Conrad Black: Washing away the Climate Lunatics
23 hours ago Charles Rotter 43 Comments

The recent piece by Conrad Black titled “Washing away the climate lunatics: Canada at risk of turning into Europe” offers a poignant commentary on the current state and potential pitfalls of climate change policies, especially those aimed at achieving net zero carbon emissions. It provides a stark warning to Canada, drawing on the troubles Europe has experienced with similar policies. Black’s article, which references Dr. Benny Peiser’s address to the Friends of Science Society in Calgary, delves deep into the socio-economic and political upheavals triggered by these policies, particularly in Europe, and forecasts the implications for Canada if it follows suit.


The Illusion of Net Zero and the Reality of Economic Backlash

One of the central themes in Black’s argument is the critique of Europe’s aggressive climate policies, which, although initially wrapped in the guise of environmental stewardship, have rapidly led to significant public dissent and economic disruption. This is vividly illustrated by the farmer protests across Europe, a reaction to policies perceived as economically damaging and impractical. Governments, faced with mounting opposition, have begun to retreat from their ambitious climate goals, highlighting a crucial disconnect between political agendas and public acceptance.

“As long as the heavy costs of displacing fossil fuels by so-called renewable energy were carefully disguised and diffused, everybody could wallow in collective self-praise for doing the healthy and environmentally responsible thing,”

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/conrad-black-5

Build It, And The Wind Won’t Come
Weather-dependent generation sources are...weather dependent: Last year, despite adding 6.2 GW of new capacity, U.S. wind production dropped by 2.1%.
MAY 01, 2024
 
Three years ago, in the wake of Winter Storm Uri, the alt-energy lobby and their many allies in the media made sure not to blame wind energy for the Texas blackouts. The American Clean Power Association (2021 revenue: $32.1 million) declared frozen wind turbines “did not cause the Texas power outages” because they were “not the primary cause of the blackouts. Most of the power that went offline was powered by gas or coal.”

NPR parroted that line, claiming, “Blaming wind and solar is a political move.” The Texas Tribune said it was wrong to blame alt-energy after Winter Storm Uri because “wind power was expected to make up only a fraction of what the state had planned for during the winter.” The outlet also quoted one academic who said that natural gas was “failing in the most spectacular fashion right now.” Texas Tribune went on to explain, “Only 7% of ERCOT’s forecasted winter capacity, or 6 gigawatts, was expected to come from various wind power sources across the state.”

In other words, there was no reason to expect the 33 GW of wind capacity that Texas had to deliver because, you know, no one expected wind energy to produce much power. Expectations? Mr. October? Playoff Jamal? Who needs them?

https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/build-it-and-the-wind-wont-come