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on October 13, 2020
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123 Legislative Candidates Sign Pledge Opposing California Car Mandates

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

A MinnPost article published yesterday shows 123 legislative candidates, including Republicans and Democrats, oppose Governor Walz's attempt to impose California car mandates on Minnesotans. The pledge shows there is strong, bipartisan opposition to the regulations from legislative candidates and citizens alike. More than 5,000 Minnesotans have already signed American Experiment's petition telling Governor Walz not to adopt the regulations. You can add your name to this growing list by going to www.NoCaCars.com....

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on February 06, 2020
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Walz Accelerates Push for Unpopular California Car Mandates in Minnesota

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

It appears Governor Walz is accelerating his push to circumvent the legislative process by using the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to impose unpopular California car mandates on Minnesota. These new regulations would force Minnesota to adopt California's mandates for low emission vehicles (LEVs) and zero emissions vehicles (ZEVs) exactly as they are written in California. In our quarterly Thinking Minnesota poll, Center of the American Experiment found these mandates, which would increase the cost of vehicles sold in Minnesota, are deeply unpopular. The polling shows 68 percent of Minnesotans oppose the Governor's proposed California car mandates, if it would increase...

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on February 05, 2020
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Federal Data Show Walz’s Line 3 Delay Has Been an Anti-Science Charade

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

On Monday, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted in favor of three key approvals for the Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project, a revised environmental review, a certificate of need, and a route permit by a three to one margin. Although this is very good news that should allow the replacement of the aging pipeline to begin this year, federal data from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) show the delay should have never happened in the first place. During the Gubernatorial campaign, Tim Walz expressed his support for replacing the aging Line 3 pipeline, which transports crude...

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on January 31, 2020
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German Electricity Prices Have Increased 2.5 Times Since 2008

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

Every year for the last several years, Minnesota lawmakers have piled onto a plane to visit Germany, which is supposedly a renewable energy utopia. It is amazing that so many taxpayer dollars can be used to learn so little, because Germany is a prime example of what not to do. I've written about this topic many times, but the myth that Germany's energy system is a success story never seems to go away. Over the last 12 years, Germany has spent hundreds of billions of Euro on wind and solar, and the only thing they have to show for it is...

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on November 21, 2019
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Help Us Stop Governor Walz From Imposing California’s Car Rules on Minnesota!

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Transportation

In late September, Governor Walz announced that he would seek to impose California's mandates for zero emission vehicles and low emission vehicles on Minnesota. Rather than passing this proposal through the normal legislative process, Governor Walz is trying to impose these rules on Minnesotans by instructing the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to draft the mandates forcing our state to comply with regulations drafted by unelected bureaucrats on the California Air Resources Board. Why wouldn't Governor Walz want to go through the legislative process where legislators can weigh the pros and cons of the proposal and vote accordingly? Probably because these regulations...

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on September 30, 2019
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As $7,500 Federal Subsidies Expire, Electric Vehicles Are About to Get More Expensive

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

You may not have known this, but the federal government has been subsidizing electric vehicles (EV's) to the tune of a $7,500 tax credit for every electric vehicle sold. In fact, the subsidy is a major reason why we're starting to see more Tesla's tooling around the Twin Cities, but there's a catch: the subsidy begins to disappear after a manufacturer has sold 200,000 units, and Tesla has hit this threshold, meaning the growth of Elon's EV's could slow moving forward. The phase out of the tax credits comes at a bad time for Tesla, after the EV automaker announced it would...

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on September 27, 2019
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Three Must-Know Facts About Governor Walz’s Plan to Impose California Car Mandates on Minnesota

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Transportation

On Wednesday, Governor Walz announced that he would be using the bureaucratic rule making process to impose California’s rules for low and zero emissions vehicles (LEV and ZEV) on to Minnesota car buyers. While the Governor has tried to frame this as a win for consumer choice, Minnesota families, and the environment, the facts suggest that the Governor's proposed regulations are solution in search of a problem. Three facts you need to know about this proposal are: This is not about expanding consumer choice. It will mandate the sale of smaller, lighter cars that are not as safe as bigger, heavier...

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on September 04, 2019
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There is No Holy Grail: Some Perspective on Battery Storage

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

Today I wanted to share this graphic I found on a pro-nuclear Facebook page that really hammers home the point: we simply require far too much energy for wind, solar, and battery storage to ever be a viable, reliable source of electricity. If the folks who claim that climate change is an "existential crisis" were actually serious about reducing carbon dioxide emissions they would legalize new nuclear power and allow the electricity generated by hydropower that we already buy from Canada to count toward our "carbon free" goals. Instead, the DFL-lead house said these two proposals were non-starters. There is simply no...

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