on November 07, 2019

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High Electricity Prices Killed More Than 1,280 People in Japan After The Government Foolishly Shuttered All Nuclear Facilities Following Fukushima

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

High electricity prices are deadly. That's the conclusion reached by a new paper produced by the National Bureau Of Economic Research (NBER), which investigated the relationship between electricity prices and mortality after the Japanese government's decision to shut down all of its nuclear power plants following the Fukushima meltdown in March of 2011. According to NBER, shutting these plants down came at enormous costs, both economic and human. The paper reads: "To meet electricity demands, the reduction in nuclear energy production was offset by increased importation of fossil fuels, which increased the price of electricity by as much as 38 percent in some...

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on October 08, 2019

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Long Island Liberals Wake Up to How Green Extremism Hurts Constituents

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Renewable energy groups like Fresh Energy are encouraging the City of Minneapolis to follow the precedent set by the City of Berkeley in California by banning natural gas in new construction within the City to limit carbon dioxide emissions. This would be an incredibly bad idea, as liberal State Senators in New York, which has banned fracking for natural gas and opposed natural gas pipelines, are now finding out. It appears reality is crashing down on liberal elected officials in the Empire state, where the natural gas shortages they caused are threatening public safety and the state's economic growth. According to...

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on September 25, 2019

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Washington Post Poll Shows Most People Unwilling to Pay $2 Per Month Tax to Fight Climate Change

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

While the climate strike and Greta Thunberg may have the limelight this week, the unwavering truth of climate and energy policy remains: people are unwilling to pay the costs associated with reducing carbon dioxide emissions. A recent poll from the Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation shows that support for reducing carbon dioxide emissions withers under the slightest bit of scrutiny. The poll shows people favor taxing the wealthy to pay for increasing electricity costs, which is pretty much par for the course on every issue, and raising taxes on energy, even if that leads to higher prices. However, when people are asked to...

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on September 23, 2019

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Wind Produced 4 Percent Less Electricity Through June 2019 than Through June 2018, Despite More Turbines Online

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Wind generation through June of 2019 was actually 4 percent lower than through June of 2018, according to Energy Information Administration data. This decline in output comes even though there are more turbines in operation today than there were at this time in 2018. The year-over-year decline in 2019, to date, is due to lower wind production in January, February, March, and June, compared to 2018. The decline is likely due to a variety of factors including weather, turbine degradation, and possibly curtailment of wind facilities when the grid was constrained. Weather is the most likely culprit for lower wind output year-to-date...

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on September 18, 2019

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Fresh Energy Is Still Intentionally Misleading Minnesotans on Energy Issues: A Series

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Earlier this summer Mitch Rolling and I wrote a multi-part series explaining how Fresh Energy's characterization of energy issues in Minnesota is intentionally misleading Minnesotans. This page serves as a table of contents for ease of use, and it will be updated as we expand the series into the future....

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on September 17, 2019

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Liberal Anti-Mining Activists Support Wind and Solar Because it Will Make it Too Expensive to Mine in Minnesota

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Mining

MinnPost ran an interesting article last week entitled "Should We Mine Copper and Nickel in Minnesota...

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on September 02, 2019

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Clueless Minneapolis City Leaders and Sam Rockwell Are the Problem, Not Natural Gas Use

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment

Elected officials and planners in the city of Minneapolis are lamenting the fact that carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas increased in 2018, and that the city is not on track to meet it's 2050 CO2 emissions targets, according to an article in the Star Tribune. Sam Rockwell, who is the president of the Minneapolis Planning Commission, also wrote to the Strib that natural gas use must be slashed, and encouraged Minneapolis to follow the lead of Berkeley California, and ban the use of natural gas in new construction. However, it is the unrealistic, expensive, and ultimately heartless carbon dioxide emissions...

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on August 23, 2019

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Minnesota Wind Generated More Electricity Than Coal in April 2019, But That’s Not Really Relevant

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Renewable energy advocates in Minnesota will probably celebrate the fact that wind power produced more electricity than coal-fired power plants in April of this year (if they haven't already). This is true, as you can see in the graph below, but it is also irrelevant. When this phenomenon is viewed in the context of electricity demand, as well as supply, it paints a very different picture. The graph below shows total electricity generation in Minnesota, along with the generation from coal and wind, dating back to January of 2018. Coal generation fell in April of 2018 and 2019 because April is one...

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on August 19, 2019

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WindFail: Minnesota Wind Facilities Could Produce Less Electricity in 2019 Than In 2018

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

This is huge news. I was looking through some data from the Energy Information Administration's website and I stumbled upon this interesting graph which shows that electricity generation from wind in 2019 could be less than it was in 2018 (red line added for emphasis). As you can see, generation from wind power peaked in December of 2017 and has not reached anywhere close to that height in the following months. In fact, wind output was 24 percent lower in December of 2018 than in December of 2017. It is interesting to note that wind generation did increases by about 1.8 percent in...

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on May 31, 2019

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Senator Osmek Unloaded on House DFL Energy Proposals, and It Was Glorious

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Senator David Osmek (R-Mound), who is the head of the Minnesota Senate energy committee, recently unloaded on the incredibly bad proposals brought forth by the DFL-led House of Representatives, and it was glorious. Soon after the video starts, Senator Osmek calls the energy section an abomination and an absolute failure. The video gives us a glimpse into the negotiations that occurred as the House and Senate attempted to reconcile the differences between their energy priorities. Throughout the negotiation process, both the House and Senate had the opportunity name legislation that would be a "non-starter" to be taken out, but it turns out...

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