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 October 04, 2019

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California Forced to Subsidize Natural Gas Plants to Prevent Widespread Blackouts

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment

Wind and solar are often touted as a way of reducing our electricity bills, and our dependence on fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. However, the experience of California shows that these talking points are flat out wrong. There is no question that California has some of the most aggressive mandates for renewable energy production in the country. The state recently adopted a 100 percent "clean" energy mandate b 2045, with 60 percent of the state's electricity coming from renewable energy by 2030. A new law requires all new houses built in the Golden State to have solar panels on...

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on October 03, 2019

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It Costs $532,000 to Decommission A Single Wind Turbine

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

It looks like Minnesota will have a very expensive mess to clean up when the wind turbines currently operating in the state reach the end of their 20 year useful lifetimes....

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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 22, 2019

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Sunday Funnies: Cobalt Mining in the Congo for Renewable Energy Sources

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Mining

There's more than a twinge of hypocrisy among liberal environmentalists that want to stop responsible mining for copper, nickel, and cobalt in Minnesota at all costs, yet demand that the state transition to 100 percent carbon free electricity without nuclear or large hydro. Wind and solar power use enormous amounts of copper and nickel and Minnesota has the largest undeveloped reserves of these metals in the world. It's our responsibility to mine them responsibly, not to export environmental damage, and our conscience, to developing countries. ...

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on September 20, 2019

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Renewables Threaten German Economy & Energy Supply, McKinsey Warns In New Report

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment

Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan and other lawmakers recently traveled to Germany to supposedly learn about Germany's "Energy Transition," and bring home useful lessons that can be gleaned for Minnesota's energy future. From what I can tell, they group didn't get their money's worth, because almost all of the media covering Germany's attempt to close their nuclear plants and rely on wind and solar are saying that the policy is a disaster. It's not just people who work at think tanks, either. In fact, consulting giant Wood McKinsey wrote that Germany's energy policy poses a signficatn threat to the nation's economy and energy...

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on September 18, 2019

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Statewide View Column: Closing Down Coal Gives China’s, India’s Iron Industries An Edge

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Mining, Minnesota Economy

The following article was written by me, and it originally appeared in the Duluth News Tribune. Xcel Energy recently made headlines by announcing it wished to close down its coal-fired power plants 10 years before they were previously scheduled to retire. However, it would be nothing short of a disaster for Minnesota’s mining industry, both present and future, if Minnesota Power pursued a similar path by closing the coal-fired Boswell Energy Center at a time when China and India are greatly expanding their use of coal. Mining requires an enormous amount of energy. In fact, the MinnTac mine in Mountain Iron reportedly...

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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 16, 2019

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Justice and Drew: Jamie Long’s Cushy University Job Was Created to Refute American Experiment’s Energy Work

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Last week Justice and Drew told it like it is by exposing the fact that Representative Jamie Long's position at the University Minnesota's Institute on the Environment was created to refute American Experiment's work on the high cost of renewable energy in Minnesota. The fact that the liberal McKnight Foundation wanted to launder $50,000 through the University to hire Representative Long shows that the other side knows American Experiment is a big difference in the energy debate, and they are deploying an "all hands on deck" strategy to try and refute our work....

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