The Coming Renewable Energy Disaster

Americans are experiencing a fair amount of economic pain, and whether they realize it or not, it was entirely unnecessary. Stumbling into a blind abyss of misery is one thing, but delusional progressives with psychotic ideas have taken us here on purpose, and they consider the suffering of their constituents as a small sacrifice in pursuit of their warped utopian vision.

Traditionally, major policy initiatives that affect the entire country were subjected to a variety of litmus tests in order to weed out the bad ideas from the good, but Democrats have effectively abandoned that process. They’re not interested in hearing dissent. In fact, they strive to stifle it. So, we have a new model where scrutiny is discouraged if not aggressively attacked, and the only way to expose a fraudulent sales pitch is to suffer the inevitable consequences.

Nothing illustrates the impact of the new Democratic method more than their ill-conceived policy on renewable energy, which is part of their foundational economic strategy. The transition to renewables is proving to be an economic disaster for America, but the empirical evidence that contradicted the progressive’s flawed and irrational conclusions never saw the light of day.

The Renewable Energy Con

Slow Joe Biden never hid his disdain for fossil fuel or his affection for the Green New Deal during the 2020 presidential campaign. Not that Slow Joe could actually understand the Green New Deal, but as a career politician, Biden pandered to the side he believed would prove most beneficial to his presidential aspirations. However, any first-year petroleum engineering student could have told him his plan to eliminate fossil fuels and replace them with solar, wind and biofuels was impossible, unless he wanted to collapse the economy, allow people to starve, freeze them to death or let them die of heatstroke.

The problems with solar and wind energy are immutable. The inconsistent nature of renewable energy production plays havoc with costs and consistency of delivery. Germany, who is considered a model of environmental virtue, generates anywhere from 10-40% of its domestic energy production from renewables, depending on what source is referenced. Yet, further examination reveals these estimates include hydro-generated power, and the numbers reflect total production, not consumption.

The Consequences of Inconsistent Power Generation

In reality, spot market price swings range as high as 90 percent as power companies struggle to balance demand with unpredictable rates of generation. Germany tries to sell its excess power to its neighbors, but that only increases its own reliance on fossil fuels when there is not enough renewable energy available to meet domestic demand. For all its massive investment in renewables, Germany has only reduced its carbon footprint by 2 percent, and the country now finds itself at the mercy of Russia for fuel as it enters winter. The true cost of solar energy production is around $100/MWh, while the cost of natural gas is around $25/MWh. This price discrepancy would be even wider if fossil fuel production wasn’t discouraged, and renewables weren’t heavily subsidized.

A functioning society requires a reliable, consistent infrastructure to deliver energy when customers need it. Renewables place an impossible burden on energy producers to provide uninterrupted service, predictable costs and a stable grid. In a country the size of the U.S., delivery that relied primarily on renewable energy would result in significant price increases, grid failure, blackouts and enormous maintenance costs. Energy experts say that renewables can never comprise more than 10 percent of a developed country’s energy production without risking the integrity of the entire power generation and delivery system. No matter how slick the pitch, these issues are insurmountable, and continuing to push flawed policy in the face of irrefutable evidence will only bring more unnecessary pain to the American public.

Democrats Can’t Defy the Laws of Economic Physics

Like the mad scientist so obsessed with discovering a breakthrough he ignores all data that runs contrary to his theory, Democrat intransigence continues to defy the laws of economic physics, and the American people will continue to suffer as a consequence. I wish I had better news, but unfortunately, it’s likely we’re going to suffer more hardship, perhaps a lot more hardship, before we end this cycle of misery.

However, when cult followers begin to suspect the leaders are advancing destructive ideas that simply cannot work over the long term, the cult finally begins to unravel. No matter how it’s packaged and sold, renewable energy will never replace fossil fuels in America without a substantial and unacceptable decline in living standards. It’s unfortunate that we will all have to experience more pain until a slowly developing majority finally wakes up to these realities. However, when that happens, and it will happen, the woke con game will finally begin to unravel.