Commentary

I know you’re probably tired of this subject, but I wouldn’t be writing about it again if I didn’t consider it vital for you to get a handle on it with the election in about 200 days.

Former President Trump has made it an election issue, warning auto workers that President Biden’s pressure on auto manufacturers to produce more EVs will result in job reductions, as fewer workers are required to produce an EV.

Warning about China building cars in Mexico earlier this month, Trump said “They think that they are going to sell those cars into the United States with no tax at the border.”  After threatening a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars, he said, “If I get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath, It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.  That’ll be the least of it.  But they’re not going to sell those cars.”

The Biden administration made a huge mistake, leaping into a transition from fossil fuels to renewables without pubic consent, and with no idea what they were getting into.  While funds have been provided to build charging stations, they are slow to become reality in the numbers needed.

The single biggest problem with the left’s climate agenda, however, is that the replacement of fossil fuels with intermittent wind and sun-based electricity generation is not going to work.

Because the so-called mainstream media, and the social media is not covering this issue, I have joined other bloggers in keeping the real crisis alive.

“President Biden and the press keep raising alarms about a climate crisis that his policies can’t do much about,” notes the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal. “Yet in the meantime they’re ignoring how government climate policies are contributing to a looming electric-grid crisis that is more urgent and could be avoided.

“Projections for U.S. electricity demand growth over the next five years have doubled from a year ago.

Not only are electric bills increasing, some people who invested in solar are now being billed to help build up the grid with transition lines and battery storage.

While Biden talks incessantly about his concern for the threat on our democracy and protecting our freedoms, his EPA, with unelected bureaucrats, has implemented its will with new emission standards.

In its continued effort to cut CO2 emissions by 2032, that means gas-powered cars can make up no more than 30 percent of auto sales by then.  “Make no mistake,” the Journal states, “This is a coerced phase-out of gas-powered cars.”

Regular readers may recall my disgust with auto manufacturer CEOs for caving to Biden in 2020.  With the emissions requirement moved out from 2030 to 2032 it gives them a bit of a breather, but they still say 2032 will be “a stretch.”

Think about it … EVs accounted for less than four percent of GM and Ford sales.

 In Agreement

I am always delighted to read comments from others who support my view.

“Just say no,” was the advice from Keith Bair of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to the CEOs of GM, Ford and Stellantis in his letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal. “Automakers must stand united and tell the government that they won’t bankrupt their companies (and suppliers) and sacrifice tens of thousands of jobs to satisfy  the egos of the extreme climate elitists.”

“Our technology and infrastructure is not, and may never be ready to support a full switch to EVs,” he added.

The demand for electricity is starting to rise, but wind and solar generators can’t be added to the grid fast enough to meet the demand as transmission lines to connect renewables to the grid, which normally takes 10 to 12 years.

In the meantime, utilities are going to have to rely on gas, coal and nuclear, but they have been retiring fossil fuel and nuclear plants.

The Case for Fossil Fuels

“What is it about fossil fuels and the people who produce them that brings forth such uncontrolled hatred, anger, and vengefulness?” asks fellow blogger Francis Menton.

“I see enormous benefits to mankind … reliable electricity, transportation of people locally and long distances, and of freight to enable worldwide trade, comfortable heating and cooling of homes, refrigeration to preserve foods, computers, and so much more, all at remarkably low cost and remarkably small environmental impact.

“Most of fossil fuels either have no good substitutes (e.g., air travel, ocean shipping, steelmaking) or only substitutes that have both higher cost, plus inferior functionality.“

I found it interesting that the head of the world’s largest energy company – Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco – urged the world, during a speech in Houston, to accept the “hard realities” that oil and natural gas will be around for a long time to come and consumption of both sources of energy is likely to grow for at least the next decade or two.

“We should abandon the fantasy of phasing our oil and gas and instead invest in them adequately reflecting realistic demand assumptions.  All this strengthens the view that peak oil and gas is unlikely to come, let alone 2032.  No one is betting the farm on that.”

                May God continue to bless the United States of America.