Green Energy / Climate Issues - Failures - Lies and Falsehoods

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

ANOTHER “GREEN” CATASTROPHE



We briefly noted here the agricultural apocalypse occurring in Sri Lanka:

[W]here are the environmentalists in all this? They are doing their best to reduce agricultural output. In Sri Lanka, the government mandated organic farming, with the result that yields declined catastrophically, prices skyrocketed, and, no doubt, many died.

The London Times had a more detailed account last month, headlined: “How Sri Lanka’s shift to organic farming left it in the manure.”

What turned Sri Lanka’s economic situation from difficult to catastrophic was the decision by the Rajapaksa government to implement a nationwide ban on synthetic fertiliser. It was made not at the behest of neoliberal economists doing the bidding of global capital, but rather on the advice of environmentalists in the name of sustainable agriculture.
***
[T]hat strategy backfired in spectacular fashion. Domestic rice production fell by 14 per cent from 2021 to 2022, forcing the nation, long self-sufficient in rice production, to import hundreds of millions of dollars of rice and more than eroding all of the savings from ceasing fertiliser imports. On top of that, the ban decimated tea production, leading to a $425 million economic loss to the industry in its first six months of implementation. Tea, one of the nation’s primary crops, is a key source of its total export income, making a bad foreign exchange situation far worse.
***
Any competent agronomist could have predicted the result. And many did. Long-term use of synthetic fertilisers had helped Sri Lanka become not only food-secure but a major agricultural exporter. A survey of Sri Lanka’s farmers last July found that 75 per cent of them relied on synthetic fertilisers. For crops that are crucial sources of foreign currency and domestic food security — tea, rubber and rice — the dependence was even higher.
***
But the government ignored its own agricultural experts, instead convening representatives of the nation’s small organic sector to guide the nation’s agricultural policies. The result turned a bad situation into a disaster.


It is hard to overstate how destructive contemporary environmentalism has been around the world. Here in the U.S., we haven’t seen the kind of economic collapse experienced by countries like Sri Lanka, but it isn’t because the greenies haven’t been trying.

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GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

Wells Fargo is latest bank to set emissions reduction rules on lending for oil, gas companies



Wells Fargo has become the latest major financial institution to set new greenhouse gas standards requiring borrowers in the energy sector to reduce emissions.

Oil and natural gas companies must reduce their absolute emissions by 26% by 2030, based on 2019 emission levels, Wells Fargo said last week. Other power sector businesses must see a 60% reduction during the same time period.


The new rules from Wells Fargo are part of a trend from financial institutions around the world to implement such climate regulations for its lending programs, joining the likes of Citigroup Inc. and the United Nations-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance. The alliance is an industry-led coalition of banks from across the globe with the goal to align their lending and investments with net-zero emissions by 2050.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

Grid operators warn of electricity shortage amid switch to renewables: Report



Electric-grid operators from across the country are warning of the potential for blackouts as companies attempt to transition to green energy sources.

"I am concerned about it," MISO Chief Executive John Bear told the Wall Street Journal in a report Sunday. "As we move forward, we need to know that when you put a solar panel or a wind turbine up, it’s not the same as a thermal resource."

Extreme heat and wildfires over the summer could lead to a shortage of energy in California, the state's grid operator told WSJ. The Midwest could face similar issues with MISO warning of capacity shortages that could lead to outages.

The issue is on the rise throughout the country as many traditional and nuclear power plants are being retired to make way for renewable sources of energy, but the plants are going offline faster than renewable energy and battery storage can keep up.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Howard, during a PSC session Thursday, said local pols “totally obfuscated” the costs of the plan because the sticker shock would have made the initiative unpopular.

The law, which Cuomo signed in a ceremony with Al Gore at his side, requires New York to slash greenhouse emissions by 40% by 2030 and no less than 85% by 2050 by transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, such as hydropower, solar and wind. The state Climate Action Council, meanwhile, is charged with developing a plan to put the state on a path toward zero carbon emissions.

Lawmakers, Howard said, refused to directly vote to raise taxes to pay for the capital investments required to develop cleaner energy alternatives to fossil fuels — and left the PSC to be the fall guy.

The commission — which regulates power utilities — was tasked with approving rate increases to pay for the capital investments required to comply with the new green-deal inspired law.

Con Edison and other utilities will pass on those costs to customers.


 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

Putin’s Useful Idiots: How U.S. Climate Extremists Are Funding Russia’s Agenda



These suspicious donations to radical environmental groups could be part of the larger geopolitical strategy Putin used to execute greater control over Europe before his invasion of Ukraine. For instance, if the United States had ramped up natural gas production, Putin could not today be blackmailing Poland and Bulgaria by cutting off their energy supply. Had America allowed more investment in fracking and other energy production, Putin would not have strategic leverage over Europe.

Most Americans know Putin does not want to see the United States succeed. What they may not know is these anti-energy groups acting under the guise of “environmental justice” are funded by a handful of wealthy Americans who are either blindingly naïve to the role they have played in supporting Putin’s agenda or willfully complicit.

There is no more notorious example than the Heinz Endowment, led by Teresa Heinz, wife of U.S. climate envoy John Kerry. Under her watch, the endowment has deployed at least $13 million toward anti-shale activism since 2008, killing jobs and prosperity in their own Pennsylvania backyard and unnecessarily forcing America to give up market share to tyrants like Putin.

The Heinz fortune funds dozens of Pennsylvania groups engaged in killing pipelines and natural gas production. One of their beneficiaries, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, is successfully fighting to keep a ban on natural gas production in the Delaware River Basin that is preventing access to vast new reserves.

In fact, Pennsylvania, where the Heinz family made their fortune and is still based, is bearing the brunt of this campaign. The latest example is the Keystone State’s addition to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Sierra Club and NRDC lobbied in favor of expanding the interstate compact to tax carbon emissions to include Pennsylvania, even though scientists at Penn State found 86 percent of carbon emissions will simply move to nearby states.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

Why are we feeding crops to our cars when people are starving?



There’s nothing complicated about the effects of turning crops into biofuel. If food is used to power cars or generate electricity or heat homes, either it must be snatched from human mouths, or ecosystems must be snatched from the planet’s surface, as arable lands expand to accommodate the extra demand. But governments and the industries that they favour obscure this obvious truth. They distract and confuse us about an evidently false solution to climate breakdown.

From inception, the incentives and rules promoting biofuels on both sides of the Atlantic had little to do with saving the planet and everything to do with political expediency. Angela Merkel pushed for an EU biofuels mandate as a means of avoiding stronger fuel economy standards for German motor manufacturers. In the US, they have long been used to prop up the price of grain and provide farmers with a guaranteed market. That’s why the Biden administration, as the midterm elections loom, remains committed to this cruelty.

As the investigative group Transport & Environment shows, the land used to grow the biofuels consumed in Europe covers 14m hectares (35m acres): an area larger than Greece. Of the soy oil consumed in the European Union, 32% is eaten by cars and trucks. They devour 50% of all the palm oil used in the EU and 58% of the rapeseed oil. Altogether, 18% of the world’s vegetable oil is turned into biodiesel, and 10% of the world’s grains are transformed into ethanol, to mix with petrol.

A new report by Green Alliance, an independent thinktank, shows that the food used by the UK alone for biofuels could feed 3.5 million people. If biofuel production ceased worldwide, according to one estimate, the saved crops could feed 1.9 billion human beings. The only consistent and reliable outcome of this technology is hunger.
 

Kyle

ULTRA-F###ING-MAGA!
PREMO Member
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GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Amen. Put another way, the left must destroy all relevant facts, data, history, logic and common sense if they are to be successful in their fearmongering efforts. Nonetheless, the Louisiana senator continued piling damning facts on Joe Biden and the Democrats.

Now, high oil prices are also waterboarding our farmers which contributes to these high food prices. Did you know that we make industrial fertilizer with fossil fuels? And when natural gas costs more, so does fertilizing a field of wheat or corn or soybeans. Some of our herbicides right now are twice as expensive as they were—if farmers can find them.
Now, what does that mean for Louisiana rice farmers and other growers? For every extra dime farmers spend on a gallon of diesel—every extra dime—a grower will spend about $4.50 more for an acre of rice, $2.30 more for an acre of cotton, and an extra $1.74 for an acre of corn. Corn growers — I mentioned corn growers — they also depend on nitrogen fertilizer, which we make with methane.
And then corn—I mentioned corn—goes into cereal, goes into sweetened drinks, peanut butter, baby food, ketchup, and salad dressing. You know, I don’t mean to be ugly, but this administration’s energy policy is deeply, profoundly stupid.

No doubt a reference to Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia to beg the kingdom for oil — purely for politically expedient purposes — Kennedy warned of the danger attached to relying on foreign oil imports.

For the sake of Americans’ economic futures and for the sake of our national security, Mr. President, we cannot continue to rely on foreign oil imports—we can’t—while pretending to run this country using wind, solar and wishful thinking. Because that’s what the president’s new policy is on energy. It’s wind. It’s solar. It’s wishful thinking. Wishful thinking doesn’t fill gas tanks or grocery carts.
This was a brutal beatdown. A well-deserved beatdown, of course, but a U.S. senator burning the president of the United States to a charcoal briquette — on the floor of the U.S. Senate, no less.



 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Now, two new studies suggest that Biden and the Democrats are full of either don’t know what they’re talking about, lying, or both. Yeah, I know; both possibilities would be “shocking.” [eye-roll emoji]

Based on separate studies published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and J.D. Power, electric vehicles are worse for the environment than gas-powered vehicles, and battery-electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles have more quality issues than gas-powered vehicles.

First, the Democrat schtick that EVs are better for the environment, via the NBER.

By quantifying the externalities (both greenhouse gases and local air pollution) generated by driving these vehicles, the government subsidies on the purchase of EVs, and taxes on electric and/or gasoline miles, researchers found that “electric vehicles generate a negative environmental benefit of about -0.5 cents per mile relative to comparable gasoline vehicles (-1.5 cents per mile for vehicles driven outside metropolitan areas).
Researchers specifically pointed out that despite being treated by regulators as “zero-emission vehicles,” electric cars are not emissions-free. Charging an EV increases electricity demand. Renewal resources supply only 20 percent of the country’s electricity needs. The remaining 80 percent were generated by fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, despite billions of dollars in green subsidies.

The American Economic Review summed it up nicely:

The comparison between a gasoline vehicle and an electric one is really a comparison between burning gasoline or a mix of coal and natural gas to move the vehicle.
Joe? Coal, Joe. You know how much you hate coal, man. And what about EV batteries? Via Bloomberg:

The link is graphite, a vital component in batteries used in Tesla’s Model S, Toyota’s plug-in Prius, and other electric cars, as well as in electronic gadgets including iPhones.
It’s mostly mined and processed in China where graphite pollution has fouled air and water, damaged crops, and raised health concerns.
Now, in response, Chinese authorities are closing dozens of graphite mines and processors in a bid for cleaner air even as global demand for the commodity is surging.

 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

British eco-zealots who have slashed tires of at least 40 gas-guzzling SUVs in NYC now attack cars in Chicago, San Francisco and Scranton as they 'massively expand' operation after wreaking havoc in UK

  • The Tire Extinguishers have slashed more than 5,000 tires since March
  • The UK-based movement has spread across the US in the last month
  • The group deflated tires on 40 SUV and luxury cars in NYC in late June
  • They recently hit cars in Chicago, San Francisco and Scranton, Pennsylvania
  • Climate activists have promised to 'expand massively' in the coming weeks


The Tire Extinguishers claim SUVs and 4x4 vehicles are a 'disaster for our health, our public safety and our climate.'

The group alleges that government officials and policies have 'failed to protect us from this danger' so they have chosen to take action into their own hands.

'We want to make it impossible to own a huge polluting 4x4 in the world's urban areas,' the group's web site states.

'We do this by deflating the tres (sic) of these massive, unnecessary vehicles, causing inconvenience and expense for their owners.'

[clip]

'The Tire Extinguishers want to see bans on SUVs in urban areas, pollution levies to tax SUVs out of existence, and massive investment in free, comprehensive public transport,' the group told Fox News in June.

'But until politicians make this a reality, Tire Extinguishers action will continue.'
 

stgislander

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member

British eco-zealots who have slashed tires of at least 40 gas-guzzling SUVs in NYC now attack cars in Chicago, San Francisco and Scranton as they 'massively expand' operation after wreaking havoc in UK

  • The Tire Extinguishers have slashed more than 5,000 tires since March
  • The UK-based movement has spread across the US in the last month
  • The group deflated tires on 40 SUV and luxury cars in NYC in late June
  • They recently hit cars in Chicago, San Francisco and Scranton, Pennsylvania
  • Climate activists have promised to 'expand massively' in the coming weeks


The Tire Extinguishers claim SUVs and 4x4 vehicles are a 'disaster for our health, our public safety and our climate.'

The group alleges that government officials and policies have 'failed to protect us from this danger' so they have chosen to take action into their own hands.

'We want to make it impossible to own a huge polluting 4x4 in the world's urban areas,' the group's web site states.

'We do this by deflating the tres (sic) of these massive, unnecessary vehicles, causing inconvenience and expense for their owners.'

[clip]

'The Tire Extinguishers want to see bans on SUVs in urban areas, pollution levies to tax SUVs out of existence, and massive investment in free, comprehensive public transport,' the group told Fox News in June.

'But until politicians make this a reality, Tire Extinguishers action will continue.'
Scranton???
 

TPD

the poor dad
So additional tires need to be made to replace the ones that are slashed. And what are tires made with? Yup - oil. So yeah these greenies are making a difference in carbon emissions.
 

Sneakers

Just sneakin' around....
So additional tires need to be made to replace the ones that are slashed. And what are tires made with? Yup - oil. So yeah these greenies are making a difference in carbon emissions.
Not to mention contributing to the waste issue.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

'I will not back down': Biden says he will use executive powers to force through his agenda after Manchin said he could not back his green agenda


'Action on climate change and clean energy remains more urgent than ever. So let me be clear: if the Senate will not move to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen our domestic clean energy industry, I will take strong executive action to meet this moment,' Biden said.

'I will not back down: the opportunity to create jobs and build a clean energy future is too important to relent,' Biden added.

He also signaled support for a narrow bill whittled down to legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug costs. It would be a far cry from his original Build Back Better plan, but might at least provide Democrats a win leading into Labor Day campaigning.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
The European Union is divided on how to help poorer nations fight a growing food crisis and address shortages of fertilisers caused by the war in Ukraine, with some fearing a plan to invest in plants in Africa would clash with EU green goals. (…)
At a summit of EU leaders [in late June], the EU was planning a new initiative that would structurally decrease poorer nations’ reliance on Russian fertilisers by helping them develop their own fertiliser plants.
But at a meeting with EU envoys last week, the EU Commission explicitly opposed the text, warning that supporting fertiliser production in developing nations would be inconsistent with the EU energy and environment policies, officials said.

The plague of the green agenda is not limited to food security in Africa. As Tucker Carlson noted in his Fox News op-ed on Tuesday, these globalist policies are wreaking havoc on Ghana’s power sector as well.

Since Ghana signed a deal with the DC-based World Bank to ‘cut carbon emissions’ in 2019, the country is in the grip of massive power outages that impact ordinary people and industrial production alike.

Tucker Carlson writes:

So, the Green New Deal is actually taking effect around the world. So, we don’t have to guess what would happen if it took effect here. We can know. That’s science. Let’s start with Ghana. Ghana’s a pretty little country, peaceful place, actually, on the west coast of Africa. Three years ago, Ghana was in great shape. It had one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. In fact, it had so much energy over most of the last decade, it was exporting it to its neighbors in West Africa.
Now, those energy exports from Ghana peaked in 2014. Why that year? Well because the next year, the World Bank published this headline on its website, “World Bank approves largest-ever guarantees for Ghana’s Energy Transformation.” Oh, when they promise to transform your energy, slow down. But Ghana didn’t slow down.
They just kept going. The World Bank promised to provide, and we’re quoting, “technical assistance for energy sector reforms and the drafting of a new renewable energy law.” So, in return for all this help, Ghana agreed to limit its carbon emissions, and then they entered the Paris climate agreement. Oh, how virtuous. What happened next? This is the part you don’t read that much about.
Last year, Ghana experienced a complete shutdown of its national power supply. No more electricity, no emissions, because we have no electricity, and blackouts have continued since then. Just yesterday, a news source in Ghana reported that, “Residents in parts of the Ashanti region who have been hit with power cuts are without water as well,” because it turns out you need electricity to provide water also to grow food. Now, this is not a small thing. The Ashanti region has millions of people living in it. They’re all now living in the Stone Age and it’s not just the energy grid that’s now compromised in Ghana.

 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

As green policies trigger protests, economic crisis abroad, Biden clings to climate change agenda


ESG is "how they get to push their woke agenda into the corporate boardrooms, by mandating these new ESG provisions," said Morrisey, adding, "that's how you try to get the private sector market to do what the government lacked authority to do."

Texas Republican state Rep. Steve Toth argues that Biden administration support for ESG policies further undermines domestic oil and gas production, even as gas prices surpassed $5 a gallon for the first time in June and oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is being shipped overseas due to a lack of refinery capacity.

"Lay off this stupid ESG — environmental social governance," Toth told the "Just the News, Not Noise" TV show on Wednesday. "We have so many small and medium-sized oil and gas providers that would love to drill wells, but they can't get access to capital to drill the wells. And if they can come across someone to finance the well, so that they can drill it, they can't get insurance companies out of Wall Street to underwrite the drilling of the well, because of environmental social governance scores the Biden administration is pushing to try and kill the petroleum and gas industry. It's just absolutely ludicrous."

The Biden administration knows "what the problem is," Toth said. "They know that it's their own making, it's their own doing. And yet, they're continuing to say stupid things like gas station owners are the problem. How ridiculous."
 
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