The Rise and Decline of nations throughout history is well documented. Here are my thoughts on the how close the U.S. came to a steep decline of freedom, strength and prosperity due to the un-American energy policies of Obama and Biden. Energy and electricity are the Life-Blood of our country’s productive capacity and prosperity. The harm of harmful policies are not felt until decades later, such as those Obama implemented, which I will cover later. The IRA should be fully repealed by Congress, otherwise, the American electric Grid unreliability and electricity costs will increase as has been experienced in Germany, Spain, Hawaii and the UK.
The Green New Deal aka IRA
Reasonable cost, affordable, reliable and abundant energy is one important resource that made America strong. America once had the most reliable, affordable, resilient and robust electric Grid. That is until the Green New Deal came along. Codified into the so called, “Inflation Reduction Act” of 2022. If Kamala Harris would have won the election in November, the decline of America would have certainly accelerated. Energy and reliable electricity are the Life-Blood of America. Thankfully, President Trump was elected and some of the un-American policies of the Democrat Party, Obama and Biden are being corrected. Congress is working on a draft to correct the IRA, however, so far it does not go far enough to abolish the IRA. Alex Epstein wrote an excellent summary, worth reading, here. The Full repeal of the IRA is needed to keep America’s Life-Blood of Energy and Electricity Reliable & Affordable. Not doing so puts America on the same path as Spain, Germany, Hawaii and California. Call it a “Spain Spiral”.
The Changing World Order
Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Investments fame has published a book, “The Changing World order”. He has also posted a website and You Tube presentation which is a fascinating 45 minute history lesson of the changing world order and the rise and fall of empires. Here is a screenshot of his focus on four empires, the Dutch, British, U.S. and a rising China. Historical to current times. Had Kamala Harris been elected, Dalio’s projection of the U.S. decline, might have come to be. Why? Because in these modern energy intensive times conventional forms of energy, oil, gas, coal and nuclear are the foundation of American strength and hegemony.
I recommend watching Dalio’s You Tube presentation and his book, “Changing World Order”. This is relatively new, published this month. Previously, I have written my views on the U.S. Self-Sabotaging of our energy and electrical generation capacity. Here, Here,Here, Here and more.
Democrat Party and Other Un-American Organizations
The Democrat Party energy policies, in my opinion, could not have been improved on by Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping themselves to weaken America. The “War on Coal” and a review of Obama, Biden and the Democrat controlled Congress un-American policies are covered in these three articles:
Here is a reminder of the lasting effects of regulations. Obama implemented the EV Mandate in August 2012. Obama’s EPA also forced the EPA Endangerment Finding. It took over a decade for the harm to become noticed by the general public.
The 2022 (wrongly titled) Inflation reduction Act actually codifies Obama and Biden “Green New Deal” policies. They need to be completely repealed. Alex Epstein and Ed Ireland have done excellent articles detailing the incomplete work of Congress to support President Trump’s promises. Here and here.
Learning from Others
President Trump understands the importance of energy independence and a reliable electrical grid. In fact, one of his first EO’s was to declare an energy emergency. He is correct in doing so. Why? Because under Biden and with the hateful energy policies of Obama still in effect, America was headed down the same path of Net-Zero Carbon that Spain, UK, Germany and other Western countries have followed. The results should be studied.
Conclusions
The U.S. is on a similar path as Germany, the UK and Spain if the Renewables subsidies of the IRA are not repealed. The CATO Institute has provided a summary of the costs until 2050. Worse yet are the risks of unreliable power supply due to too much intermittent, unreliable, non-Dispatchable solar and wind capacity.
President Trump was correct in his Executive Order of January 20th entitled, “Unleashing American Energy”.
Electricity demand according to most respected organizations, is expected to grow by 50% in the year 2050. That means an increase of reliable capacity of about 600,000 MW of new generating capacity. The only proven source of this enormous capacity is from nuclear, gas and coal generation. The natural gas expansion is limited by manufacturing capacity, nuclear takes decades to implement. New coal plant capacity should be included in the portfolio of new electricity generation capacity. If it is not, we may in fact, follow the de-industrialization path of Germany and lose the lead in AI. Congress should support the full extent, 100% of President Trump’s Executive Order to “Unleash American Energy”, including the building of new clean coal plants.
On enemies, Sun Tzu said “Know the enemy and know yourself in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril”.(1)
Most of the American people have no idea of who the enemies of coal are. In fact, I worked in the coal power industry for about thirty years before I became aware of some of them. The true facts are, that there are multiple entities and organizations that are enemies. Let’s call them “Carbon Hating Tribes”. These Tribes include rogue Bureaucrats (alphabet agencies of the U.S. Federal Gov’t) politicians, Well funded NGO’s, Public education K-12 plus many Universities, Public Broadcasting, Billionaires who do not understand the importance of Domestically produced Primary energy, U.S. elected politicians, the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the MSM, the Entertainment Industry, celebrities and foreign participants that wish to weaken the U.S.A. I tried to capture some of the prominent anti Carbon Tribes in one meme which I have used in my public presentations. Most of the leaders and the members of these anti-coal Tribes, are NOT elected by the U.S. citizens . I have written several previous commentaries naming some of the individuals and organizations. (6, 207, 208) A Congressional report also outlined the escalation of the war on coal during the McCarthy years at EPA in the Obama Administration. (10)
More on the influencers of Net-Zero Carbon before. Here,here and here. After years of observations from the industry and research, I am of the strong opinion that the priorities and goals of “Climate Policies” are really not about improving human health or saving the planet. Thomas Shepstone captured my thoughts in his Substack entitled, “Energy Matters If You Value the Life You Now Have and Don’t Want to Live Under Socialism” (210)
Those of us that understand energy and electricity generation are a small minority that I estimate at 3% of the population. The “Good Guys” that understand energy and electricity generation are vastly outnumbered and out shouted. The enemies of coal are also the enemies of Liberty, Freedom and Capitalism.
Are You Worried About the Future of the U.S.A.?
This excerpt from my previous blog post and it is worth repeating. This is from my commentary entitled, “Are You Worried about the Future of the U.S.A.?” I posted this the day after inauguration day, January 21, 2021.
“The November 2020 Presidential Election to put it politely did not end with the best interests of America as a priority. President Biden disingenuously said at the inauguration, that he wants to unite the country. Then he went to the Whitehouse to sign Executive Orders to Cancel the foundation of our economic growth during President Trump’s four years. He is in the highest office of the world and he has plans to use the power of that office to do as much harm as possible to America. I don’t know why the Democrat Party, Liberals & the Mainstream Media can be so hateful of America. But they are.
Their Goals seem to be to Dismantle America’s #1 Position in the world as a Beacon of freedom and to harm or kill the largest Economy on the planet. Biden’s first step to weaken the U.S.A. is to reduce Domestic Energy Production. Reasonable cost energy is a huge component of world manufacturing competitiveness. Abundant production of reasonable cost energy also creates and sustains “Jobs” too! To put it into in a four letter word Mr. Biden may understand.
I will be perfectly honest, I am concerned for the future of America. Here are some of the reasons why I am concerned…...”Continue reading on blog post here
Background of The War on Coal
I have followed the war on coal since the 1990’s and the enemies of coal have gained strength and political power. Now with a rogue, out of control EPA and Biden as President, they have near Totalitarian Control over the entire government. In fact, Biden’s #1 Priority is/are the bogus, “Climate Policies” which have weaponized all of the government swamp Bureaucrats and all alphabet soup agencies including the EPA, BLM, SEC, Dept. of Defense, DOJ and more. This is a War on the American people and America’s productive capacity. This is a war that we must win. I have completed presentations to groups and written on the beginnings of the war on coal since about 1995 when it first dawned on me that these people in the EPA are trying to kill coal. Yes, it started during the Bill Clinton Presidency when Carol Browner was EPA Chief, and was escalated with Obama. (See the 2015 Congressional report on the Obama Carbon Mandate(10) , Here. ) Up to about 2012 about 50% of our electricity was generated by coal fueled power plants and I thought it was inexplicable and not possible that the government would wage a continuing war on the American Treasure of coal. Since 2012 over 102,000 MW’s of reliable, affordable, Dispatchable coal power generation capacity has been shut down. I presented this at the ENERUM energy Forum in Columbus, OH in 2022. (215) A modern, new clean coal plant has not been built since 2013, yet hundreds have been shut down and Demolished. (11, 12, 13, 14, 215) The two photos below are typical of how U.S. Utilities dispose of coal plants. This one is Genoa #3 of Dairyland Power, near Lacrosse, Wisconsin. Yes, it was old, but it should have been replaced with a new coal plant. The other is the Duke Sutton #3 which I was the manufacturer’s lead startup engineer in 1972.
The U.S. Government is Choosing Euthanasia for our Energy & Electricity Generation Infrastructure. Why?
I saw a bizarre story in the “Free Press” about a perfectly healthy young woman that has decided to end her life. The article title: “I’m 28. And I’m Scheduled to Die in May.“I did not make this up, read it here in the Free Press. After a dozen years of watching Obama, Biden, Swamp Bureaucrats, NGO’s, the MSM, Entertainment and energy ignorant but wealthy celebrities demonize coal….the planned death of Zoraya ter Beek seems similar. The big difference is, Zoraya Ter Beek has made her decision by herself. The American people are having Euthanasia of our energy and electricity infrastructure forced on us and likely to cause economic harm, pain, suffering and deaths of our American citizens. Being done in plain sight, eyes wide open and the perpetrators have about 50% of the voters support. Wake up America!
So much for “We the People” having a say into policies that impact all of us and all that we do. (Note the meme above of energy policy influences, none were elected by the people of the U.S.)Think about loss of power, loss of gasoline availability and cancellation of public transportation. Loss of heating, HVAC, refrigeration and just about everything we depend on, including food production and distribution. Dr. Robert Hargraves wrote an excellent article on “Energy IS the Economy“. It is here in Grid Brief, Nov. 2022. I live in Hilton Head, SC. The last time I remember losing power and having gasoline shortages was Hurricane Mathew in 2016. It has been very easy for many residents to forget what loss of power meant for just a few days. In February 2021, Texas suffered a massive statewide Blackout. That was in winter and cold kills more people than summer heat. The Texas Blackout killed a minimum of 246 people. I predict that, If the EPA and the Biden Administration is not reined in, more people will die in the near future. Why? Because of Bureaucratically enacted and foolish Climate Policies. Keep in mind electricity supply is comfortably easy to sustain during the spring and fall months. The challenge is PEAK Demand periods in the summer and winter. Perhaps that is one reason the EPA and the administration release these excessively restrictive rules in the spring and fall? I wrote my commentary on “Threats to the Grid” last month. It is here. An excerpt of that commentary listing the ten largest threats to Grid Reliability follow. These are based on my experience and my opinion:
The top 10 “Threats” are ranked, with the greatest risks first. All of these risks could be mitigated if energy and environmental policies were in effect the same as they were in 2012 when the U.S. had amongst the cleanest air in the industrialized and Developed world. There is a lot of blame to be spread around, but these policies are threats to Grid reliability.
Government Agency Climate Policies, EPA at the top, SEC, BLM, DOD, DOJ and all of government is wrongly applying “Climate First” policies rather than the Best policies for America and younger Americans to experience the “American Dream” as my generation did
Creation of RTO’s that absolved most utilities from planning for future electric generation growth, ie, plants can be shut down without a Utility being required to replace it with like, Dispatchable generation
Environmental Extremist/Activists that use enormous wealth to demonize carbon (and support (D) politicians against the Best interests of the U.S.A.
Wealthy Business people who fund NGO’s to Decarbonize the western world
The United Nations IPCC, Agenda 21, Agenda 30 and other so called “Climate Policies”
The World Economic Forum and the members who under the guise of saving the planet are forcing policies of De-Growth, De-Industrialization and Energy Poverty on all of the people of the western world, but not the BRICS, and other countries aligned with Russia and China
“Woke” or “Politically Correct” companies including electric Utilities and Co-Operatives that espouse solar and wind power as being capable of replacing coal, oil, gas and nuclear energy
Public Education, K-12 and Universities that promote climate scare tactics to sway public opinion toward accepting higher energy costs and reduced reliability of energy and electricity
World Bank, IMF, Large Banking and Investment companies that determine which infrastructure projects to finance
Terrorists or criminal acts of sabotage When I first wrote this commentary, I placed terrorsists as last in the hierarchy of risks. Now, with millions of illegal immigrants from dozens of countries, some that are enemies of the U.S. Perhaps the priority should be higher. It is in fact, a risk to Grid reliability and Green Policies have made the Grid more vulnerable to attack.
If you are interested, here are three previous blog posts on the beginning of the War on Coal and the some of the individuals and groups that have been involved. Here,hereand here. The IER has prepared an excellent report which enumerates on the vast energy resources within America’s borders. (6)
The American Coal Council Letter to Elected Officials-May 17, 2024
Emily Arthun, President of the American Coal Council prepared a letter for supporters to sign and submit to Congress. The letter is copied below and I support Ms. Arthun’s comments 100%! I have submitted to my elected officials:
“Dear Senator Graham, Senator Scott and Congresswoman Mace,
As you know, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued a number of new regulations, such as the Clean Power Plan 2.0 (CPP 2.0), the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), new rules around coal combustion residuals (CCR), and others that will have direct and detrimental impact on coal-fired power plants and the people that depend on them for reliable and affordable power. I urge you to hold agencies accountable for overreach and careless rulemaking which is intended to force coal plant closures and endangers the reliability of our electric grid.
Coal supplies affordable power when other sources cannot. It plays a critical role during times of intense demand, such as during cold snaps and heat waves, ensuring that the lights stay on and the grid remains reliable. According to recent reports, electric utilities have nearly doubled their forecasts of how much additional power they’ll need by 2028 given the torrid pace of data center development and other manufacturing demands that are putting new pressures on the grid. Despite the promise of renewable energy technologies, coal remains a critical energy source that must remain in use to prevent crippling energy costs to low-income families and to ensure energy shortages do not put unmanageable pressures on the grid.
The EPA has crafted a suite of rules specifically designed to force the closure of reliable and efficiently operating coal plants. These plants are the primary source of power generation in many states, and a significant source of grid-saving baseload power across the country. Further, the EPA issued these rules while conducting zero analysis of the collective impact of the new rules on grid reliability. EPA’s rules fail to account for the fact that electricity prices are increasing above the rate of inflation, demand is expanding, grid experts are already issuing warnings concerning plant closures, and there is no adequate replacement ready for the sorely needed, dispatchable generating capacity coal provides. Further shuttering coal generation will have a devastating impact to communities and our economy.
Thank you for considering my concerns, and I hope you will take swift action to support reliable and affordable energy for United States citizens and industry.”
I hope each reader will send a similar letter to your elected officials. The EPA and extremists are at War with the American People. We the People MUST win this final battle.
America is Blessed With Enormous Natural Resources of Critical Minerals and Including Coal, Uranium, Oil and Natural Gas. We Should Use them All!
Why would “We the People”...Not use the God given natural resources that America is Blessed with? A good question. My previous commentaries have expounded on the individuals, NGO’s, and others that have created the insane Net-Zero Carbon policies. Because I have written so much on this, I will not repeat my concerns and some would say, my rant. However, if you are interested, here are fourteen blog posts that attempt to show who and how the anti-American Climate Policies have come to be. The Biden Climate Policies must be reversed to win the War on America’s Productive capacity and the Best interests for the American People;
Remember the poem by Martin Niemoller to describe events leading up to the Holocaust? We could paraphrase and say: First they came for coal…..
FIRST THEY CAME
First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak outBecause I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me.
There is a parallel strategy by the enemies of coal. Today it is a war on coal, later they will (actually, they already are) attack natural gas and oil, your freedom of transportation, what you eat, how you cook and more.. Even worse, the forces against coal are also against the one zero carbon source of carbon-free dependable, Dispatchable Bulk Power, nuclear. The Sierra Club and other extremist NGO’s have been opposed to nuclear power. So, if it is not protecting human health or the environment, then what is their motive? My friend Thomas J. Shepstone has an answer in a Substack post we corroborated on titled, “Energy Matters If You Value the Life You Now Have and Don’t Want to Live Under Socialism“
Please Consider…..
Do yourself and all Americans a favor. If you already understand energy and electricity generation, help teach those that are not well informed. My estimate is that only about 3% of the American population really understands Primary energy, electricity generation and energy economics. Here are some examples of my attempts.(23, 30, 31)
If you are one of the 97% that does not understand energy and electricity generation, (or have been indoctrinated to demonize carbon) please ask me or anyone else who does understand energy to please take time to explain how government policies and cultural indoctrination has placed America on a path of self destruction.
Yours very truly,
Dick Storm, May 18, 2024
If you are interested in digging down for more research, then here are hundreds of references to support my claim that the EPA and Environmental Zealots have America on a Net Zero Path to Destruction:
I joined the Hilton Head Chapter of the “World Affairs Council” and as a member, I get daily Newsletters. Today I received the message below on the world’s addition to coal (36% of Electricity Generation). The article included the SME Link to their web page on the Importance of Coal to the World. Energy, Food Production and Economic Prosperity are all inter-related. America has steadily used about 100 Quadrillion Btu’s each year for about twenty years. Fossil Fuels provide about 80% of the energy we depend on. Our quality of life and Freedom (especially freedom of travel) depends on reliable, reasonable cost energy. You probably already know this, but I suspect most of the Democrat elected officials (except Joe Manchin) and (D) voters do not. Just saw yesterday in WSJ the impact of high fertilizer costs on farming. (High Natural Gas Prices Cause Rise in Fertilizer and Food Prices, Dec. 16, 2021: https://www.wsj.com/articles/surging-fertilizer-costs-push-farmers-to-shift-planting-plans-raise-prices-11639580768?mod=itp_wsj&mod=djemITP_h )
Dick Storm,
December 17, 2021
The article below is copied from the “World Affairs Council” Newsletter which was published today
Dec. 17, 2021 World Affairs Council
A Global Addiction
At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow last month, more than 40 countries pledged to phase out their use of coal. Richer countries expect to end coal burning in the 2030s, the BBC reported. Developing nations have set a 2040s deadline.
China, India and the US didn’t opt into the agreement, however. India agreed to “phase down” rather than “phase out” coal, for example, wrote National Public Radio. Diplomats viewed the shift as a compromise. Environmentalists were deeply disappointed. Coal is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
The black, combustible sedimentary rock that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the US in the late 18th and early 19th century is proving to be a thorny subject for world leaders, businesses and activists. Nearly everyone agrees that the world must wean itself off coal. But doing so is easier said than done. As the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration explained on their website, “Coal is the most abundant source of electricity worldwide, currently providing more than 36 percent of global electricity.” Link to Coal is Important to the World: https://www.smenet.org/What-We-Do/Technical-Briefings/Coal-s-Importance-in-the-US-and-Global-Energy-Supp#:~:text=Coal%20is%20the%20most%20abundant,“home%20grown”%20energy%20source.
In the long term, the future of coal is bleak. China has stopped funding the construction of coal plants overseas. The US has done the same. But today, after significant reductions in emissions during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, coal-burning has surged back along with world economic growth, Deutsche Welle reported. Even as the US and Europe decrease their coal burning, Asian countries will likely pick up the slack as they race to develop their economies, added the World Economic Forum.
Low coal supplies helped cause electricity shortages as the pandemic waned in China, which accounts for more than half the world’s coal consumption, CNN wrote. Factories were forced to cut production. Reports of folks stuck in elevators embarrassed leaders in Beijing. It’s not surprising that Chinese officials promptly ordered up more mining.
Such problems are not limited to Asia. North Macedonia is planning to import coal from Kosovo to deal with energy shortages in its antiquated energy grid, according to Reuters. Household electricity prices in North Macedonia, meanwhile, are slated to rise by 10 percent in the new year.
Change is coming, however. In Australia, where Prime Minister Scott Morrison has long defended the country’s powerful coal industry, homeowners are forecast to install rooftop solar panels on nearly half the country’s houses in the next decade, Bloomberg reported. Australia is therefore expected to cut coal consumption faster than earlier estimates suggested. Morrison is now in the odd position of pledging not to shutter coal-fired plants too quickly, the Guardian explained.
He and other leaders are hanging on tightly when many believe it’s time to let go.”
In my opinion the “War on Carbon” is the most successful Hoax ever thrust on World. Perhaps during the coldest months of winter 2022, people will wake up? Memories are short regarding last years Blackouts in Texas and the fact that had over 6,000 MW of coal power generation NOT been retired, the Blackout and resulting deaths did not need to happen. This is my personal opinion, Dick Storm, Dec. 17, 2021