibility of high temperatures this summer and the certainty that wind will operate at only a fraction of its installed capacity during periods of peak demand, it is possible the Legislature may adjourn on May 31 having done nothing to address the harm renewables are doing to the Texas grid.”

Despite years of increasing reliance on intermittent generation sources like wind and solar, Texas policymakers seem to have been caught by surprise by the prolonged blackouts experienced by millions of Texans in February.

They should not have been. While temperatures dropped into the single digits for extended periods over much of Texas, solar and wind generators were largely no-shows on the Texas grid.

While other factors were in play, it was renewables that led Texas into darkness.…

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California Summer Blackouts? Bureaucratic Green Doublespeak)

By -- May 24, 2021

Ed.Note: The growing burden of renewable energy on the power grid is near or at maximum levels in some key states such as California and Texas. A product that was once ‘firm’ is now precarious with central planning by regional transmission organizations (RTOs) or Independent System Coordinators (ISOs). Expect a reliability index to be introduced for state-by-state analysis as the cancer grows and spreads.

“The declining effective load capability for grid-connected solar and hydro (for summer 2021) is primarily due to the shifting of peak loads to later in the day due to behind-the-meter solar generation, and declining hydro energy expectations, respectively” –  – California Independent System Operator (ISO), Summer Loads and Re-Assessment 2021

“Doublespeak – takes the form of euphemism or softening primarily to make the truth more palatable.

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Electricity Expert/Planner ‘Shaken’ (Texas debacle shocks worldview)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 20, 2021
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Solar Arrays Are Bad Neighbors (Kerrville, Tx finds out first hand)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 19, 2021
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Middle-East Oil Burn Continues (media blackout on the same)

By Vijay Jayaraj -- May 18, 2021
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Price ‘Gouging’ Laws & Hoarding: Institutionalizing Waste

By Roy Cordato -- May 17, 2021
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“Buffer of Civility” (a message amid the gasoline lines)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 13, 2021
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Replacing Crude Oil: The 2006 Debate Revisited (coal oil in play)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 12, 2021
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‘Too Much Competition’ (fussy CEO want rivals to ease up)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 11, 2021
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