Posted on 12/03/2023 8:14:06 AM PST by John Semmens
Michigan's Democrat majority legislature passed and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed a new law that will require all electricity utilities to be 100% clean by 2040. All fossil fuels will be banned thereafter. Clean power sources include wind, solar, nuclear, and natural gas systems that can capture at least 90% of their emissions.
Whether solar and wind will ever generate enough electricity to supplant coal-fired electricity is doubtful. The problem lies in the mismatch of supply and demand. When the sun is shining and the wind is blowing there is plenty of electricity. However, at night or when breezes are light there is a shortage. Currently, coal-fired back up power can meet this shortage. Doing away with coal would require a hefty investment in batteries to store the solar and wind generated electricity. Building a wind/solar/storage electricity system would cost 10 to 20 times as much as a system with coal-fired back up power.
Whitmer dismissed the mismatch issue, saying that "I believe the pressure generated by outlawing fossil fuels will inspire scientists to invent cheaper ways to store solar and wind produced electricity. And even if I'm wrong we can still turn to nuclear or gas-fired methods for producing round-the-clock electricity."
Unfortunately, another Democrat constituency--environmentalists--are opposed to both nuclear and gas as energy sources. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that we will need to spend $3.5 trillion--the equivalent of the global oil and gas industry's entire revenues--on carbon capture to limit global warming. Greenpeace opposes nuclear power "because it is an unacceptable risk to the environment and to humanity."
If you missed any of the other Semi-News/Semi-Satire posts you can find them at...
https://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,518667.0.html
When the rats get the power they weld the door shut. The feckless Mi GOP are outside with cardboard boxes wondering what happened.
Michigan going have to open up the old copper mines and order more mules.
Detroit becomes a Disneyland for car fans.
Did Whitmer actually OK nuclear and gas? I’m surprised she didn’t suggest trading carbon credits.
Yes, she did, but since environmentalists oppose these options she is counting on being able to claim that she tried to be reasonable but was overruled by a key constituency of the Democrat Party.
Well,if only this much thought about the situation is required to govern Michigan, they should have plenty of available candidates. Counting on “green energy” to power the state is one thing, but planning on spending much more to accomplish it, or counting on science to maybe come up with something better in years ahead sounds just plain foolhardy to me. So, I guess almost anyone could come up with “answers” like that. A smart candidate for the job would be insisting that the state stick with power production methods that would actually work, especially considering some cold weather in wintertime.
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