Energy Realism this past week hit the parts of the climate policy agenda that must be jettisoned immediately. Not surprisingly, there are many of them. Our Senior Fellow Rupert Darwall gets us started this week: 2022 was the year that should end ESG. Putin and his war exposed the silliness, and dangers, of utterly fantastical European energy policy that has simply just assumed that intermittent, weather-dependent wind and solar can replace far more reliable and affordable nuclear, coal, gas, and oil. And as Vijay Jayaraj points out, ESG and the green obsession deploy irrational energy polices that are now being exposed even more by the harsh winter that surges energy demand. Please, spare a thought for millions who will be living through an uncertain winter due to unaffordable heating prices. The Biden administration, of course, still remains bizarrely fixated on pushing expensive and unreliable renewables on all of us. President Biden is retreating to the U.S. Virgin Islands on a taxpayer-funded vacation to close out 2022. David Williams realizes that using the leverage of the federal government to expand unreliable renewables may help him score political points from progressives, but it is bad public policy because solar power is unreliable, expensive, and untested on a massive scale. And Robert Bryce continues to remind us that we must not forget that wind and solar are nowhere near as “green” as advocates love to claim. They gobble up gigantic swaths of land to harm creatures big and small. That is why people who really care about the environment – and our wildlife – should be pleased by the recent news that two large wind projects are likely to be canceled. So our Essential Reading this week comes from Power The Future: The Biden administration’s climate plan to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 (from 2005 levels) is an unrealistic and highly expensive goal. The benefits reported are obviously inflated because climate change is a global issue: unilateral action cannot be claimed as offering domestic benefits. In the News Jude Clemente, RCEnergy Oliver Wiseman, The Spectator William Allison, EID The Japan Times World Oil America Hernandez, Politico Jen Root, Forbes Lars Schernikau, Watts Up With That? Oliver Milman, The Guardian Dan Eberhart, Forbes Ben Kritz, The Manila Times Dave Levitan, Grid News Jason Plautz, E&E News Tim Higgins, WSJ Esme Nicholson, NPR Canada Info Natural resources minister Jonathan Wilkinson, answers questions by senators on why Canada saw 'no business case' when Germany wanted an LNG deal. Instead, Canada offered a hydrogen ... CNBC Francisco Blanch, BofA Securities head of global commodities research, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss what he sees ahead for the oil market, why he doesn't believe oil prices will st... Fox Business Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., discusses TikTok legislation in Congress, the Chinese government rising aggression and the Biden administration's foreign policies. Natalie Brunell Alex Epstein is an author, philosopher and commentator who advocates for the expansion of fossil fuels. He’s the founder and president of the Center for Industrial Progress, a former... |