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Energy Policy: Nuts! (Vol. 163)

Our Current Energy Policy Defies Logic


There seems to be no end in sight to the stupid things the government will do to placate some group that it is beholden to. So often, we end up with policies which ‘sound good, feel bad’. 

 

There is a lot of information/misinformation about global warming. Is it real and, if so, how dangerous is it? What should we be doing about it? And what price are we willing to pay to reduce our carbon footprint? And how much impact will the investment make? 

 

We all want to be good citizens and support a clean environment. That is a given. There are many organizations and climatologists that insist this is an overblown phenomenon - perhaps just cyclical. I am not going to try to evaluate all these varying thoughts, it isn’t in my expertise. Just know, there are varying opinions as to what is going on and how critical it is no matter how much the ‘greenies’ tell you it is an accepted fact that carbon is destroying the planet. 

 

We all want to be good stewards of our environment. Notwithstanding the various opinions, let’s assume it is something that we should deal with. So, with that in mind, let’s review the current policy. 

 

Can we start with a reality check? Our former energy czar, John Kerry, has said if we got to net zero tomorrow, it would have virtually no impact on the climate. If so, shouldn't we begin doing things that make sense economically while we improve the environment? 

 

Let’s review a few things before we reach any conclusions.

 

Energy Demands: a lot is needed to power our country. And it is growing, for example, the ‘cloud and AI’ require a lot of energy, and as our country grows and new technologies emerge, the demand just grows and grows. And we want and expect the light to turn on when we flip the switch - every time.

 

Paris Accords: talk about a nothingburger, this is it. A lot of countries get together, write unenforceable policy papers, staple them together and pat themselves on the back - for doing absolutely nothing.   Then we spend trillions of dollars trying to follow our policy while China and India open 1 to 2 new coal fired electric plants every week.  ‘Sounds good; feels bad’.

 

Wind and Sun: these are expensive with today’s technology. They are useful supplements, and if people want to invest, I am perfectly ok with that, but quit spending my tax money subsidizing something that is only a marginal benefit. Today it cannot replace our energy structure because it is intermittent, and we have no way yet to store the energy. After trillions spent, it makes up around 6% of our energy supply. Some day technology will change this - but that is not the technology of today to get to green. 

 

Nuclear Energy: some of our ‘well meaning’ idiots are closing perfectly good nuclear plants. Don’t ask me why, it makes no sense at all. It is a clean, safe and reliable source of power. We should be doing more, not less of this. And with the big plants being so expensive and difficult to permit and build, go for the smaller ones produced in factories. There are many companies working on these now.

 

Fossil fuels: moving to cleaner fuels from coal makes sense to me but do it in a logical way. Regardless of any desire to do away with fossil fuels, they are here for the foreseeable future as they are the bulwark of our needed energy supply. And oil can be much less expensive if we stop inhibiting drilling. Yes, our resourceful energy sector has found a way to grow production, but it could be much more and make us energy independent and an exporter, at lower costs, if we encouraged supply instead of discouraging supply with endless rules and regulations. Why we want to curtail production and then ship supplies in from our enemies is befuddling beyond belief. And then, and then, and then, we drain our strategic oil reserves to supplement supply to lower the price a very little for political reasons. Go figure. That reserve is there for a reason, leave it alone and refill it to where it should be.

 

Electric Vehicles: don't get me started on this nonsense. They are technological marvels. And if you want one, buy one, but stop using my tax money to help rich folks buy them. And talk about a nothingburger, they do virtually nothing for the environment. See my No Spin #1, Are Electric Vehicles the Answer to Carbon Pollution? Take 2 minutes to read it and you will understand why I say this.

 

Pipelines: this is the only efficient way to transport gas and oil. But we shut down a permitted one that is under construction, the Keystone pipeline, for political reasons. Doesn't make any sense at all. Does someone in power think that will cause us to stop using gas and oil? Instead of an efficient way to transport, we do it over land by train or truck, adding to cost and carbon emissions.

 

Ethanol: let’s help the farmers and ethanol producers by requiring this corrosive, ineffective substance be added to our gasoline - just plain stupid,  see No Spin # 84, Ethanol Revisited for more reasons why this is a ridiculous policy which benefits only special interests, not the public interest.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE

 

Energy drives our country and is a major factor in our cost of living, from the gas/diesel we use to power our cars and trucks, to the energy we use to power our homes, factories and virtually everything we do.

 

A sound energy policy would lower costs and clean up the environment over time and will have little or no impact on the climate.

 

Prescription: encourage nuclear, expand production of gas and oil, invest in technology to someday provide other economical clean energy sources. And cut out the policies that are not benefiting the public.

 

LEARN ECONOMICS, THEN VOTE SMART

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