Newletter - May 2023

 If you are paying attention to the public discourse in our country, you may have noticed that we have a new religion.   What is it you may ask.  The answer:  Global Warming.  So many people have lost any contact with the standard religions of our country.  People do need something to believe in. Along comes global warming which is being pushed as the most important issue of our lives.  How did this all come about?  To anyone who has actually studied any science or history, they know that the weather and climate has continually changed throughout the history of the earth.  The dinosaurs existence ended with a huge blast probably from an asteroid or many volcanic eruptions.

Pollution is a different story.  Clean air and water means that human beings do not pollute their water and air with contaminants.  Of course, nature itself will distribute contaminants into the air and water (example: volcanic explosions).  Remember: there is a huge volcano under Yellowstone National Park.  Hopefully, it is going to stay dormant.

The text of the Clean Air Act when it was first passed in 1963 and amended in 1970, 1977 and 1990 did not refer to climate change or greenhouse gases.  The act authorized the administrator of the EPA to set motor vehicle emission standards for “any air pollutant” (as quoted from the Clean Air Act). 

In 1999, 12 states petitioned the EPA requesting the regulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) as an air pollutant.  The following environmental advocacy organizations were some that joined the petition: Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

A court case entitled Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency was decided on April 2, 2007, by the United States Supreme Court in a 5 to 4 vote.  In that ruling the court ruled that carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases were air pollutants under the Clean Air Act and could be regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  In the case the state of Massachusetts and 11 other states requested EPA regulation of carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act.  The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ruling that the EPA had to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from motor vehicles if they were found to be endangering public health and welfare. 

In brief, this is the legal background for the entire nation climbing on board the climate change bandwagon. Unfortunately, there are many people who are convinced that we have just a few years to solve the problem of climate change before we all die due to the tremendous heat given off by uncontrolled climate change. Therefore, governments and many people believe that we must tax, ban, delay or demolish reliable coal, nuclear, gas or hydro generators in order to utilize wind and solar power. This also means we get rid of gas stoves and fossil fuel transportation.  Some genius person at the federal level also believes that our military vehicles should be electric.  How many charging stations will be on the battle field?  Stop the War! I need a charge.

There are three reasons that wind and solar are not reliable.

•  They are intermittent power sources.  They are gone when wind   or sunlight fails.
•  Green energy is dilute.  The collection area must be huge.  Wind   turbines generate nothing from gentle breezes and must shut  down in gale weather.  Collection panels and towers are   connected by a fragile network of roads and transmission lines.    Hurricanes, hail and freezing weather can and have caused    extensive damage.
•  Wind turbines require oil for continuous maintenance.  The   turbines cannot be recycled and must be buried.  The turbines     also kill many birds especially raptors.  Currently, there is belief     that the turbines that are being placed in the ocean around New   Jersey are causing the death of numerous whales.

President Biden has a climate plan.  America must run on 100% emissions-free power by 2050 with enforceable milestones as early as 2025.  Environmental protection is not just reducing carbon dioxide emissions.  A Harvard University study found that in order to meet current electricity needs in the United States one third of the country’s land mass would have to be covered by wind turbines.  The Green New Deal will also require an all-electric vehicle fleet.

Environmentalists do not appear to be bothered by the damage that is done in acquiring the rare earth minerals that are necessary components of wind and solar equipment.  Minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel are extracted from the ground like fossil fuels.  They are mainly found in underdeveloped countries with a poor population.  In many of these countries where these minerals are found, mining is not done safely.  In many areas, young children are working in these mines.  Much of the time there is no type of environmental safety standard.

Many people on the left despise coal and want to shut down all U.S. coal burning plants.  However, without coal there is no recharging, no cobalt-lithium-nickel batteries and no emissions-free electric travel.    Alternative energy totally relies on fossil fuel.

The latest bright idea from the federal government is the new Biden EPA rule that would mandate most coal and natural gas-fired power plants in the United States reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent over a five-year period starting in 2035 or be shuttered by federal regulators. There is no consent from Congress on this rule.  As of 2021, there were 269 plants using primarily coal to generate power and 2,020 using natural gas.  In the United States, nearly 20% of power generation comes from coal-fired plants while almost 40% is from natural gas which means Biden’s rule goes after plants    responsible for around 60% of America’s current electricity production system.   

Remember the Tower of Babel from the Old Testament when people were going to build a tower to reach God.  That did not end well.  The arrogance of humanity never ceases to amaze.  We are now going to control the weather and the climate. People are not against a clean, pollution free environment.  However, the current plans constantly shrink our freedoms and our pocketbook. The latest bright idea is that we start eating bugs because agriculture and dairy farming results in too much Methane and that affects climate.  At the risk of sounding cynical, let us remember that the people at the top telling the rest of us that we must sacrifice in order to save the planet do not suffer the inconveniences and costs we are expected to endure. Mr. Kerry will always have to have his jet as will the President.  They will most definitely not be eating bugs.

The entire climate change mantra requires more than ever that citizens pay attention to what is going on and who they elect to office.  Our lifestyle, our financial security and our basic rights are on the line.