What The Media Won’t Tell You About The Green ‘Energy Transition’

Robert Bryce

Over the past few days, I’ve searched the NewsBank archive for uses of “energy transition.”

One of the earliest uses of that now-ubiquitous phrase occurred in the Christian Science Monitor in 1981.

In a dispatch from Nairobi, a reporter named Richard Critchfield explained that some “4,000 delegates from 154 countries” were gathering in the Kenyan capital for a two-week United Nations conference on new and renewable energy sources.

“The purpose of the conference,” Critchfield explained, was to “promote a better understanding of the global energy transition from oil to such new sources as geothermal, solar, wind, ocean, and hydropower or energy from biomass, fuelwood, charcoal, peat, draught animals, oil shale, and tar sands.”

The article doesn’t mention climate change. Instead, it focuses on Kenya’s reliance on imported energy, the country’s geothermal potential, and the “classic third-world poverty trap of soaring oil costs and stagnant export earnings.”

Today, 43 years later, we are inundated with news reports about climate change and claims that we are in the midst of an energy transition that will eliminate our need for hydrocarbons.

Myriad examples can prove that point, but consider the Earth Day press release from the White House. The April 22 release included the word “climate” 52 times and references the energy transition three times.

For instance, President Joe Biden has launched a new “Clean Energy Supply Chain Collaborative to work with international partners to diversify supply chains that are critical to a clean and secure energy transition.”

It continued, saying the president is “mobilizing other governments to follow the U.S. lead and commit to achieve net zero government emissions by 2040.”

Before going further, let me be clear about my politics. I’m not a Democrat. I’m not a Republican. I am Disgusted. I have no truck with either party.

As a journalist focused on energy and power systems, I am affiliated with math and physics. My job is to spotlight the trends and the numbers and to separate the hype from the reality.

Unfortunately, much of the media coverage about the energy transition is just that: hype. As I will show in these charts, the hype has soared during the Biden administration.

Last month, the EPA announced rules to “reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants.” In the agency’s April 25 press release announcing the new regulations, the word “transition” appears three times.

The EPA said it was providing “regulatory certainty as the power sector makes long-term investments in the transition to a clean energy economy.”

It also quotes the BlueGreen Alliance’s Jason Walsh as saying the EPA mandate provides a “toolbox of critical investments targeted to the workers and communities experiencing the economic impacts of energy transition.”

In the 10 charts, I abide by W. Edwards Deming’s commandment: “In God we trust, all others must bring data.” The numbers I’m presenting aren’t my numbers, they are THE numbers.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll repeat it: the concept of the energy transition is essentially a Western conceit. The U.S. and Western European countries are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on programs like the Inflation Reduction Act and the Energiewende to fund buildouts of solar, wind, batteries, and tutti-fruity-colored hydrogen, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the world will do the same. There is no evidence that China and India are going through an energy transition. Instead, the numbers show those two countries are building staggering amounts of new coal-fired capacity. That capacity is far greater than the amount of nuclear capacity they are building

According to Global Energy Monitor, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam are all building new coal plants. That new capacity, totaling nearly 188 gigawatts, is roughly equal to all existing U.S. coal-fired power plants (200 GW).

Furthermore, since 2019, according to Global Energy Monitor, China and India have added some 216 GW of coal capacity. One more number is relevant here: Those five countries have a combined population of 3.4 billion, or about 42% of all the people on the planet. Their electricity use is a fraction of the 12,000 kilowatt-hours per capita per year we use here in the U.S. For instance, in Bangladesh and Indonesia, electricity use is paltry: less than 500 and 1,200 kWh/capita/year, respectively.

Perhaps the most straightforward way to observe the surge in the marketing of the “energy transition” is to look at the number of times it has been used during the presidential terms of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Both, of course, are Democrats, and both, of course, have focused on climate. According the National Archives, Obama “believes that no challenge poses a greater threat to our children, our planet, and future generations than climate change — and that no other country on Earth is better equipped to lead the world towards a solution.” However, as seen in the graphic below, the Obama era had far fewer mentions of the energy transition than what has occurred under Biden. Indeed, that phrase has appeared more than 75,000 times during Biden’s presidency. Thus, the media has used the phrase “energy transition” 36 times more during Biden’s three-and-a-half years in the White House than during eight years of Obama’s presidency.

We can think this as the “Woozle Effect,” named after a Winnie The Pooh story by A.A. Milne. The Woozle Effect is also known as “evidence by citation,” which occurs when a source “is widely cited for a claim it does not adequately support, giving said claim undeserved credibility.”

The punchline here is obvious: We are not in the midst of a major energy transition. Instead, what we are seeing is the media echo chamber at work. Media outlets are giving undeserved credibility to the idea of the energy transition despite a metric ton of evidence that shows no such transition is happening, particularly in developing countries like Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Indeed, the surge in the use of the phrase by the Biden administration — and its many allies in big media outlets — shows that we’re being bombarded by a public relations campaign that’s designed to convince the public and policymakers that an energy transition is happening and that we should be spending staggering sums of money on it.

A decade ago, energy analyst and polymath Vaclav Smil wrote, “hope for a quick and sweeping transition to renewable energy is fueled mostly by wishful thinking and a misunderstanding of recent history.” He explained that “for any new energy source to capture a large share of the market require[s] two to three generations: 50 to 75 years.” He concluded, “Energy transitions on a national or global scale are inherently protracted affairs.” That statement was true in 2014. And will be true for decades to come. Just don’t expect to read about it in major media outlets.

https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/what-media-wont-tell-you-about-energy-transition

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Environmental protesters attempt to storm German Tesla plant, clash with police

Tesla used to be seen as good guys by the Green/Left because of their pioneering of electric cars. It looks like the gloss has worn off

Protesters opposed to expansion of electric vehicle maker Tesla’s plant in Grueneheide near Berlin clashed with police as some of them attempted to storm the facility on Friday.

Some 800 people took part in the protest, according to the organizing group Disrupt Tesla, which claims the expansion would damage the environment.

A Reuters video showed dozens of people wearing blue caps and face-covering masks coming from a nearby wooded area and attempting to storm the company’s premises with policemen trying to prevent them, including by force.

“Why do the police let the left-wing protestors off so easily?” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on his social medial platform X, adding that the demonstrators didn’t manage to break through.

“We are here today to draw attention to the Tesla factory in Grunheide for the environmental destruction here,” Disrupt Tesla spokesperson Ole Becker told Reuters.

The group also wants to highlight environmental destruction in countries like Argentina or Bolivia, brought about by lithium mining, according to Becker. Lithium is a key resource for electric vehicle batteries.

“We protect the freedom of assembly,” Brandenburg police spokesperson Mario Heinemann said, “but we are also responsible for public order and safety. That means we will also intervene when necessary.”

Some of the demonstrators have damaged a few Tesla cars using pyrotechnics and paint at a nearby car storage site, the police spokesperson added.

Tesla earlier this week said it will shut the factory for one day on Friday, without specifying a reason.

https://nypost.com/2024/05/10/business/environmental-protesters-attempt-to-storm-tesla-german-plant/

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‘Green’ Housing Mandates Push Americans Further Into the Red

Home prices across the nation are back up near a record high. That makes this a particularly bad time for the Biden administration to have rolled out its new “green” energy mandates, which will add $31,000 to the cost of a new home.

The mandates are being pushed through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and while they technically won’t apply to all homes, all homebuilders will effectively be forced to comply with them.

The Biden administration doesn’t deny this higher upfront cost. It simply claims it’ll pay for itself via lower energy bills. Unfortunately, the break-even point is 90 years.

So if a young couple buys one of these new green energy homes and has a child one year later, the regulatory costs still won’t have paid for themselves in that child’s lifetime, let alone the life of the couple who bought the home.

HUD argues that homebuilders will be able to get tax credits via the Inflation Reduction Act to offset some of these costs, with those savings hopefully passed along to homebuyers. However, this is not a real reduction in costs; it’s merely passing the buck to taxpayers. Instead of a homebuyer’s bearing the full freight of these green energy mandates, some of the cost will be passed on to taxpayers, including renters.

This is just the latest example of how failed public policies are creating a two-tiered society in America, where an entire generation of Americans will likely never be able to afford their own homes.

Amid a cost-of-living crisis, renters today are paying more than ever in housing costs, with half of them reporting difficulty paying their rent on time. Over 20% said they did at least one of the following to stay current on rent: skipped meals, worked extra hours, sold personal belongings.

With the average monthly rent for a home up 50% in just four years and the cost of other necessities like food, clothing, and energy also skyrocketing, many Americans have nothing left to save at the end of the month. Small wonder the average savings rate today is less than half what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

That means many renters can never afford to save for a down payment, so they’re stuck renting forever.

Even those who manage to scrimp and save for their jumbo-size down payment still may not be able to afford the monthly mortgage payment, which has doubled since January 2021. Despite record-high rental prices, owning a home has never been so expensive relative to rents.

The fallout from people being unable to afford a home goes far beyond dollars and cents. Young people delay marriage and having children. A two-tiered society springs up between the “haves,” who were lucky enough to buy a home at the right time, and the “have nots,” who were too late. Americans become increasingly divided along racial lines. People lose hope.

These new green energy mandates will worsen conditions in the frozen housing market for the same reason that other failed public policy caused the mess in the first place: These energy mandates increase prices.

Runaway government spending caused 40-year-high inflation that drove up prices everywhere, including for housing. Inflation also necessitated higher interest rates, which have made it impossible for many people to sell their homes since that would mean losing a 2%-3% mortgage in exchange for a 7%-8% one.

Inflation has also driven construction costs to record highs, and those costs are passed to homebuyers in the form of higher prices. Since most people cannot afford a home at these higher prices, homebuilders are producing fewer houses.

Thus, the supply of new and existing homes has been severely curtailed. The growth in apartment buildings will likely fall sharply and soon, too. Forward-looking indicators such as building permits are declining; the number of job openings in construction fell in March by the biggest drop on record. Less construction of apartments will mean even more upward pressure on rent prices.

Americans need relief, not regulation, in their struggle to find affordable housing.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/05/09/green-housing-mandates-push-americans-further-into-the-red/

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Tesla driver's warning after run-in with a kangaroo activated a safety feature and left him with a significant expense

More electric car woes

A run-in with a kangaroo on the road left a Tesla driver with a repair bill in the hundreds because of a little known safety feature.

Adam Goff reported his troubles to fellow Tesla drivers in a dedicated Facebook group after hitting a 'roo on a rural NSW road around 6am on Tuesday.

Mr Goff slammed the brakes and his dashcam caught the kangaroo colliding with his car so softly that the animal did not even fall over.

Despite both the 'roo and the car escaping without a scratch, Mr Goff soon found himself $500 out-of-pocket to get his Tesla Model 3 serviced after its 'active hood' feature was set off.

The active hood pops the rear part of the Tesla's bonnet after detecting a crash in order to reduce damage to the car itself as well as any persons or animals that are hit.

'Had a run in with a roo, only tapped him by the time I jumped on the brakes so no damage to the car,' he wrote.

'The active hood has deployed though, how much is it to get reset and is there anyway I can push it back so it's less embarrassing to drive around with.'

After parking the car, Mr Goff tried to jig the bonnet back into place but those in the comments said it needed a service.

'The process of the hood deploying is destructive. It needs the explosive struts replaced. Probably best go through insurance. It’s not as simple as it just simply being pushed down,' one man wrote.

When the explosive struts are activated an error message remains on the dashboard until the car is serviced and the bonnet restored.

Another commenter advised Mr Goff to immediately book a service for the car as the owner's manual stated that it was the correct course of action.

'It says immediately take the car to the service centre, so do that - you can point them to the website as justification,' they wrote.

When Mr Goff confirmed the quote from the service centre was $500 to put the bonnet back into place, some people observed he either 'got off lucky' or that there was more expense to come.

'Happened to me about a month ago... initial quote they gave was $500. After a technician had a look at the service centre, I received a call saying it was going to be $2,000,' one Tesla owner commented.

Many commenters observed that Teslas are not well equipped to deal with kangaroos because of their overly sensitive safety features.

Another complaint was that the car's motion sensor cannot detect them on the road.

The multi-camera 'Tesla Vision' system can detect pedestrians, cyclists and dogs, and then display them on the dashboard for the driver to see and avoid.

Kangaroos, however, appear to be phantoms to the system as one driver proved when they took a photo of one sitting right in front of their car undetected.

'Just a heads up to Tesla owners who are driving cross country... Tesla Vision does not recognise our national fauna such as our iconic kangaroo,' he said.

'Please take the usual precautions to slow down and keep an eye out, especially during sundown and sunrise.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13402387/Tesla-active-hood-safety-feature-kangaroos.html

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My other blogs. Main ones below

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM )

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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