on September 25, 2020

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China Announces Climate Target, The Left Swoons. Rinse Repeat.

Written by Isaac Orr

Liberal environmentalists are swooning over the fact that China has recently announced that it will be "climate neutral" by 2060. State Representative Jamie Long (DFL) who authored a bill that would require Minnesota to get 100 percent of its electricity from wind, solar, and battery storage by 2050 said China's announcement meant the U.S. was out of excuses and needs to act now. https://twitter.com/Jamiemlong/status/1308768044148088833?s=20 Michael Noble, who is the Exective Director at Fresh Energy called it a BFD (Google it). https://twitter.com/NobleIdeas/status/1308567447780364288?s=20 However, if liberal wind and solar advocates believe China will actually be carbon neutral by 2060, I've got a whole slew of bridges...

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on September 22, 2020

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What’s Wrong with Wind and Solar?

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

Regular readers of Center of the American Experiment understand that wind and solar are expensive, unreliable, and they require massive amounts of metals to generate just a fraction of the energy that we derive from oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear power. Mark Mills of the Manhattan Institute is one of the leading researchers exploring the environmental impacts of wind and solar, and the amount of mining that would be required to be conducted if we were to try and implement the Green Dream, or whatever it's called. Enjoy the video from PragerU. https://youtu.be/RqppRC37OgI...

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on September 17, 2020

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Otter Tail Power Will Build 50 Megawatts of Solar, But Its Electricity Will Come from Coal and Gas in the Dakotas

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

Otter Tail Power Company (OTP), the smallest electric utility in the state of Minnesota, will build 50 megawatts of solar near their soon-to-be retired Hoot Lake coal facility. The Fergus Falls Journal reports the facility will include around 170,000 solar panels and generate enough electricity to power about 10,000 homes each year, but by my calculations, based on federal data on electricity usage and factoring in Minnesota's unproductive solar panels, the number would be closer to 6,750 OTP customers. Either way, it doesn't really matter, because the vast majority of OTP's power will be shipped in from coal and natural gas...

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on September 10, 2020

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U.S. Approves First Small Commercial Nuclear Reactor

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

The future of nuclear power looks a little brighter now that U.S. officials have approved a design for a small commercial nuclear reactor for the first time in the nation's history. According to the Associated Press: "The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday approved Portland-based NuScale Power’s application for the small modular reactor that Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems plans to build at a U.S. Department of Energy site in eastern Idaho. "The small reactors can produce about 60 megawatts of energy, or enough to power more than 50,000 homes. The proposed project includes 12 small modular reactors. The first would be...

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on September 09, 2020

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California is Still Struggling to Keep the Lights On

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

In Mid-August, more than two million California families and businesses lost their electricity during a record-breaking heat wave because the sun was setting, rending The Golden State's fleet of solar panels unable to generate electricity. Decades of bad energy policy had left the state with too few sources of reliable electricity. Blackouts, or rather "greenouts," ensued. Since that time, there have not been more blackouts, but there have been several very close calls, including over Labor Day weekend. Last weekend again brought scorching temperatures to the Southwest, and the California grid operator, the California Independent Systems Operator, pleaded with residents to voluntarily...

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on September 02, 2020

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California Blackouts: A Reality Check for Minnesota’s Wind and Solar Ambitions

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

The following article was written by Isaac Orr and originally appeared in the Faribault Daily News: Millions of California families and businesses recently lost their electricity during a record-breaking heat wave. The blackouts occurred because of bad decisions by California politicians to shut down many of the state’s reliable nuclear, natural gas, and coal-fired power plants, resulting in an overdependence on unreliable energy sources like wind and solar. As a result, the state was unable to generate enough electricity to meet demand when it was needed most. California’s rolling blackouts should be a reality check for the Minnesota lawmakers, utility executives, and...

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on August 27, 2020

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Solar Panels Are Starting to Die. What Will We Do With The Megatons Of Toxic Trash?

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

Most people seem to believe that wind and solar panels produce no waste and have no negative environmental impacts. Unfortunately, these people are wrong. In reality, everything that humans do has an environmental impact, whether it be mining, using a coal-fired power plant, or even tourism. When it comes to energy and environmental policy, the real question to ask is not "will there be an impact?" but rather, "can the impacts be minimized?" and "do the benefits outweigh the costs?" Because everything has an effect on the environment, it is important that everyone understands the impacts of all energy sources so we...

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on August 26, 2020

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Xcel Should Skip the Solar and Wind and Plan for A Nuclear Future

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

Last weekend the Minneapolis Star Tribune ran an article entitled Xcel Looks At New Nuclear Options As it Moves to Carbon-Free Power Goals. The article explains that nuclear energy is critical to Xcel Energy's carbon free energy plans and the role that newer nuclear reactors could play in their energy portfolio. It is very telling that Xcel wants to build new nuclear power plants because according to a recent filing with Minnesota regulators, the company clearly knows that building a grid to operate on high levels of wind and solar penetration is a recipe for the kind of blackouts that recently affected 2...

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on August 24, 2020

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Clear Energy Alliance: California Scapegoating

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

California's energy grid is a mess, and the liberal politicians who have been in charge of the Golden State are to blame. Unsurprisingly, those same politicians are trying to blame anyone, or anything, for the problems California is experiencing rather than owning up to their own mistakes. https://youtu.be/ViOBqC7w-1Q...

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on August 18, 2020

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Michael Shellenberger: Democrats Say California Is Model For Climate Action But Its Blackouts Say Otherwise

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

California is giving America a preview of the Green New Deal. Millions of families have had their power shut off because of the bad decisions made by politicians. These politicians set up the dominoes leading to the blackouts for decades by shutting down reliable forms of electricity like coal, nuclear, and natural gas, and believing in the fairy tale that wind and solar power would be able to get the job done when the chips were down. We are seeing in real time that they cannot. Michael Shellenberger writes about how Joe Biden's climate plan would usher in an energy system...

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