Wind Energy
The wind industry promotes itself as better for the environment than traditional energy sources such as coal and natural gas. But there are many issues associated with Wind. 1. Modern wind turbines depend on rare earth minerals mined primarily from China. Mining one ton of rare earth minerals produces about one ton of radioactive waste, according to the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. Thus, the US wind industry may well have created more radioactive waste last year than our entire nuclear industry produced in spent fuel. 2. The government plays a large role in energy markets, through subsidies and regulation. Wind projects are unsustainable without government subsidies. On a kilowatt hour (kwh) basis, offshore wind power is estimated to cost 22.15 cents per kwh, while onshore wind is 8.66 cents per kwh, and natural gas combined cycle is only 6.56 per kwh. 3. Energy officials are worried about the potential of power grid collapse due to the use of renewable energy, says the Los Angeles Times, because renewable energy is more unpredictable than traditional forms of energy. 4. Five Million trees have been cut down since 2007 in order to build wind turbines to help Scotland meet its energy goals, says the Daily Caller. 5. Even the thump, thump, thump of wind turbines in Cape Cod are making people sick.
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Both Liberals and Conservatives Get it Wrong on TX Power

3/8/21
from Goodman Institute,
3/3/21:

What liberals get wrong: Deregulation is not the problem. Perverse incentives created by imperfect deregulation is. While wholesale prices in Texas climbed to $9,000/MWh and clobbered a small part of the consumer market, the vast majority of electricity customers in Texas continued to pay retail prices close to $120/MWh. They had no incentive to reduce their consumption, which would have freed supply to meet the needs of others. Texas’ independent regulatory authority (separating its market from the rest of the nation) was also not the problem. All the surrounding states (potential suppliers of energy) were just as hard hit by frigid temperatures as Texas was. What conservatives get wrong. Green New Deal thinking was not the problem. Low temperatures affected all sources of supply. Over one six-hour interval, wind generation fell 32%, coal fell 13%, and natural gas fell 25%. Solutions: We need variable pricing, with economic incentives for conservation by all electricity users. Buyers need to pay more when the cost of power is higher. But, just as almost all health insurance in this country has a catastrophic cap, that feature should also protect energy consumers in the same way. Markets are also capable of integrating the unique features of the different sources of supply and should be free to do so. Our friend and Nobel Prize winner Vernon Smith has a good analysis in the Dallas Morning News. See also, this commentary by Tyler Cowen.

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