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Yet Another Reason Why Wind And Solar Electricity Generation Will Never Work To Run An Economy

If you don’t like fossil fuels — and who does? — our betters in academia and environmental NGOs have the perfect answer: we can just get our energy in the form of electricity from the wind and sun. The fuel is abundant and free for the taking.  The New York Times has reported  that the cost of electricity generated from wind and sun is now lower than the cost of generation from fossil fuel sources. And even as we save money on electricity, we’ll be saving the planet! All the sociology and gender studies majors agree that we have a moral duty to switch our energy system away from fossil fuels to “clean and green” wind and solar electricity. Who could possibly be such a monster as to stand in the way? At this website, I have devoted considerable attention to documenting major flaws in this narrative. In particular, I have written dozens of posts on the subject of the intermittency problem of wind and solar generation, which leads to a need for either full back-up at all times fr...
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Wind and Solar: A Costly Mistake That America Can’t Afford

  March 23, 2026 Policymakers and green energy advocates insist wind and solar are the future—cheap, clean, and limitless. The reality is far different. These sources displace some fuel costs but deliver no on-demand power. They force utilities and ultimately ratepayers to maintain a full-time, reliable full-time system while subsidizing a part-time, weather-dependent one. The result is double the capital expense for half the reliability, a financial blunder on a national scale. Consider land use alone. A recent  analysis  of “reliable” solar measured by accredited capacity during peak demand, not optimistic annual averages reveals a footprint far larger than claimed. In the MISO grid, serving about 44 million people in the center part of the country, solar now requires 19.29 acres per megawatt of accredited capacity during peak demand, balloons to 257 acres by 2030 and 579 acres by 2043. Why? Because solar often doesn’t produce electricity when it is needed and when they...
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Hochul Wants a Climate Reprieve

Praise be, New York Gov.  Kathy Hochul  has seen a great light—or maybe heard that voters are irate about their winter heating bills. Lo, the Democratic Governor is seeking to walk back her state’s climate mandates because she says they will raise costs. Well, yes. And for her allies in the anti-fossil-fuel crowd , the pain is the point. Ms. Hochul on Friday called on the Democratic Legislature to postpone implementation of the state’s cap-and-tax program and CO2 emissions cuts mandated by New York’s 2019 climate law. She warned that regulations could increase upstate utility bills by about $4,000 a year and gasoline prices by $2.23 a gallon. “We need more time,” Ms. Hochul wrote in an op-ed in The Empire Report. “So much has radically changed since the Climate Act was enacted, necessitating common-sense adjustments.” She said inflation, President Trump’s tariffs, and the GOP tax bill’s phase down of federal renewable tax credits had increased costs of green energy projects. S...
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NYers support renewables but also gas plants if costs will decline

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ALBANY — New Yorkers are overwhelmingly concerned about rising electricity costs and place significant blame on utility companies that have a monopoly on the energy system, according to a new poll of registered voters commissioned by the Independent Power Producers of New York.   The poll conducted by Mercury Public Affairs also found that 71% of those surveyed view renewable energy favorably, but 77% would support building more natural gas plants if they would help reduce soaring electricity costs.   More than 71% of the respondents  — people who are likely to vote in this year’s general election — said their utility bills increased over the last year, including half of whom said those bills increased significantly and 68% who agree energy costs are “out of control.”   “New Yorkers are sending a clear message: affordability comes first,” said Gavin Donohue, president and CEO of Independent Power Producers of New York, which is hosting its 40th an...
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Followup North Harmony Town Board 3 23 26 Wind Law

  North Harmony Town Board 3 23 26 Energy Update - Chautauqua Energy Watch Public hearing on wind law moratorium extension  Attached: 1- Parishville, NY Wind law requires: “five times total height of the proposed WECS [wind turbines] from the nearest non -participating property line.” (Local Law No 1 of 2017 P18 E. #1). The wind developer abandoned its proposal for the region.  2 - Chautauqua County Health Board 3 19 26  presentations by residents living in the Ball Hill Wind, the Arkwright, and the Cassadaga Wind projects. They describe  suffering symptoms of “wind turbine sickness”.  (YouTube film & transcript attached).  https://youtu.be/UwEp9hgyjSg?si=j7yZBg9rpwaGx5DD 3 - New York Department of Health testimony:   "Based on the Health Department's review of information .... Recognized health-related effects of [industrial wind] audible noise include annoyance, sleep disturbance, cognitive performance reduction, eff...
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Trump takes aim at windmills despite increasing energy costs

The  high cost of power bills  is shaping up to be a political issue in this year's midterm elections. But when it comes to generating electricity,  President Trump is picking winners and losers . He's pushing companies to keep aging coal-powered plants online.   And then there's wind energy, which Trump hates. "I can proudly say, Doug, that we have not approved one windmill since I've been in office. And we're going to keep it that way. My goal is to not let any windmill be built. They're losers," Trump said to his interior secretary, Doug Burgum, at a recent White House event. At Trump's urging, Burgum has actively worked to thwart wind projects on land and offshore. On Monday,  Burgum’s Interior Department announced  it will pay a French energy company, TotalEnergies,  nearly $1 billion to stop plans  to build two wind farms off the coasts of New York and North Carolina. Instead, TotalEnergies will take the money it had paid during the Biden ad...
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New York’s Climate Law Is Cracking Under the Weight of Affordability Politics

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has been  signaling  her intent to rewrite the state’s climate law for months, arguing that achieving the existing emissions targets it lays out would impose “enormous” costs on New Yorkers. She finally revealed her proposal to do so on Friday, requesting new targets and more time to meet them. If she gets her way, New York would be the first state to renege on its climate goals. More specifically, Hochul pitched moving the law’s deadline for enacting climate regulations from 2024 to 2030. She wants to establish a new emissions target for 2040 to replace one for 2030 that will now be all but impossible to meet, and to revise the existing 2050 target. She also wants to  change the official accounting method  the state uses to calculate emissions from shorter-lived greenhouse gases like methane — an idea she first floated during a budget fight in 2023. That would ease pressure to cut natural gas use and make the state look further along o...
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