Seventy-Eight percent of America’s electric power comes from burning fossil fuels. 32% comes from natural gas and the rest from oil and coal. 9.6% nuclear with the rest wind, Hydro, and solar power. Solar and wind power are weather dependent and require power backup when they are not available.
Elon Musk has opined the world will need to double its energy supplies to transition to all-electric cars. Not included in his calculation would be the energy required for transitioning away from using fossil fuels to heat homes, offices, and theaters.
What’s obvious is any quick transition to electric cars and totally renewable energy is not achievable. Despite all the climate change end of the world Armageddon rhetoric, making this transition in the timeframe demanded by climate zealots is a complete and utter fantasy.
World geopolitical and economic developments have exposed the Paris Climate Accord as a hoax.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, the Western world put severe sanctions on Russian energy exports. Taking advantage of the situation China and India showed their true colors and purchased {at a 30% discount} millions of gallons of Russian dirty oil and millions of tons of dirty coal. As I write this, Germany is starved for energy and is firing up its coal-burning energy sources. The rest of Europe is scrambling to find the energy and protect their people from suffering a cold winter. Meanwhile, the price of gas is forcing America’s President to beg Saudi Arabia to increase oil production.
We want to thank Jim Betti for this Op-Ed. Please direct yours to steve@GraniteGrok.com.
The final nail in the Paris Climate Accord’s coffin is worldwide inflation, which in turn is causing a severe economic slowdown.
The central banks can no longer print money without causing even more inflation and ballooning their national debts. Compounding the problem, higher interest rates will make payments on national debts so onerous that domestic spending will have to be cut. Entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security along with Europe’s cradle to grave Welfare State Programs will have to be trimmed.
Already, trillions of dollars have evaporated from the world’s financial markets. The only way developing countries could possibly use expensive renewable energy, instead of cheap dirty fossil fuels, is for the Western world to subsidize the developing countries with trillions of dollars. Europe’s plan {Think NATO and the Ukraine war} was for America to foot most of the bill, but the money is no longer available.
The dirty fossil fuels will be burning all around the globe.
Even with these economic realities and the fact Russia, China and India are not going to, and never intended to, abide by the Paris Climate Accord, disingenuous diplomates {think Climate Czar John Kerry} will attempt to continue the charade as they burn massive amounts of dirty fossil fuel jetting around the world. One can only pray the world will no longer listen.
With the Paris Climate Accord exposed as an unachievable fairytale and inflation out of control, for the first time the political environment is ripe for an evidence-based solution to the world’s need to transition to clean renewable energy.
Whether the environmental fanatics are right regarding the possible deleterious effects of climate change is no longer relevant. Whatever is going to happen is now fait accompli, but the stars have aligned for America to lead the world into the best possible future.
America is the only nation that possesses the wealth, intellectual capacity for innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, and natural resources to make it happen.
For America to lead the world to renewable clean energy, the 2022 midterm election needs to be a red wave with the progressives losing control or preferably both houses of Congress. This would stifle any further Biden administration energy sector damage.
Over the ensuing two years a Republican Presidential candidate would need to rise, who would champion America as the World’s Energy Center.
And without hesitation proclaim the Paris Climate Accord was functionally impotent.
The candidate would unite Americans behind a common goal of transitioning the world to clean renewable energy and in 2024 win the Presidency.
Beating back the irrational climate change fanatics will be difficult but absolutely essential. Perhaps the best example is this: currently there is enough natural gas in the West Virginia and Pennsylvania shale deposits to power most of the world. To harvest this energy all that is needed is a 3-foot in diameter pipeline from the mountains to the coast. 95% of the pipeline is complete but despite developers jumping over every climate change barrier, the green lobby has found biased judges who have stopped the project’s completion. The same sort of thing (Think Keystone XL pipeline) is happening all across America and must be stopped.
The candidate cannot be a member of the elite political ruling class.
The next President will need to cut through the massive bureaucracy {Think Donald Trump} without which these deep state elites cannot function {Think EPA, FBI, DOJ Russian Collusion}. Lifelong elite politicians {Think Biden} lack the capacity to oppose the deep state bureaucracies, think outside of what a focus group tells them, make things happen, and finish strong.
Once elected the new President will have a daunting task.
Repairing America after 4 years of destructive progressive policies will not be easy, but energy has to be a priority, because the world runs on cheap energy and until this issue is dealt with inflation will be almost impossible to tame.
Fixing the energy crisis and transitioning to renewable energy will require a public-private endeavor on the scale of Kennedy’s commitment to place a man on the moon or Truman’s post-WW2 Marshal Plan which rebuilt Europe. Many think the problem is not solvable but there is an evidence-based pathway that will get it done!
Massive resources need to be directed to the development of geothermal power.
Government partnership with America’s great energy companies {Think operation warp speed} can innovate and make this happen, harnessing the energy of the Earth’s core. Untold thousands of previously drilled oil shafts can be converted to geothermal technology. Water can be delivered deep into the hot earth, changed to steam, and subsequently released, driving green electricity-generating turbines.
This technology can be performed deep in the Ocean with no effect on the environment. Many thousands of high-paying jobs will be created, and the technology will be marketed around the world.
In the years it takes to bring the new geothermal technology online America’s natural gas can be used to bridge the gap and generate electricity.
Our nation has enough known natural gas reserves to power America for over a century and could easily power the world for several decades. Natural gas can be liquefied and transported via pipeline or massive tanker to anywhere in the world. The technology to burn natural gas and make electricity is the cleanest of all fossil fuels. It is the perfect bridge to America’s Geothermal future. As America makes this transition oil and coal can be phased out.
Nuclear Power plants can stay online until they reach their expiration date and then be decommissioned. Expensive awkward wind power and solar panels can both go the way of the Erie Canal. Initially a good idea that time and other advancements made obsolete. The world can then move forward knowing that even if a disaster occurs that could blot out the sun, such as a massive volcano eruption or God forbid a nuclear catastrophe, power to sustain life will flow uninterrupted.
With the reality of the Paris Climate Accord’s dismal failure, a door has opened through which a commonsense evidence-based world transition to clean renewable energy can happen.
America must walk through that door and lead the way! It starts in Nov 2022!!
Vote!!!
Jamesabetti.substack.com
