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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Why Texas’ Blackouts Occurred

2/17/21
from The Gray Area:
2/17/21; updated 2/19/21:
There is an element of entertainment this week in the weather related crisis of power in Texas this week. The state with a wealth of natural resources for use in generating power for it's citizen's are now left to respond to the needs of it's citizens the way California does, with rolling blackouts. How embarrassing. Doing anything the way California does is an admission of ineffective leadership & failure. Thus, those responsible find no entertainment in the situation Texas finds itself. How could this happen? Those on the left focus on the lack of effective planning by Texas leadership. A red state, successful in every other category whether it be business, growth or COVID response, is struggling with energy management. The Texas model of energy generation and distribution is the problem. It is 'free-market' based, not government run. Those on the right focus on the 23% of Texas energy being generated by Wind power. Wind power comes with no backup, because backup is more fossil fuel use which is the reason to use so-called sustainable sources o f energy. The problem is in both camps. That gives each the opportunity to point fingers the other way.
  • Clearly, planning was poor.
  • Clearly this type of freeze in a southern state is very unusual. We can be sure northern states and countries don't plan for 100+ degrees either.
  • Clearly wind energy is not dependable. Having 23% of Texas grid on Wind is a token to the climate alarmists.
  • Clearly, anything can freeze up. And, apparently, everything did.
  • Clearly the model didn't work properly. That may be the model, or the people, or the process. The Governor has asked to find out. I just hope he does not submit to the climate mob and allow more government control or regulation. That is just bureaucracy and cost, not solutions. You could see that destroy our school systems over the last 50 years.
The Wall Street Journal asks; are <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-style-blackouts-are-the-future-11613772034">Texas-Style Blackouts the Future</a>? Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) sums it up as bad policy decisions, political spin, subsidies and below: What to know: Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan is already calling for hearings into how the state’s power grid failed to keep up with demand in this historic winter storm. The TPPF Take: In short, it was years of bad policy. “Texas has lost significant fossil fuel generation capacity over the past several years and instead counted on nearly 20,000 MW of new wind and solar generation to satisfy steadily rising electricity demand,” says TPPFF’s Brent Bennett. “It has been known for years that a weather event combining low wind and solar production and record demand could lead to blackouts. This week, that event became reality as new wind and solar generation failed to produce when it was needed the most.” More From TPPF:


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