Energy

A water drop and ripples

Now they’ve invented “global stilling”!

By Justin Katz | October 14, 2021 |

That’s apparently the latest excuse for wind energy not living up to promises: Is there nothing that “climate change” doesn’t affect? Industry experts are warning that climate change may have caused wind speeds in Europe to plummet this year in news that threatens to drive energy prices even higher. Long labelled as a saviour of…

A water drop and ripples

When it comes to energy, public outcry is the only control.

By Justin Katz | October 8, 2021 |

Jon Caldara makes an excellent point about energy in Colorado that applies in Rhode Island, as well: … the Public Utilities Commission’s job was (key word there) to fight for the least cost energy while protecting our environment. That mission has been turned on its head. Least cost is the PUC’s very last priority. This…

A solar farm in the forest.

It’s starting to seem like the solar industry is a gift to the Chinese coal industry… as well as slavers and dictators.

By Justin Katz | August 3, 2021 |

Rick Moran writes for PJ Media: Manufacturing solar panels is a dirty business. Starting with the raw mineral quartz, the refining process produces a highly toxic substance, silicon tetrachloride, that some manufacturers simply end up dumping. Huge amounts of power and heat must be used to manufacture the photovoltaic cells. Since most solar cells in the…

Solar farm in North Smithfield

One bill’s $55 million price tag is a small sample of the increased cost of mandated “renewables.”

By Justin Katz | July 19, 2021 |

Exactly this dynamic, which Alex Kuffner reports in the Providence Journal, apply (with exponents) to the entire push for “green energy” more broadly: How much money could Rhode Islanders have been on the hook for if Gov. Dan McKee had not vetoed a bill that shifted some of the costs of solar and wind projects from…

An electric car charging

An actual comparison of net CO2 emissions for electric cars may be beside the point.

By Justin Katz | June 26, 2021 |

According to an analysis by natural resource investors Goehring & Rozencwajg, electronic vehicles may not actually have a net benefit when it comes to carbon.  Note the bit I’ve emphasized, here: April 14th 2021, Jefferies published a research note entitled “Are EVs as ‘Green’ as They Appear?” in which they conclude an electric vehicle must…

Cooling towers at Brayton Point

Unions are like the modern version of the the Medieval Church.

By Justin Katz | June 15, 2021 |

Something about the way labor unions are acting in the United States these days reminds me of the Catholic Church during a phase when it was ripe for criticism.  From a Stephen Moore essay in The Epoch Times in April: Last week, the United Mine Workers of America union endorsed Biden’s energy policies. Yes, you read…

Solar farm in North Smithfield

Something tells me public opinion on solar farms is going to involve a lot of “oops, we shouldn’t have done that.”

By Justin Katz | June 11, 2021 |

The people of West Greenwich are not happy that the giant solar farm in their town has not met the “you can only see it from an airplane” standard, according to Tolly Taylor, on WPRI: “Does it meet the standard of you can’t see it anywhere but an airplane?” [Town Administrator Kevin] Breene said. “No.…

A man fuels his car

TCI is another area where our politicians are happy to be extremists to the detriment of Rhode Islanders.

By Justin Katz | June 8, 2021 |

Last week, an Australian news source noted how extreme Rhode Island politicians are when it comes to imposing mandates on companies that serve our elderly parents and grandparents.  Connecticut just put a big ol’ circle around another area in which Ocean State politicians are extremists without concern for the average resident, as Douglas Hook reports…

A man holding an incandescent bulb

Imagine having a political opposition with enough strength to push back on RGGI.

By Justin Katz | May 28, 2021 |

One of the many programs, regulations, and schemes that quietly weigh down Rhode Island’s economy with a seemingly mysterious drag is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which is essentially the predecessor imposition that Gina Raimondo presumed to expand as the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI). Li Le reminds us in the Epoch Times that…

Man holds shoe at Uyghur protest

How long until we start hearing the protest chant that “Green Is Slavery”?

By Justin Katz | May 23, 2021 |

What makes this moment in history strange (well, one thing, anyway) is that at the same time we’re hearing of the need to purge and punish every American brand or institution that was at all associated with slavery — like the state name Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which had nothing to do with Southern…