The Taylor Swift tune “Cruel Summer” is poised to become a reality for those who live in the central part of the US. However, this cruel summer is not about love but the ruthlessness of the Biden Administration and its green comrades. One sure-fire way to silence your political opponents is to shut off their electricity. Whether this is an intentional political strategy or merely a “happy” circumstance, the prospect of the Midwest experiencing rolling power blackouts this summer is looking more and more likely. Democrats already have a phony narrative lined up for this coming travesty – extreme weather. But a closer examination of the facts reveals it is not a coming summer heat wave but Biden’s war on fossil fuels that will leave millions of Midwesterner’s in the dark.
A Cold Shower
[substack align=”right”]What separates civilized society from the so-called third world is access to basic living standards – like food, shelter, and, of course, power. Under the Biden administration, food and energy prices have skyrocketed, but until now, if you could afford it, you could have it. Not so with the coming energy crisis in the central part of the US, which “could be forced to impose rotating blackouts,” according to Reuters.
For decades, Americans have enjoyed stable electricity. Everything from the joy of a hot shower to the basics of zapping frozen food in the microwave is made possible by energy. But a May report by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) on the dependability of summer energy reveals some alarming information. The central part of the US “faces a capacity shortfall … resulting in a high risk of energy emergencies during peak summer conditions.”
In short, turn off the AC and get the candles out.
How on Earth did we get here? It really wasn’t very hard, and politics played a significant role in this coming American tragedy. The US lost 12.6 gigawatts of energy when it closed coal-fired electric plants. And why pray tell did these plants shut down? Because Biden and Company are paying more attention to the green lobby than the electrical grid. Thus, your need to fire up the stove for dinner or load up the washer takes a back burner to their fanatical zealotry to “save the planet.”
There are complicating factors that limit America’s ability to go green: Access and reliability of new energy sources as well as recognizing an aging power grid are but a few. The 50-year-old Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan recently shut down. Hopelessly outdated, Palisades had seen better days. Then there’s the issue of coal plants. If the federal government is intent on shuttering coal-powered plants and our nuclear power facilities are ancient, where do we turn for energy?
The unrealistic dream of the climate change crowd is clean, renewable energy. If you remove nuclear power plants from this equation (which these folks have long been opposed to but are now reconsidering its value), one is left with the wind and sun.
In 2019, President Trump was excoriated by the advocacy media for mocking these power sources. “… when the wind doesn’t blow, just turn off the television darling, please,” he scoffed. But perhaps the truth is in the joke; only this summer, people in the Midwest may not have a choice to make – their power will be turned off for them.
Tilting at Windmills
(Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
Like electric cars, which are a fine idea in principle, unless one is stuck in a blizzard on an interstate for 24 hours and needs a heated vehicle to survive, these alternative power sources have limitations. They may have a future role regarding American energy needs, but they are not ready for prime time.
The left has a narrative cued up for the rolling blackouts occur this summer. Climate change, extreme weather, blah, blah, blah. But the reality is US government data shows that “heat waves in the U.S. are now no more common than they were in 1900, and that the warmest temperatures in the U.S. have not risen in the past fifty years,” according to former Energy Undersecretary Steven Koonin, who wrote a book on the subject.
The president’s energy policies have been disastrous, yet he sallies forth unabated, caring not for those who will suffer the consequences of his unrealistic and damaging energy stratagems. The Biden administration’s dogged determination to go green or else has led to staggering prices at the gas pump and now looming rolling blackouts. Thus, the president’s actions are hardly those of a kind, compassionate leader, as he’s often touted, but rather one of a stubborn, cold-hearted extremist.
