I am not a poet, as this verse confirms:
How many billions must the wind lobby waste
Before we call it a scam?
Yes, and how many times must wind energy fail
Before it forever is banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind
One of the most felicitous aspects of the new Trump administration is its determination to drive a stake through the heart of the zombie wind industry. Because it is an absurdly inefficient and unreliable way to generate electricity, wind power was doomed from the start. But the Trump administration is seeing it off.
Robert Bryce, one of our top energy experts, has a long Substack post that is full of good news. You will have to follow the link to get it all, but here are some highlights:
A few days ago, Jason Grumet, the head of the American Clean Power Association (annual revenue: $62.3 million), told Heatmap News that “probably more than half” of all new wind projects under development in the US could be killed due to President Trump’s executive order requiring a “comprehensive assessment” of federal permitting. Heatmap explained that Trump’s policies pose “a potential existential threat to the industry’s future. Just don’t expect everyone to say it out loud.”
An existential threat to wind power’s future? Hallelujah!
[T]he offshore and onshore wind sectors are in full-blown panic mode. Trump’s executive orders, particularly the one requiring the federal government to assess the wind industry’s impact on wildlife — have had an immediate and chilling effect on wind projects onshore and offshore.
In my opinion, wind turbines’ destruction of countless thousands of birds, bats and whales is one of their lesser environmental defects. But if that is what stops new wind power developments, so be it.
The controversial Lava Ridge wind project in Idaho was killed by a Trump executive order and won’t be revived. Offshore projects in the US and around the world are being canceled or delayed.
Of course they are. Offshore wind might be the stupidest and most environmentally destructive way of generating minimal amounts of electricity, intermittently, ever devised. No amount of hype and corruption can make offshore wind viable.
Rural resistance against wind projects remains fierce. The new Congress could repeal or reduce the lavish tax credits that have long fueled the industry’s growth. Further, in December, the Osage Nation secured a massive win over Enel in federal court in the longest-running legal battle over wind energy in US history.
All good news. Robert also makes this important point: wind energy was already dying out before President Trump took office:
Big Wind was facing a big slowdown long before Trump took office. Indeed, wind capacity additions have slowed dramatically in recent years, particularly compared to solar.
I am not sure why solar energy is doing better than wind. It has the same defects that wind does: solar is ridiculously expensive, inherently unreliable since it can’t produce electricity at night, when it is cloudy, or when solar panels are covered with snow, and it is massively destructive of the environment.
So let’s drive the solar scam out of existence next. Or, rather, make it stand on its own two feet: no subsidies and no mandates. Let solar compete on even terms with nuclear, natural gas, coal and hydro power, and see who wins. Solar will die out, and the environment will only be better for it.
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