“At the heart of The Last Days of Night is the competition between direct current and alternating current, and whether different types of incandescent bulbs infringed on the other’s patent. Underlying all, is how a new technology, electricity, whether via direct or alternating current forced the movement away from other fuels—whale oil, coal gas, kerosene, and natural gas for lighting, and uses other than lighting.”

The book under review, written by an Academy Award screen-writer, is historical fiction based on the fierce rivalry between two 19th century energy titans – Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.

Yet Graham Moore’s The Last Days of Night also touches on issues relevant to today— free enterprise versus protective regulations, the interrelationship of energy markets, technological change, corporate spying, and the practices used by corporate heavyweights to achieve market dominance, including the manipulation of the press.…

“Cutting production in 2016 is much more dangerous to OPEC ‘s market share than the Arab Embargo of 1973. …. Today, the United States has massive reserves of oil and gas that will be, not might be, produced at the right price point.”

On October 17, 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to a five percent production cut from the previous month’s levels. They intended this strategy not solely for increasing their oil revenue but to punish the United States for its support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. This production cut increased the price of oil dramatically and led to oil discoveries around the world including massive plays in Alaska, Mexico, and the North Sea.

Those three regions alone added approximately 6 million bbls/day to the world oil supply in the next seven years following the embargo.…

“Now that Deepwater Wind is close to starting operation, ratepayers can compare its 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour versus their latest power bill showing an energy cost of 8.7 cents per kilowatt hour – a 15.7 cent difference…. So why is Rhode Island building this project?“

The wind turbines offshore Block Island, Rhode Island, the Deepwater Wind project, are rising faster than expected due to favorable weather and wind conditions. In fact, the last blade was installed on the fifth wind turbine two weeks ago.

The U.S. renewable energy business will soon enter a new era when these turbines generate electricity. Many people may wonder why it has taken the U.S. so long to start an offshore wind industry, given the perceived success of projects in Western European countries. But cost matters, and the cost of offshore wind defines a new high for US ratepayers.…

“Bald and golden eagles are protected by state and federal laws. Slaughtering eagles is illegal, and nothing is ‘incidental’ or ‘unavoidable’ when it comes to enormous wind turbines.”

“Creating a vast imaginary population of eagles, avoiding true scientific research, falsely calculating an enormous, supposedly “sustainable” yearly harvest rate, and deliberately ignoring the huge eagle slaughter taking place around the wind farms really is fraud. The perpetrators should be prosecuted.”

[Editor note: This post completes Part I and Part II from last week.]

The word harvest connotes the reaping of editable crops to sustain humanity. As used by the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), “harvesting” is the killing of one of our most iconic species, one of our most magnificent raptors, by the “grim reaper” wind turbines.

Turbines supply some of our most expensive, unreliable, and heavily subsidized electricity, under blanket exemptions from the Endangered Species Act and other environmental laws that are applied with unflinching severity to virtually every other industry. …