In recent months, European consumers and businesses have been hit with massive energy bills due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which upended global oil and gas markets due to Russian producers’ dominance, and an aggressive transition to green energy sources like wind and solar pushed by several major European nations.
Amid the crisis, Europeans have been forced to take drastic measures to conserve energy and keep bills low while governments have imposed rationing rules and introduced relief programs. [bold, links added]
The letter noted that the crisis has forced manufacturing plants to close and will likely lead to major blackouts throughout the winter in Germany.
“For political reasons, Europe chose to rely on renewable energy and also oil from hostile sources — in this case being Russia,” James Taylor, the president of think tank Heartland Institute, told FOX Business in an interview.
“Here we have in the United States, we’re being told by the environmental left, by the administration, that we should choose the same path, that we should be focusing on renewable energy. That’s just a terrible path.”
“In Europe, you see electricity prices that are approximately double what they are here in the United States,” he continued. “That, again, is because of the choices that they have made for renewable energy and relying on a hostile nation. We’re setting ourselves up for the same thing, which would definitely be a bad idea.”
Taylor was among the experts who signed the letter to McConnell and McCarthy on Tuesday.
He was joined by Craig Rucker, the president of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow; Kent Lassman, the president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI); Myron Ebell, the director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment; Gregory Wrightstone, the executive director of the CO2 Coalition; and Steve Milloy, a senior legal fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute.
“What I’m hearing from the eco left is that the solution to our energy problems is more wind and solar — we just haven’t done enough of it,” Wrightstone told FOX Business in an interview. “The fact of the matter is: for every megawatt or terawatt of unreliable energy, you need to build the same amount of reliable backup source.”
“For one, that’s when the wind stops blowing and the sun stops shining. So, what we’re doing is probably doubling the cost of electricity generation and then all those facilities that you built, will sit idle until they’re needed.”
While energy analysts have warned that Europe may be turning to green sources of energy too quickly, European Union leaders have doubled down on the transition.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in August that the traditional model for an electricity market is “no longer fit for purpose.”
Last year, the EU unveiled a framework for a massive overhaul of energy policies including a plan to massively reduce carbon emissions by investing more in renewables and limiting gas-powered vehicle purchases.
The Biden administration has taken a similar approach, limiting fossil fuel production and pushing solar, wind, and electric vehicles.
“All this stuff puts us on the path to becoming Europe and climate foolishness has caused all the problems that are going on in Europe right now,” Milloy told FOX Business.
“They started getting rid of their coal plants, replacing them with wind and solar,” Milloy added. “In the case of Germany, Germany spent more than $500 billion doing that. You get to 2021 and then all of a sudden, the wind stops blowing in Europe or declines a little bit. And that started the energy crisis because if there’s no wind, then you have to burn more natural gas.”
An analysis from Reuters published in December concluded that lower-than-expected wind power generation caused EU energy prices to increase and forced a return to natural gas and, in many cases, coal.
Between 2019 and 2021, wind power alone accounted for the largest share of electricity production in Germany, the EU’s largest economy.
Milloy said when EU nations turned back to natural gas, they were forced to boost Russian imports, encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin to proceed with his invasion of Ukraine.
“The whole thing has just been a disaster for Europe,” he said.
Read more at Fox Business
The European Union nations originally did not plan on using Russian natural gas. Everything was going to be supplied by wind and solar energy. When renewable energy failed to deliver as promised, then they were forced to import from what has become a hostile nation. California planned to use wind and solar power, but again it failed to deliver what was promised. Now Biden wants the entire country to follow the same path.
Ontario has acknowledged that we’re going to run low on electricity generation soon. They’ve asked the nuclear regulators to extend the life of the Pickering plant, east of Toronto. All of our coal-fired generating stations have been demolished, recklessly.
The demand for new homes in Ontario is forecasted at one million over the next ten years. Where do we plug them in?
That Pickering nuclear plant is among the most reliable in the world. No need to shut it down just yet.
If the author wants to be taking seriously, he should have mentioned the positive contributions of nuclear power.
From the article, “The fact of the matter is: for every megawatt or terawatt of unreliable energy, you need to build the same amount of reliable backup source.” “So, what we’re doing is probably doubling the cost of electricity generation.” That was true when the goal was to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. I repeat, that was the goal. Today the goal is net zero emissions so backup fossil fuel plants can’t be permitted. Let’s look at some of the suggested backups. One has been nuclear power. However, this can provide reliable emission free power continuously. It is better suited as an alternative to wind and solar power. One suggested alternative has been battery storage. The problem is that isn’t feasible. Southern Australia’s $50 million battery only had enough capacity to power their grid for a few minutes. Enough battery backup isn’t affordable even if there were enough rare earth minerals. One alternative that is very doable is to have blackouts. Businesses and families will have to adjust to never knowing when there will be power. This is not what the elites are planning. However, Europe didn’t plan on renewables falling short and being forced to use energy from Russia.
Russia was not a hostile country to Europe until Europe imposed “sanctions” on them. Self inflicted harm.
And it is having little to no effect on Russia. How stupid has the West become.