By any means necessary

When you read this, think ESG Scores.  (Read previous post.)

Who needs the legislative branch when the Administrative State can accomplish all your unconstitutional policies?  If the opposition (AKA the American public) don’t like it, make ‘em sue.  During the time it takes to get a case to the Supreme Court, you can do a lot of damage to our economy, our culture, our safety - to whatever made America a great place to live.  

. CONTROL . 

By any means necessary.

Biden Plays Capture the Federal Reserve

Sarah Bloom Raskin wants to politicize Fed bank supervision, especially on climate.

Wall Street Journal, By 

  

Jan. 17, 2022 

President Biden has a chance to remake the Federal Reserve Board of Governors by filling multiple vacancies. This is especially important given inflation’s breakout, yet Mr. Biden’s latest nominees seem less worried about prices than pushing progressive policies that aren’t the Fed’s job.

Mr. Biden on Friday nominated former Treasury official Sarah Bloom Raskin as Fed vice chair for supervision, along with economists Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson to vacancies on the Board of Governors. All three deserve scrutiny, but especially Ms. Raskin given what would be her regulatory power over banks and finance.

Ms. Raskin previously served as a Fed governor from 2010 to 2014. But her recent public statements have focused on climate change, especially using financial regulation to steer capital from fossil fuels to green energy.

“The Fed’s unique independence affords it a powerful role,” Ms. Raskin added. “The decisions the Fed makes on our behalf should build toward a stronger economy with more jobs in innovative industries—not prop up and enrich dying ones.” By unique independence, she apparently means it is unaccountable to voters. The Fed won’t pay a price at the ballot box if it destroys jobs.

Ms. Raskin expanded on her views in a June 2020 report “Addressing Climate as a Systemic Risk,” for the liberal investing outfit Ceres. “We must rebuild with an economy where the values of sustainability are explicitly embedded in market valuation,” she wrote. This will require “our financial regulatory bodies to do all they can—which turns out to be a lot—to bring about the adoption of practices and policies that will allocate capital and align portfolios toward sustainable investments that do not depend on carbon and fossil fuels.”

Note that phrase “allocate capital.” Among other things, the report recommended the Fed use climate stress tests to make banks account for the risk of government anti-carbon policies such as electric-car mandates and carbon taxes. It also suggested that the Fed deem fossil fuels risky assets and require banks to calculate the carbon emissions of their loans and investments.

Now Ms. Raskin apparently wants the Fed to use the law to force banks to finance green energy—for instance, electric-vehicle charging stations and rooftop solar panels—in minority communities. None of this is the Fed’s job under the law. The central bank’s regulatory command is financial stability, not making policy judgments that are the province of Congress, and not using regulation to allocate capital based on politics.

*****

The scariest scenario the US is not prepared for!

Do you trust the US government to keep us safe?  Neither do I.  

So who is going to save us from a predictable disaster in the making - EMPs?

All Americans must convince our infantile, squabbling “leaders” at the state and local levels to prepare for threats to our electric grid.  It’s up to us - we who live in reality - to drag others out of their ignorance and avoidance into the cold, hard world where existential dangers other than being called by the wrong pronoun exist, and no one cares what your race or gender is when actual survival is at stake.  

Everything you need to know - and what you would rather not know - about the real and present dangers of Electric Magnetic Pulses can be found on the EMP Task Force website.  

Don’t run away - learn about the problem and how easy it would be to solve, if only our leaders cared. 

The EMP Task Force

The Task Force on National and Homeland Security is an official Congressional Advisory Board recognized as such by the Ethics Committee under the name “The Task Force on National and Homeland Security” and as a Virginia based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization under the name “EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security”.  As such, Task Force on National and Homeland Security receives no Congressional funding and operates solely on donations.

EMP Taskforce on National and Homeland Security

The threat of the U.S. power grid crashing is a very real but preventable problem but the average American has no idea of the severity of vulnerability under which we live.  Experts say our power grid can be destroyed and, when that happens, 70-90% of the U.S. population will die within the first year.  Experts also say it is not a mere possibility but a near certainty that the grid will be hit and it could happen at any time.  Six Congressional Blue Ribbon Commissions and several independent research organizations agree with those statements.  There are relatively inexpensive solutions to address the vulnerabilities of our electric grid and other critical infrastructures.  Our website seeks to educate the American people regarding what is facing us and what can be done.

WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, LIFE AS WE KNOW IT WILL END

We use electricity for almost every aspect of modern life. In our current state of unpreparedness, it is not a question of if, but WHEN, the grid collapses. When the U.S. grid collapses from a major incidence, there will be no food, water, sewage, gas, gasoline, medical services, or communications in large sections of the U.S. for years. If anyone in America doubts this, the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and other governmental and non-governmental organizations urge the American people to get the facts. Whatever you do, do not let the utilities industry decide for you.

Vision Statement

At the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, we believe the citizens and the local, state and national governments of the United States of America can come together to save lives by protecting our electric power and our critical infrastructures – including water & wastewater, communications, emergency services, transportation, healthcare & public health, food & agriculture, energy, banking & finance – against any and all threats, including cyber, physical attacks, extreme solar weather, and non-nuclear and nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP). Together, we can save lives and protect America by taking action at the personal, local, state and national levels.

A Call to Action for America 

BLACKOUT WARFARE

What U.S. Leaders Must Do to Deter a Catastrophic Sino-Russian Cyber/EMP/Nuclear Attack and Ensure America’s National Survival

GRID SECURITY NOW! 

Q: How Did We Became So Vulnerable?

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Michael Mabee

Social scores - Not just a conspiracy theory anymore

 I wish this was a case of hyperbole. I wish I could go to sleep and wake up in a world where personal freedom and defending our Constitutional rights were universal values.  The changes that we are experiencing today have been in the works for decades.  More and more dots are connecting and the shape of things to come is being revealed,  Is it too late to change what seems inevitable? Are the elites who control this diabolical movement too strong for the masses to fight?  Especially when our energy, food, our homes, possessions, work and freedom are at stake?  

Read about ESGs - Environmental Social and Governance Scores.  Originally developed to rate businesses, they are now being used by some financial firms to rate customers and their use will spread.  Don’t just skim the article, read the whole thing and then do research on ESGs for yourself.  

Have you changed your browser from Google yet?  If you want to get a more varied response to your internet searches you must use another browser. 

THE IMPACT INVESTOR / JULY 16, 2021

How to Calculate Your Individual ESG Score

ESG covers a range of issues, including the overall environmental impact a company or its services imparts in addition to diversity, human rights, and other social issues. Governance plays a role as well. Every company will have an ESG rating which is considered their ESG score.

Investors and other companies use this to help determine partnership, investment, and even takeover decisions.

You may know all about your credit score, but an individual ESG score is still rather new. Many mainstream financial institutions are creating a new platform that is centered on ESG scores.

In addition to creating this platform, their lending guidelines are also getting an update that includes new rules that will tie your individual ESG score to your ability to secure lending.

Being that it’s still new, there is not too much that is completely known about how it will be used and what regulations will improve or correct your score. In many cases, people are generally unaware that they even have an ESG score unless they happen to come across it in the process of doing something totally unrelated.

For example, consumers who have accounts with Merrill Lynch will be able to view their score, whatever that may be. While this may sound like tales out of China, it is a system that is, in fact, being implement in the US and soon many other nations.

Lenders will use this system to choose who they extend services or credit to. The main reason is that companies, including lenders, are being graded according to the ESG standards themselves.

Their business and prosperity depend directly on their hiring practices, gender diversity, social and environmental impact, and other ESG factors. As they are required to prove their case, they will also need to show that their clients meet the standards they are being graded on.

A few different things will determine your personal ESG score, many of which can be discovered via your regular credit report and other public records. Your purchase history and also your sales history will have a dramatic effect on your ESG rating as a person.

The charities that you support will also increase or even decrease your ESG score. The platform will track your personal impact in the environment around you through various means, which will also be used to calculate your individual ESG score.

The purpose behind each person being assigned an individual ESG score is to help reward actions that will help move the world towards sustainability. While there are not currently any downsides to having an ESG score, regardless of how high or how low, there will come a time where too low of a score can result in denials for loans or services similar to the way credit scores currently function.

For now, ESG scores for individuals are used as a tracking tool for companies to monitor behavior. For those who have already started using ESG scores as part of their business model, some people with good scores may notice lucrative offers, easier loan terms, and even targeted packages designed to reward green or sustainable behaviors.

There are a few different places you can check to find your score. If you hold an account at a major financial firm such as Meryl Lynch, your personal ESG score will be listed on your account with your other personal details. You can also check any of the main ESG monitoring companies’ websites.

Usually, you will need to create an account or contact them directly to get information regarding your personal score.

If you are not an investor or don’t have a big financial account, it can be difficult to get your score from traditional places. However, you can calculate your score to get a better idea of how companies view you in sustainability.

ESG ratings are based on the measure of behaviors, investments, habits, and other actions gathered from a range of public sources. Your score may be adjusted depending on a range of factors, including the company’s policies from which your score is delivered.

ESG scores take a lot of information into account when it comes to commercial and industrial entities. On a personal level, just as much information is used to create a picture of who you are and how your personal actions influence the world around you.

Buying a gun, alcohol, or even clothing will all affect your overall ESG score. Not only will your purchases matter, but who you purchase from and how they do business.

Your political affiliations also factor into your personal ESG score. Aside from the politics in governance, the party you support and even the person you vote for will make your score go up or down based on that person’s actions, policies, and voting habits.

The type of car you drive, how often, and even how many people are in the car when you drive will also come into play when deciding your score.

Unlike credit scores with a clear method of tabulation, cause, and effect, ESG scores depend on a wide variety of factors that most people have yet to consider. Depending on where you live, even calculating a personal ESG score can mean giving up your rights to basic privacy.

Continue reading the article to find out how to calculate your own ESG.  

Now, how can we put a stop to this thing?!  

Why so many politicians are so stupid

I learned a new term today.  It feels so great to put a name to what we see going on around us. We don’t hav to wonder how the sun rises each day now that we know about astronomy.  To those who have never heard of it before, I introduce you to The Dunning-Kroger Effect.  It’s the perfect diagnosis for the disease of political wokeness and other forms of stupidity and willful blindness. .  

Example:

“Oh no!  Kate Brown is suffering from Dunning-Kruger! She needs to get help for this disorder before she harms anyone else.”  

You can feel free to fill in any name in place of Oregon’s current governor - people who refuse to consider their own incompetence or facts and logic when dealing with problems.  

Imagine people operating in fields where their bad decisions have no immediate or personal consequences?  Being surrounded by those who depend upon the same environment for their living? Only working with people who have the same proclivities and are likely to suffer from the same condition?   Objectivity is replaced by subjective truths. Nothing to tell the Dunning-Kruger sufferer that their thinking is erroneous or their skills are inadequate. 

What a nightmare!  What is the cure for DKE?  That is something the CDC should look into as it seems to be of pandemic proportions now.

Wikipedia:

The Dunning–Kruger effect is the cognitive bias whereby people with low abilityat a task overestimate their ability. Some researchers also include in their definition the opposite effect for high performers: their tendency to underestimate their skills. The Dunning–Kruger effect is usually measured by comparing self-assessment with objective performance. For example, the participants in a study may be asked to complete a quiz and then estimate how well they did. This subjective assessment is then compared to how well they actually did. This can happen either in relative or in absolute terms, i.e., in comparison to one's peer group as the percentage of peers outperformed or in comparison to objective standards as the number of questions answered correctly. The Dunning–Kruger effect appears in both cases but is more pronounced in relative terms: the bottom quartile of performers tend to see themselves as being part of the top two quartiles. The initial study was done by David Dunning and Justin Kruger. It focuses on, logical reasoning, grammar, and social skills. Since then, various other studies have been conducted across a wide range of tasks. These include skills from fields such as business, politics, medicine, driving, aviation, spatial memory, exams in school, and literacy.

Many debates surrounding the Dunning–Kruger effect and criticisms of it focus on the meta-cognitive explanation but accept the empirical findings themselves otherwise. This is often done by providing alternative explanations that promise a better account of the observed tendencies. The most prominent among them is the statistical explanation, which holds that the Dunning–Kruger effect is mainly a statistical artifact due to the regression toward the mean combined with another cognitive bias known as the better-than-average effect. Other theorists hold that the way low and high performers are distributed makes it more difficult for low performers to assess their skill level, thereby explaining their erroneous self-assessments independent of their meta-cognitive abilities. Another account sees the lack of incentives to give accurate self-assessments as the source of error.

The Dunning–Kruger effect is relevant for various practical matters. It can lead people to make bad decisions, such as choosing a career for which they are unfit or engaging in behavior dangerous for themselves or others due to being unaware of lacking the necessary skills. It may also inhibit the affected from addressing their shortcomings to improve themselves. In some cases, the associated overconfidence may have positive side effects, like increasing motivation and energy.

Erasing you as a person, turning you into a group

 Individual rights?  They are disappearing.  Anything to do with the concept of the individual is becoming politically obsolete. The only personal thing left is one’s “personal truth” or “lived experience “ which allows one to discount facts as they please - as long as the “truth” aligns with socialist groupthink.  YOU are erased.  

Whoever you are, you exist only as part of whatever group government assigns you.  Your intellect, talent, values and intrinsic worth are not important.  You exist to serve government, not the other way around.  If you believe government employees were public “servants”, wake up and look around you.  You are living in the past, before teachers’ unions, public administrators, city managers, planning departments, academia, propagandists, big tech and social justice and equity movements took over the job of telling us what to think and what we could say.  

Don’t feel safe just because Oregon has not fallen down this particular rathole  - yet - it has succumbed to racism in other areas (education) that will yield serious consequences later.  

Do you feel sick?  

Check your skin color to see if you deserve to be treated.  

New York’s Race-Based Preferential Covid Treatments

New guidelines say whites may not be eligible for antibodies and antivirals, while nonwhites are.

By John B. Judis and Ruy Teixeira. Wall Street Journal, J

an. 7, 2022

Excerpts: (Read the entire Commentary in the Wall Street Journal)

New York state recently published guidelines for dispensing potentially life-saving monoclonal antibodies and oral antivirals like Paxlovid to people suffering from mild to moderate symptoms of Covid-19. These treatments are in short supply, and they must be allocated to those most in need.

According to these guidelines, sick people who have tested positive for Covid should be eligible to receive these drugs if they have “a medical condition or other factors that increase their risk for severe illness.” These include standard criteria like age and comorbidities like cancer, diabetes and heart disease—but, startlingly, they also include simply being of “non-white race or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity,” which “should be considered a risk factor, as longstanding systemic health and social inequities have contributed to an increased risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19.”

Consider the following cases: A middle-aged investment banker born in Colombia shows up at a physician’s office in Manhattan; a laid-off middle-aged worker of Italian ancestry shows up at a doctor’s office in Rochester, N.Y. Neither has medical risk factors, but both have mild to moderate symptoms of Covid-19. The wealthy Colombian-American could be given Paxlovid; the laid-off auto worker would be turned away. You can construct thousands of these comparative cases using well-off Hispanics, Asians or blacks and working-class whites.

This is unfair and possibly illegal. With these kinds of regulations, the Democrats who control New York reinforce the racial and ethnic divisions that grew during Donald Trump’s presidency. These state officials have been abetted by social scientists who collect survey data in a manner that, intentionally or not, confirms their presuppositions.

Liberal political scientists and many Democratic officials seem determined to ignore class divisions and instead divide the country up by race and ethnicity. This practice, which is unpopular outside elite media, universities and nonprofits, contributed to the rise of Mr. Trump. If it continues, Democrats could pay a lasting political price, which could threaten the welfare of groups Democrats want to help.

Oregon rations medical care

Here we are.  At the point where one cannot assume there will be a bed at a hospital, just because he or she is sick - sick with a potentially deadly disease.  

Unlike New York City where priority for medical care is given to people based on skin color, Oregon's plan will triage people the traditional way by admitting those who would not survive without hospital services.  Patients are ranked by need - by the individual - not by membership in some non-medical  identity group.  

Thank you Oregon Health Authority!  

You got this right.  

As a side note - people we know (one a respiratory therapist) left Portland in the fall because of the growing crime rate and chaotic, far-left political environment.  They wound up working in hospitals in Anchorage Alaska where the level of care and equipment are not as modern and sophisticated as you would find in Portland.  Perhaps this is because we have a medical school in the state, but you still need good doctors who want to live here.  

This is a red alert to left-leaning activists, Antifa, anyone who thinks criminal justice means criminals are not held accountable for their crimes (rioting, damaging pro[erty, arson, assault, attempted murder, harassment, etc.), plus a host of other restrictive regulations that make living in the state more expensive (fossil-free future, luxury tax on new cars, toll roads, rising utility rates), and more controlling (extending and never ending emergency declarations, interference with businesses, control over one's body), and more.  Oregon is not the place it used to be, so be careful that you aren't pushing out the smart, creative, hardworking people in all professions we need here.  When things go to pot, it  takes years - decades to bring them back.  

Oregon could ration medical care as largest wave of pandemic hits the state

• By GARY A. WARNER Oregon Capital Bureau

Oregon is on a "red alert" of the growing wave of the omicron variant of COVID-19 that pushed the daily new case count to 10,451 Friday, eclipsing the records set over the past four days.

"Once again, COVID-19 has regrouped and is marching across Oregon," said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state chief epidemiologist, in a Friday press call.

With the new wave forecast to peak on Jan. 27 with 1,650 people in the hospital, the Oregon Health Authority issued a "crisis care" protocol to guide doctors on prioritizing possibly life-or-death care.

Based on a model already used by Washington and other states, patients who would not survive if discharged have top priority. Patients already under care take precedence over newly arriving cases of the same level.

If a choice needs to be made between two patients in similar medical situations, the decision will be made at random using a "triage algorithm" provided by OHA.

"This is a very difficult topic to consider and work on," said Dana Hargunani, Oregon Health Authority chief medical officer. 

OHA said the protocol was "interim" because it is being implemented without the normal level of review and public comment. Revisions will be considered in the future.

 

click on the title to read the entire article in the Capital Insider.  

Shame on Oregon’s Department of Education!

Read the DailyWire article (link below) to see which states and school districts have spent money on.CRT propaganda rather than to keep kids healthy.  

After reading through Oregon’s Proposed American Rescue Plan, I came away appalled at the. Lack of focus on the health purpose of the federal funds requested.  Nothing was left out.  Every education program ever invented was thrown into the 100-page document - no purpose too small or disconnected from the pandemic was overlooked.  The authors of the plan twisted themselves into pretzels to find ways to make a link for regular programming to squeeze into the funding requirements.  It is a shameful game played out on every level and every department of government, callously using our tax dollars to further bureaucrats’ plans.  Read it at risk to your mental health.

  

 Schools Got $130B To Re-Open. Some Of It Went To CRT. Now Many Are Closed.

Here's how states actually spent money that was supposed to allow them to deal with COVID.

DailyWire. January 4, 2022.  By Luke Rosiak

On President Joe Biden’s first day in office, he told Americans that delivering $130 billion in supplementary funding to schools through his American Rescue Plan (ARP) would “provide schools the resources they need to reopen safely.”

“We can [open schools] if we give school districts, communities, and states the clear guidance they need as well as the resources they will need,” he said.

They got the money. Yet this month, schools in numerous districts will be closed, citing an inability to deal with the Omicron variant, despite receiving money that could have gone towards mitigation, protection, and preventative measures. That, it turns out, could be in part due to a bait-and-switch, with money passed into law under the guise of public health being used for racial ideology instead.

In August, the Department of Education published strategies for using the money. “Rebuilding from COVID-19 is an opportunity,” the document said, for a “culture shift” and the “establishment of equitable practices… One example of how a district is using a performance assessment in a culturally and linguistically responsive way is the Chicago Public School’s Curriculum Equity Initiative.”

Oregon said bluntly that it has “incorporated an equity informed, antiracist stance and anti-oppressive stance throughout this application and intends to continue this practice as we implement the programs described in this application.”

Can Oregon learn from Europe before it’s too late?

 Humans are supposed to be intelligent beasts, capable of learning from their predecessors, so here’s our chance.  Is there anyone in Salem or Washington DC brave enough to speak the truth and reverse the path we’re on?  

A European Revelation on Climate

The EU admits nuclear and natural gas are part of the energy solution.

Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2022. Editorial Board

Could this winter’s energy crisis be shocking Europe into climate realism? Believe it or not, the European Union is set to include nuclear and natural gas on the list of industries eligible for “green” investments. Someone please pass the smelling salts to the Sierra Club.

If environmentalists mean what they say about the urgency of cutting CO2 emissions, nuclear is the only widely available power source that’s zero-emitting and more reliable than wind or solar. In a world far from ready to wean itself off fossil fuels, natural gas stands out as much lower emitting than others. The growth in natural gas to account for about one-third of United States electricity generation in 2019 helps explain the roughly 14% decline in gross CO2 emissions since the mid-2000s.

But at least Europe is correcting some of the errors of its last generation of green industrial policy. Ending the regulatory bias against natural gas in particular will balance the scales after subsidies and mandates for renewables made natural gas uneconomical and steered investment toward cheaper but dirtier coal.

All of this has implications for the U.S., where the Biden Administration is still fantasizing that solar and wind power can soon replace all fossil fuels. If Europe can admit the truth, how about the White House?

…………………………………….

Read from Scientific American

3 Ways Small Modular Reactors 

Overcome Existing Barriers to Nuclear Power

Scientific American By Robert Fares on May 19, 2016

The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to build the first U.S. small modular nuclear reactor facility, paving the way for the next generation of nuclear power in the United States.

Green cars in a cold, white world

 What happens when all the gas cars and trucks are gone?  

What will we do when the wind doesn’t blow                                and the sun doesn’t shine?  

[Smart] Politician who have followed the Green Dream for awhile are finding the ideal of a fossil-free or nuclear-free world can quickly become a nightmare.  So why is Oregon sliding into the fossil-free pit without having learned from obvious examples of failure, undeniable  physics or a simple reality check?  Why are pretty ideals of perfection more powerful than reality for some?  Dreams of a Utopian existence are OK for kids, but when our leaders exhibit such naivety, it becomes scary, and a sign they need to be replaced.  

Warning:  The catastrophes that are to come are not a surprise to those who have been planning the transformation of America (and the world).  They welcome your suffering and inconvenience as a sign of their progress.  

Opinion: Imagine Virginia’s icy traffic catastrophe — but with only electric vehicles

Washington Post, January 4, 2022  By Charles Lane

Sometime after 3 a.m. Tuesday, as an epic 48-mile winter traffic jam on Interstate 95 in Virginia dragged on, a long-haul trucker from Canada heard a knock at the door of his cab. It was one of the hundreds of other motorists stuck in subfreezing temperatures with no food or water.

The not-so-unprecedented event — essentially a repeat of what happened on a wintry night in the D.C. area 11 years ago this month — therefore provides a reality check on the push by government and business to electrify cars and trucks.

It is a scientific fact that batteries of all kinds lose capacity more rapidly in cold weather, and that includes the sophisticated lithium-ion ones used by Teslas and other EVs. 

Any EV driver stuck on I-95 was right to be anxious — not only about a rapidly dying battery but also about recharging it. Cold would make that process much more time-consuming, assuming there was a charging station nearby, and that the electric power system hadn’t gone out (as it did in parts of Virginia on Monday).

Read the entire article at:     https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/04/imagine-virginias-icy-traffic-catastrophe-with-only-electric-vehicles/

Texas Ice Storm Highlights Fragility of Wind Power

Center for Accountability in Science, February 18, 2021

Texas’s use of wind power turned a bad storm into a nightmare for millions of Texans who were left to ration their power — or left without power altogether. As ice built up on the blades of the turbines, much of the state’s generation of wind power went still. In many states, going without wind power would not be a significant problem, but in Texas, wind power is the second-largest source of energy, with natural gas being the top source. Roughly 23 percent of Texas’s power grid is fueled by wind power. 

To get the wind turbines back in action, renewable energy providers had to turn to some fossil-fuel-powered friends: helicopters. The helicopters are used to fly a de-icing solution up to the turbine blades to clear the ice safely without the risk of harming anyone below. The juxtaposition of a fossil-fuel-powered helicopter being used to rescue a wind turbine garnered a lot of attention on social media. 

The ice storm in Texas has demonstrated the dangerous mindset of demonizing any one product, such as fossil fuels. No one energy source is all good or all bad. 

Texas has been able to thrive using wind power, but it is not a universally reliable energy source. Cities and states must recognize that unexpected issues can arise and they need to have a diversified power grid that can handle these unforeseen events.

Europe Energy Crisis Goes Global

To see climate politics turn really crazy, add fuel shortages and high prices.

Wall Street Journal, January 4, 2022. Opinion. By Holman Jenkins

Hard to believe, but politics sometimes exhibits a pull toward the rational, especially when voters find it difficult to pay their bills, heat their homes and keep their jobs.

That’s happening in Europe now thanks to home-heating and electricity prices up 300% at the wholesale level since last winter. In a quote echoed across the continent, one of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s parliamentary allies warned on the weekend of “catastrophic” damage to the government: “Elections are won and lost in people’s wallets.”

By undiversifying its base-load power supply away from dirty coal while also dumping nuclear, Europe has invited all the consequences you read about: ill-advised reliance on Russian natural gas, frantic bidding wars with China for liquefied-gas shipments, fear of rolling blackouts whenever a French nuclear plant needs maintenance or the wind dies down or the sun goes behind a cloud

The gestures governments have been enacting are “not meaningful in the race to combat climate change.”

The electric vehicles that politicians particularly love to subsidize “will not significantly reduce carbon dioxide output, only shift its location.”   … European investors simply relocated their emissions-heavy processes to places outside the European Union.

And yet the U.S. is not immune to these pathologies. Texas discovered as much in last winter’s epic blackouts. After the state chose for decades to throw money at renewables rather than freeze-proof its energy infrastructure, the out-of-state power supplies that were supposed to be its insurance policy never materialized. Ditto California, which invested in renewables rather than fireproof its grid and now is beyond out-of-state rescue. Its citizens suffer recurrent intentional blackouts to reduce fire risk. One of these winters, the Northeast will experience its own calamitous outages due to its refusal to authorize the gas pipelines and power plants needed to support a crowd-pleasing rush to renewables.

                                                        zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The Northwest will experience outages too as clean natural gas and renewable nuclear options are taken off the table. And still, no Faraday cages for the transformers that power the grid!  That long dark winter of death Biden talks about won’t be about a virus, but a pandemic of ideological destruction.