Free Republic

When Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and her staff of clowns bungled a four-day ramble in 2023 to show off the wonder of electric vehicles, the lasting impression would be the report of her advance team blocking an open charger so she wouldn’t have to wait for one. A federal report, however, reveals details that cast the entire charade in an even worse light. The Granholm tour was to take her from Charlotte, N.C., to Memphis, Tenn., and was intended to justify the billions of taxpayers’ dollars the Biden administration was pouring into green energy initiatives. The message was lost when...

Germany’s once-envied efficient economy is in freefall, and the climate change cult and European Green Deal are directly to blame. State policies subsidizing EVs and other products, shutting down coal and nuclear plants, and mandating forced conversion to untested, unimplemented “renewables” resources for energy have decimated industrial efficiency. Industries and blue-collar jobs are fleeing Germany for polluting, profitable operations in China, India, and elsewhere abroad. Will the United States follow suit? As natural gases skyrocket during a European cold snap, and Russian gas pipelines through Ukraine are shut down for the first time since 1991, Germany has transitioned from Europe’s...

Welcome to Germany’s green economic miracle. The year is 2025! Germany’s so-called Energiewende (transition to renewable energies) has had one unmistakable result: Germany now finds itself rapidly nearing the brink of a third world country where the power supply is no longer reliable and brownouts becoming more and more a daily routine. What’s happening is the opposite of what was once promised by the know-it-all climate wisemen: “Green energies would lead to a clean and prosperous country that would be the envy of the world. So much for their fantasies. The reality, as reported yesterday by Germany’s leading daily, Bild...

She’s taking a tough line on fossil fuels — except the ones she’s spewing. Gov. Hochul — who recently approved a controversial law that will force oil, natural-gas and coal companies to pony up $75 billion for carbon emissions allegedly contributing to global warming — has taken at least 30 flights aboard private jets since 2021 ... The $415,000 tab was picked up by her campaign committee.. “It’s very wasteful, especially for an elected official. There is no reason why any elected official in New York should be taking a private jet. .. Hochul flew with two private-airline companies, Zephyr...

In a post a couple of weeks ago on December 21, I observed that the country of Germany appeared to have won the race among all countries and states to be the first to hit the “Green Energy Wall.” Its pursuit of the “renewable” wind and solar electricity fantasy has put it in a spot where regular wind/sun droughts cause huge electricity price spikes, and major industries have become uncompetitive. It has no solution to its dead end, and can go no farther. If Germany has “hit the wall,” what is the appropriate analogy for New York? New York passed...

Net Zero Watch is an affiliate of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, the UK’s leading climate-skeptic think tank. (Another affiliate of the Global Warming Policy Foundation is the American Friends of the GWPF, the organization of which I am the President and a board member.). The specialty of Net Zero Watch is poking holes in the UK’s insane pursuit of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions. The Director of NZW is Andrew Montford. A few days ago (December 23), Montford issued a brief end of year statement that gives a good summary of where we are now in the climate wars....

New Yorkers, beware the law of unintended consequences. From an item at the New York Post comes the news that Kathy Hochul has just signed a new bill, “modeled after a federal law that holds polluters responsible for abandoned toxic-waste sites,” which establishes the New York Climate Superfund. This endowment will be funded by energy companies that deal in gas, oil, and coal, and the money will finance “resiliency projects,” like initiatives to shore up the coast and mitigate flooding—because obviously as every progressive and mainstream media consumer “knows,” energy that comes from “fossil fuels” cause “climate change.” As of...

My post on Saturday noted one big reason for optimism that the green energy fantasy is coming to the end of its run: the first country, Germany, has apparently begun to hit the green energy “wall.” Although Germany has never consistently reached even 50% of its electricity production from wind and solar, its ability to continue its green energy dreams has stalled: its electricity prices have soared, its manufacturing sector has been seriously undermined, its economy is in recession, and recently its green-promoting government has fallen. Its failed example now stands for others to see and avoid. And as I...

It has been obvious now for many years to the numerate that the fantasy future powered by wind and sun is not going to happen. Sooner or later, reality will inevitably intrude. And yet, the fantasy has gone on for far longer than I ever would have thought possible. Hundreds of billions of dollars of government largesse have been a big part of the reason, going not just to green energy developers but also to academic charlatans and environmental NGOs to fan the flames of climate alarm. It was three years ago, in December 2021, that I asked the question,...

Owners of a solar farm torn to pieces were among those counting the cost of killer Storm Darragh - as recovery work was ongoing on Monday. Hundreds of panels at the giant 190-acre Porth Wen solar farm in Anglesey, North Wales - only built two years ago - were blown off their mountings, some ripped to shreds. The site at Llanbadrig, in the north of the island which is owned by French power firm EDF Energy and powers up to 9,500 households, now needs significant repairs. Elsewhere on the island of Anglesey, blades were sheared off a wind turbine which...

A clip from Billy Bob Thornton’s new show "Landman" went viral on X for slamming the use of renewable energy like wind turbines, that are intended to combat the effects of climate change. "They use clean energy to power the oil wells?" Kayla Wallace’s character said in the scene of the show. "They use alternative energy. There is nothing clean about this," Billy Bob Thornton’s character said. "Please, Mr. Oilman, tell me how the wind is bad for the environment?" Kayla Wallace replied. Thornton’s "Tommy Norris" responded, "You have any idea how much diesel will have to burn to mix...

Former Secretary of State John Kerry claimed that there is a “climate emergency,” and suggested that Africans without electricity must select “the right kinds of electricity,” likely referring to green energy production, and that the U.S. must help them to afford it. Kerry made the comments at a speaking event at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics on Thursday. The Democrat suggested there will be a need to “declare a climate emergency, which is what we really have. And we need to get people to behave as if this really is a major transitional challenge to the whole planet.”...

The overwhelming focus of the environmental movement over the past three decades and more has been the push to eliminate the use of hydrocarbon fuels and transform the world’s energy system into something based on supposedly cleaner wind and sun. This effort has always been doomed to failure, because energy produced by wind and sun does not work satisfactorily and is wildly too expensive. So it has long been obvious to the well-informed that this whole effort will inevitably go away at some point. But after the desperate cries of crisis and alarm from thousands of activists for decades on...

At 5 p.m. last Wednesday, Germany’s 1602 offshore wind turbines in the North and Baltic Seas stood still…solar output was also near zero. Germany had to scramble to keep supply going. The enemy of green energy: the high pressure system.. In the words of Professor Claudia Kemfert: It is a myth to believe that solar and wind do not provide enough electricity. The myth that there will be enough wind and sunshine somewhere in Europe was shattered at the beginning of November 2024. Daniel Wetzel describes the situation in the online Die Welt (pay article) At 5 p.m. on Wednesday,...

In a post on October 23, I noted that, during this election cycle, “energy realism” has suddenly become a positive electoral issue for Republicans. The positive electoral effect comes from pointing out that a forced energy transition increases consumer costs, limits choice, and destroys jobs. Examples cited included President Trump’s use in his campaign in Michigan of the Biden-Harris regulations restricting combustion vehicles, and his use in Pennsylvania of Harris statements that she would ban fracking. But there is another approach out there to the subject of energy realism, which has been taken up by many Republican candidates and energy...

(The Center Square) – Medicare premiums and senior citizens' prescription drug costs have surged since passage of the $891 billion Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, according to data compiled by an advocate for seniors on the federal health care program. The legislation promised financial relief for millions of people with Medicare by expanding benefits, lowering drug costs, and strengthening Medicare for future seniors. Medicare Is for Seniors' "Misery Index," as the report is known, says prescription drug costs instead have risen nationally by 31%, leaving seniors with new expenses and fewer options. Those costs will rise again under the new...

U.S. offshore wind developers put on a brave face at a conference this week, touting their ability to work with leaders from both political parties, although privately attendees fretted that things could get rough for them if Republican Donald Trump wins the Nov. 5 presidential election. The Republican nominee and former president has vowed to scrap offshore wind projects through an executive order on his first day in office if he retakes the White House, claiming windmills ruin the environment and kill birds and whales. Trump is in a tight race against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who has championed...

Asolar power system is a big expense, but if it gets enough sun, it can pay for itself and reduce your carbon footprint in the process. Unfortunately, obstructions can substantially reduce the power your panels provide and make it much harder for your investment to pay off. That's why it can be so frustrating if your neighbors plant a tree in the wrong place. If there’s a tree in the way of your energy production, it's important to understand what your options are. They may depend on where you live and whether the tree or your panels were there first....

Here in New York we have our own unique and special acronym for how we think we are going to make our future emissions-free electrical grid work with predominantly wind and solar generation. The acronym is DEFR — the “Dispatchable Emissions-Free Resource.” When the sun goes down and the wind stops blowing in the dead of winter, we will crank up the DEFR to keep us all warm and cozy. There will of course be zero carbon emissions, because by definition the DEFR is “emissions-free.” Unfortunately nobody is quite sure what this DEFR might be. There are only a few...

Europe’s electricity has become so expensive that trade unions have started warning of the threat of deindustrialization. Deepening Europe’s crisis, the Biden administration has announced a pause in liquefied natural gas export license approvals. U.S. policymakers should heed warnings from Europe, and embrace a policy of making American electricity once again the most reliable and affordable on Earth. Copied After years of misguided energy policies, Europe’s electricity has become so expensive that trade unions have started warning of the threat of deindustrialization. The warning will hopefully prove a salutary one for the U.S., which is now headed down the same...