August 31, 2020
California, Letters

The false promise of green energy

Diane Curtis-Page | Napa Valley Register | August 31, 2020 | napavalleyregister.com

Congratulations Californians, you are currently reaping the rewards of the false promise of green energy. Every one of you who voted for and cheered the programs for zero emissions, enjoy your rolling blackouts and get ready for more. During the last round of them, most of the state is closed. Just think how it will be when everything is up and running!

In the Chronicle recently, it was shown the state was down 4.4 megawatts (mW) of power and this necessitated blackouts. However, if the state had stuck with natural gas for energy, a fuel with the lowest emissions, it would have had 4.6 EXTRA mW of power. That’s right. The state gave up 9mW of power from natural gas, methane, to rely on green power. There is not enough green power to replace natural gas, yet the plan is to switch to 60% green energy for our electricity. Currently, the usage of green power is 38%.

When this state opens up again, just think of the rolling blackouts. Think those battery-operated candles will do the trick?

For those of you driving electric vehicles, how much of your recharging electricity comes from coal? About 56% – over half. Coal can be dirty. It has rightly been cleaned up and we need its energy. The newest coal generators are emission free.

In 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the electricity generation was as follows:

–17% renewables

–20% nuclear

–23% coal

–38% natural gas

–1% petroleum

The breakdown of the renewables was as follows:

–7.3% wind

–6.6% hydro

–1.8% solar

–1.4% biomass

–.4% geothermal

Billions and billions of dollars thrown at solar and wind power and look what we have. In their 2020 platform, per their convention, the Democrats want 500 million solar panels . They want 60,000 more wind turbines. How can the environmentalists agree to this? Imagine the acreage these will take up and the birds that will be killed. The last I knew, the “acceptable” number of bird deaths per turbine was 12. Sixty thousand times 12 is 720,000 birds. That’s before you even consider the number of turbines already in use. The cost of installation and upkeep of wind turbines make them one of the least efficient and most costly producers of energy.

Fracking has made the U.S. energy independent for the first time in my memory. This is a phenomenal achievement. It helps our factories and people want to build them here. It helps all forms of transportation and keeps our cost of goods lower. You hear from its opponents that it is causing earthquakes. I have an app on my phone that shows me all 2.0 and above quakes. There are a lot every day but not where there is fracking. The newest natural gas generators are emission free. Energy independence makes our economy soar and the stock market climb. If you have an IRA, pension or any investments, you want the stock market to climb because that is where your money is.

You are never going to fly a plane from SFO to Heathrow on solar power. You are not going to run a 100-car freight train across the country to keep the supply chain of goods going on wind power. There is a video that shows you what your life would look like without petroleum products at “Life Without Petroleum1.mp4”. Please watch it. you need to see it.

In the last 50 years, with all the billions of dollars used in solar and wind power development, they really haven’t made much progress, and my question is, Why haven’t they put that kind of money into geothermal development? Below the earth’s crust is a phenomenal amount of energy to be harnessed, i.e. look at volcanoes. Why haven’t they revisited nuclear power? Low cost and safe. Why aren’t they developing and using more hydropower? Acres and acres of solar panels and wind turbines are more destructive than the dams they are tearing out.

There is something very wrong with the damage these people want to do and their single minded devotion to solar and wind power. The earth is going to be inhabitable for a lot longer than 12 years. No matter what your views on climate change, the New Green Deal is a rip-off for the country. It will make a few people very rich, destroy a lot of land and wildlife and make your utility bills soar.

It’s time to vote ‘no’ for these policies and for the people backing them. Do not vote for them in your town/city. Do not vote for them in your county. Do not vote for them in your state. Do not elect them to Congress. Above all, do not put them in the White House or anywhere near it.

Diane Curtis-Page

Yountville


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/08/31/the-false-promise-of-green-energy/