Texans experienced an unprecedented cold snap with ice and snow that brought the 25% of electrical power produced by wind turbines in the state to a halt. It’s not funny, but it is an example of the climate-change crowd getting hoisted on their own globally warmed petards.
For years climate activists have railed about the importance of clean energy such as solar and wind. It seems someone forgot to tell them that, now and then, climate cycles do not follow Greta Thunberg's commandments. Liberty Nation's Onar Åm makes this point in his article, "Climate Change Debunked: No Sign of Warming in 900 Years," which means the rush to switch over to clean energy may not be that urgent.
Nonetheless, as Brandon Mulder of the Austin American-Statesman tells us, "nearly half of Texas' installed wind power generation capacity has been offline because of frozen wind turbines in West Texas, according to Texas grid operators." Mulder explains further:
"Wind farms across the state generate up to a combined 25,100 megawatts of energy. But unusually moist winter conditions in West Texas brought on by the weekend's freezing rain and historically low temperatures have iced many of those wind turbines to a halt."
Were these wind farms supposed to be the answer to climate change? This story gets more troubling when you realize the Biden administration has determined that climate change is a national security priority that must be addressed in all departments of government.
So Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has directed the Pentagon to prioritize climate change as a security threat. As Bradford Betz wrote in his article for Fox News, "Climate change is now a national security priority for the Pentagon. The priority marks a distinct reversal from the Trump administration which made no such declarations on the issue. The announcement came shortly after President Joe Biden issued a flurry of executive orders to cut oil, gas, and coal emissions and double energy production from offshore wind turbines." Wait, wind turbines? Aren't those the power-producing machines that let the folks down in Texas? As Betz went on to say:
"President Biden's executive orders target federal subsidies for oil and other fossil fuels and halt new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters. They also aim to conserve 30% of the country's lands and ocean waters in the next ten years and move to an all-electric federal vehicle fleet. 'We can't wait any longer' to address the climate crisis, Biden said at the White House. 'We see with our own eyes. We know it in our bones. It is time to act.'"
The only "climate crisis" anyone can point to at the moment is the folly of Texas’ dependence on wind turbines that failed miserably in a deadly storm named Uri and left nearly three million people without power.
So put on your "future goggles" and set them to 10 years from now when there is an "all-electric federal vehicle fleet." Let’s say suddenly 25% of the wind-generated power needed to charge those vehicles is absent, for whatever reason. Every aspect of the federal government dependent on vehicles would be impacted, with many coming to a standstill, without a charge. That would not be a good thing.
Now, apply that same scenario to an all-electric fleet of combat vehicles, which is the logical extension of what Biden proposes. After all, the Pentagon is tasked with confronting climate change. And that noise you hear is the Chinese Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA) laughing their you-know-whats off. China is the worst polluter in the world by a factor of nearly two in terms of CO2 emissions. Can you guess what the Chinese believe is their biggest national security threat? Hint: It's not climate change. It's us, the good ol’ U.S.A.
The dangerous and deadly conditions caused in Texas when ice, snow, and unusually low temperatures caused its wind turbines to freeze is a cautionary tale. It’s true that generally wind turbines are reliable -- except when they are not. The United States can never put all of its power needs in one or two electricity-generating baskets. Natural gas is clean and plentiful; nuclear power is clean and reliable. Let's do some practical thinking on how to ensure that the power grid can withstand any assault, from nature or an enemy.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.
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