Nations spent trillions subsidizing solar & wind but the share of energy from fossil fuels is nearly unchanged, going from 80.3% to 80.2% over last 10 years

The reason is because unreliable, weather-dependent energies can’t replace reliable energies

ren21.net/wp-content/upl…
In a way this is an old finding

In 2017 my colleagues @energybants @Ramamurthy_Arun discovered that there was no correlation between solar or wind and the “carbon intensity” of energy — CO2 emissions per unit of energy — at an aggregated level

environmentalprogress.org/big-news/2017/…
By contrast, the deployment of nuclear & hydro was strongly correlated with declining carbon intensity of energy. Why? Because both are reliable, and can thus replace coal and nat gas plants, where solar panels & wind turbines cannot. They can only operate alongside fossil fuels.
One year later, @energybants & @Madi_Czerwinski found California & Germany could have mostly or completely decarbonized their electricity sectors had their investments in renewables been diverted instead to new nuclear

environmentalprogress.org/big-news/2018/…
Columnist @portereduardo @nytimes covered our analysis

“Had antinuclear forces, including Gov. Brown, not undone the state’s deployment of nuclear energy in the 1970s… only 27% of power produced in Calif. would come from fossil as opposed to 66% today.”

nytimes.com/2017/01/17/bus…
Greens e.g. @NRDC @SierraClub @TinneVdS know all of this, of course, as do the fossil fuel companies they take money from, or invest directly in

Renewables, environmentalism, & climate activism have for 50 years been a charade & front for fossil fuels

michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/maybe-theyre…
The five largest publicly-traded oil and gas companies, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP, and Total have invested a whopping one billion dollars into advertising and lobbying for renewables & climate policy.

forbes.com/sites/michaels…
The most influential green group, @NRDC, has a minimum of $70 million directly invested in oil and gas and renewable energy companies that stand to profit from the closure of nuclear plants.

It is currently working to kill nuclear plants in California and Illinois.
Renewables advocates know that had California and Germany invested $680 billion into new nuclear power plants, instead of renewables and the grid upgrades they require, the two places would be generating 100% of their electricity from clean, zero-emission energy.
Sometimes, after I point these things out, someone will quip, “A lesson in unintended consequences.”

But after 50 years of killing nuclear & promoting renewables, the main consequence of anti-nuclear advocacy — more fossil fuel pollution — can not be considered unintentional.
As the limitations of renewables become obvious, support for nuclear grows from the Left

“Americans’ support for constructing new plants is now at 50% markedly higher than in years past. On the Left, there seems to be a shift underway” - @sunraysunray

michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/finally-they…

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More from @ShellenbergerMD

23 Jun
Stop using climate to distract from your failure

- You *reduced* Calif. forests treated for fire by 50% (!) btwn 2019 - 2020

- You exaggerated by 690% the acres treated with fuel breaks & prescribed burns

- Bad forest mgmt not temps is *primary* cause of high-intensity fires
A major new investigation by @NPR of Calfornia's Gov. @GavinNewsom is damning:

"An investigation from @CapRadioNews and NPR’s California Newsroom found the governor has misrepresented his accomplishments and even disinvested in wildfire prevention."

capradio.org/articles/2021/…
"California’s response faltered under Newsom. After an initial jump during his first year in office, data obtained by CapRadio and NPR’s California Newsroom show Cal Fire’s fuel reduction output dropped by half in 2020, to levels below Gov. Jerry Brown’s final year in office."
Read 17 tweets
21 Jun
For decades people pointed out how toxic solar production & waste were but

- biased news media refused to investigate

- solar industry spread misinformation through @NRDC @SierraClub @Greenpeace

- @BlackRock @IRENA et al manipulated analyses

PROOF

michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/why-bidens-c…
But there are no more excuses

Genocide & actual environmental justice is at stake

If you're capable of watching this video, then you're capable of understanding the inherently physical reason that renewables have massively negative environmental impacts

Energy-dense fuels require far less in the way of materials, and produces far less in the way of waste, compared to energy-dilute solar and wind

We think of solar panels as clean but there is no plan to deal with their toxic waste

quillette.com/2019/02/27/why…
Read 6 tweets
21 Jun
Bombshell new study published in @HarvardBiz Review finds that solar panel waste will make the electricity produced by solar panels *four times* more expensive than experts had predicted

Here's why everything they said about solar was wrong

michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/why-everythi…
In 2018 I argued that solar panels weren’t clean & produce 300x more toxic waste than high-level nuclear waste. In contrast to nuclear waste, which is safely stored and never hurts anyone, solar waste threatens poor trash-pickers in sub-Saharan Africa.

forbes.com/sites/michaels…
An influential analyst, @solar_chase called my article, “a fine example of 'prove [renewable energy] is terrible by linking lots of reports which don't actually support your point..."

Read 35 tweets
19 Jun
Solar jobs are in China not US

Largest solar farm in US will create *6* permanent jobs

Solar panels are imported from Xinjiang, China where “forced labor” is used under “genocide” conditions

Democrats are trying to close nuclear plants that employ ~1,200 workers at high pay
To clarify, nuclear plants *directly* employ ~1,200 workers/plant

They tend to be the best-paid energy workers

Solar farms temporarily employ low-wage, low-to-zero skill workers to install China-made panels, and 6-12, also low-wage maintenance workers, permanently
Read 10 tweets
19 Jun
These were the last images I saw before falling asleep

They may explain the dream I just had. It was so terrifying I woke myself up.

My heart is still racing as write this
I was in the passenger seat of a crowded car, a politician who I knew was at the wheel (Pelosi? Breed?). She was happy and chatty, but there were bodies everywhere, some floating in water, and the road became increasingly narrow, curving, and dangerous.

“Stop the car!” I yelled
There was a man lying near the car with his dog

“Somebody help me!” I yelled, and jumped out of the car, but nobody did

I shook the man and yelled at him. “Are you okay?! Are you okay?!” I poked him once and again, harder. I checked his pulse. Nothing
Read 28 tweets
18 Jun
Thank goodness San Francisco isn’t getting in the way of anybody’s happiness
Read 7 tweets

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