Expensive, unreliable energy: Thank you climate alarmists and President Brandon
by Jonathan Reisman
Over the last year, the price of gasoline and crude oil has increased by more than 40 percent, the price of natural gas has increased by more than 50 percent, and the price of electrical energy for Versant and CMP customers (about ½ the bill) has increased by more than 80 percent (thus increasing electrical bills by 40 percent or more). At the same time, sales of home generators to supplement an increasingly unreliable electrical grid have skyrocketed nationwide, especially in California where scheduled outages have made the golden state resemble Venezuela and Haiti. Maine’s PUC chairman warned that Maine faced potentially catastrophic outages if intermittent (unreliable) solar and wind generation combined with natural gas shortages (we need a natural gas pipeline through Massachusetts more than a hydro energy connector for Massachusetts) and a severe cold snap created a perfect storm this winter which would put all those green new deal heat pumps and electric vehicles into “no mas” mode.
The increase in energy prices is the result of deliberate policy choices made by the Brandon administration at the behest of the climate alarmist lobby. Thank you Maine 350, Gov. Mills, and every member of the Maine legislature who has supported climate alarmism. Expensive gas, heating oil, propane, and electricity are on them. They can and will try to avoid blame, but it is absolutely clear that expensive and unreliable energy is their fault.
Among Brandon’s first acts in office were executive orders shutting down the Keystone pipeline (the safest and cheapest way to transport fracked oil and natural gas), ending federal drilling leases, and hobbling fracking wherever and however they could. The subsequent reductions in US energy production led directly to the ongoing rise in oil prices.
The climate alarmist obsession with intermittent (as in unreliable) solar and wind has led to overinvestment in those plus the necessary natural gas backup generation that we must rely on when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow (which is most of the time). New England in particular is dependent on increasingly expensive natural gas. Climate alarmism has increased the demand for and decreased the supply of natural gas, a sure prescription for higher prices. When Massachusetts wanted clean Quebec Hydro, a non-climate alarmist Maine Governor could have said- sure- just approve that natural gas pipeline we need to keep our lights on and service all those green heat pumps and electric vehicles we like to brag/virtue signal about.
Recently, three Maine Democrats/climate alarmists and energy policy experts appeared on Maine Public’s (State Media) “Maine Talk”. The Chair of the Public Utilities Commission, the Public Advocate, and the Governor’s Chief Energy advisor all took questions from host Jennifer Rooks and a like-minded statewide call-in audience. I had a class during the show, but sent in the following question/comment:
In my view, the high and rising cost of energy is the direct and predictable consequence of policy choices the Biden administration has made, including ending the Keystone pipeline and curbing federal leases and fracking. The reason is to make more expensive "green" alternative energy more competitive. Following this path, like Germany, we can expect increasingly expensive fossil fuels and electricity in the .30 to .40 / kWh range by 2030. Would you care to disagree?
Alas, Ms. Rooks chose not to ask my question. Maine Public has numerous climate alarmist underwriters (advertisers), listeners and supporters, including the Natural Resources Council of Maine, Efficiency Maine and of course Gov. Mills. It would not be prudent to rile them up by allowing such an impertinent question. It would be prudent for Maine citizens to consider who pays the bills for state media/propaganda, as well as who benefits from and who pays for climate alarmism.