It’s Climate Week here in New York, and you can feel the excitement. The UN General Assembly is in town, and simultaneously something called the “Climate Group” (“Our mission is to drive climate action. Fast.”) is holding some 600 (!) events to promote policies that they somehow believe will “save the planet.”
At one of these events yesterday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul showed up to deliver what she probably thought was a significant policy speech. The Governor’s web page describes the speech this way:
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced New York’s participation in the U.S. Climate Alliance’s Governors’ Climate-Ready Workforce Initiative to grow career pathways in climate and clean energy fields, strengthen workforce diversity, and jointly train 1 million new registered apprentices across the Alliance’s states and territories by 2035. Governor Hochul made the announcement today at a Climate Week NYC event, which also featured her Alliance Co-Chair New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, founding Alliance member Washington Governor Jay Inslee, and White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi.
In the speech the Gov went on and on about how in New York the energy transition is really happening and is going to create zillions of “green jobs”:
We’re not talking about some transition happening in the future, we’re talking about it unfolding right now, and that’s what we’re so excited about. And we’re opening the doors to underrepresented communities. And I go to these job sites all the time and I want to see more women and people of color and the unions recognize this. That’s where they’re doing their recruiting, because these industries had been previously closed off to them.
She may be “so excited,” but while our airhead governor isn’t looking the world is passing her by. A few data points from the past few days:
- The Wall Street Journal has a front-page article today, with headline and sub-headline “America’s Ambitious Climate Plan Is Faltering. Global emissions are at records, while shift away from fossil fuels slows amid high costs, surging power demand.” There are obligatory nods to the supposed climate crisis (this is the Journal’s news pages, not the opinion section), but there is no avoiding the reality. Examples from the article: “Climate optimism is fading. Higher costs, pushback from businesses and consumers, and the slow rollout of technology are delaying the transition from fossil fuels. . . . Investment in improving the efficiency of buildings—a major driver of emissions—fell last year, the International Energy Agency says. Spending decisions happening now can lock in emissions for decades. Multibillion-dollar liquefied-natural-gas terminals being built in Texas and Louisiana could serve a projected demand boom in places such as Southeast Asia.”
- How’s that EV roll-out going? From Reuters, September 19: “[A]uto industry . . . data [released] on Thursday . . . showed the fourth consecutive monthly drop in EV sales, prompting the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) to demand “urgent action” to prevent further decline. . . . Sales of fully electric cars slumped 43.9% in August, as the bloc’s biggest EV markets Germany and France recorded drops of 68.8% and 33.1% respectively, ACEA said.” Those are rather dramatic drops. In the usual European way, the manufacturers’ trade association took consumer resistance to buying EVs as an opportunity to demand more government subsidies and mandates: “[The ACEA said that] EU institutions [need] to come forward with urgent relief measures before new CO2 targets for cars and vans come into effect in 2025.”
- This one is from a few weeks ago, but another so-called “green hydrogen” project has failed. It was only two months ago that I had a post on the failure of a big green hydrogen project in Australia. The latest such failure, last month, comes from Germany. From Hydrogen Insight, August 14: “The refusal of potential green hydrogen customers to sign binding sales agreements, as well as uncertainty over the price of the product, contributed to the collapse of a plan to build a renewable H2 project in the German city of Hannover. . . . [Officials originally] estimat[ed] that it would cost around €25m. However, by the time the project was cancelled in March this year, costs had ballooned five-fold to around €136m.” This was for just a 17 MW facility.
Maybe some day those “underreprestented communities” that Governor Hochul talks about will figure out that what’s holding them back is reliance on government planning and handouts as the route to economic betterment.
This morning, New York state is generating 64% of its in-state electricity from fossil fuels, and about 5% from wind and solar. This ratio if typical.
In my travels to visit relatives in western NY, I saw some new additions to the landscape between Middletown and Binghamton along NY 17/ I-86 – some huge new windmills visible from the highway.
In the five times I could see them (daylight trips only) all were stationary four out of the five times I saw them.
The fifth time was a very windy day, the type that pushes your car around on the highway and hardly “typical and everyday” weather for the area.
So in my random sample, non-functional 80% of the time. “Transition,” my ass.
Hochul would look well suited in an SS uniform. What an idiot.
Based on my experience traveling, I think what you are seeing is typical. I travel a lot, and always look at wind farms carefully, so long as I am not driving. In the midwest, 100 turbine wind farms or wind farm clusters are pretty common. Usually, by my count anywhere from 10-20% are not turning at all, and others are moving. This says to me it is not a wind problem but a maintenance problem. I will qualify this statement by saying that I have no idea whether or not turbines are turning at their rated capacity or something less. We have also watched an entire wind farm die down at dusk–going from most turning to none turning in about 10 minutes.
At dusk? You mean just when they’re supposed to be taking over from solar?
Uh, yup. Hope they had spinning reserve somewhere.
here’s the spinning reserve
I have noticed it usually grows calm at dusk.
Yes, but not above 200 feet which is where the turbines are… Its caused by the air and the land becoming the same temperature at dusk so vertical convection ceases for a while…and so the boundary layer sticks to the ground.
yet, we often see them doing nothing at dusk
A lot of people do not understand that local winds die when the sun sets? Why? The thermal updrafts caused by warm soil pulls air in. It’s a circulation phenomenon. No sun, no warm dirt, no updrafts, no wind influx.
“none turning in about 10 minutes”
Well, I guess it’s time to turn off your heater or AC, your TV, your computer, your oven and of course stop charging that EV! And feel proud you’re helping to save the planet and helping China to thrive and rule the world.
Her and governor Healey of Wokeachusetts! Yes, in SS uniforms.
Just checked (10 am) the New England – ISO page, they’re at about 4% W&S. In my state, all energy providers are required to purchase renewable energy credits (RECs) for 37% of their supply, which seems way out of line with the reality of generation. My assumption is that this is some form of meaningless, but expensive, Green cronyism, but if anyone knows better, please advise.
Shouldn’t the electricity generators have to supply 37%, even if they have to buy on the open market when the wind doesn’t blow.
Yesterday UK wind was providing 0.6GW for 5 hours in the middle of the day. Why don’t the MSM ask Mr Milliband how we get by without FF generation?
My understanding is that the requirement to purchase RECs is used to subsidize non-economic energy sources that wouldn’t exist in an unhampered market, hence the volume of RECs doesn’t directly map to the volume of energy actually generated. They are analogous to Medieval indulgences, which clearly had little impact on the commitment of sins. Other than that, I don’t know a lot about them, probably because the more opaque they are, the easier it is to hide their cost in customers’ bills.
Yes, but then the boondoggle doesn’t work. If the worse-than-useless wind and solar “providers” had to pay for the “backup” for all the times when their crap isn’t working, or isn’t producing the amount promised, not a single “wind farm” or “solar farm” would ever have been built.
Because there is no economic case for these things when they have to compete on a level playing field.
Sounds about right for New England. No matter how much lipstick they put on it, fossil generation is 60-65% across the board.
“Green cronyism”
I prefer the term, Mafia rackets.
Government: what can’t it screw up? It’s how we screw with other people before they screw with us.
When they’re losing hearts and minds there’s only one solution-
Labor’s misinformation bill is ‘bonkers’ (msn.com)
Their final solution as usual.
The Southwest Power Pool just dropped their accredited wind capacity to 14.5% of their actual installed generating capacity. And we are the windy Great Plains!
And we’re opening the doors to underrepresented communities. And I go to these job sites all the time and I want to see more women and people of color and the unions recognize this. That’s where they’re doing their recruiting, because these industries had been previously closed off to them.
Complete word salad blathering by Hochul. These industries aren’t closed off to anyone. You either have the qualifications to perform a job, regardless of industry, or you don’t. Period.
Bingo. I completely fail to see what the race or gender of the workers has to do with anything. These types of jobs require competent people. It is a safety matter.
You obviously are not on the DEI band wagon or fell off at the first speed hump.
Yeah the squeegee guys who keep the solar panels clean need to be top dogs! 😆😅🤣
That’s the only lasting “green jobs” they’ll be “creating.”
Yes, these vile people have to inject racism into places where there is none. It gives them something to do and, more importantly, gets them paid.
Fortunately, more people are catching on to the fact that it’s them who are the racists.
…… and that they are surplus to requirements.
Is a madhouse an underrepresented community?
There are lots of underrepresented communities.
In fact, as much as 49% of all people living in democracies are underrepresented.
Well the democrats have to keep up the “POC” boot-licking. Election day is comin’.
“people of color”
Once upon a time, such folks were called “colored people”- but then that term became a negative- so now it’s OK to call them “people of color”. Big difference, right? 🙂
Of course the NAACP still exists.
Then there are the “historically black colleges and universities” [HBCU]
You can look it up!
They must be racist! And, I think all male too! /s
And what happens to these “women and people of color,” when those jobs go down the toilet?
It’s Climate Week here in New York
Could you hang on to Sadiq Khan for us?
s /on to // g…
Climate week here in Wokeachusetts too. The new climate religion will probably make Climate Week into a new annual celebration/holiday- maybe kinda like Lent. Instead of giving up ice cream or whiskey or whatever, you promise to give up all CO2.
waiting to exhale
Remember those BIG climate marches? Wait until energy prices go thru the roof, they will be marching instead for lower energy prices and more fossil fuels. Popcorn please!
Most people do not comprehend in the slightest how governments get money to spend.
It blows my mind that with example after example of major job losses after installing significant amounts of unreliable energy (see Spain, Germany, England) lying fools still spout this obvious nonsense.
Big Tech is starting to back nuclear. It won’t be long until they quit funding wind and solar.
The lying fools are losing THEIR jobs- the more they lie, the bigger promotions they get.
The climate jig isn’t up until the big-money men funding the Democrats give up. As long as they fund the candidates this sham will continue.
There is no risk greater than bad government, the proof is all around us. If we don’t do anything other than outlaw government mandates we would be on our way to prosperity. Remove all mandates now.
wow, ZILLIONS of green jobs! Probably everyone on the planet should be able to get one. /s
You think the NY governor is a nut job? The governor of Wokeachusetts has declared this CLIMATE WEEK! WTF?
Climate week is like shark week. At some point there will be a big bite taken.
“Somebody Please Tell Kathy Hochul …”
As my Irish grandmother said: You can always tell an Irishman, but you can’t tell him much. I wonder if she ever said that of the Irish women? 😇
Washington Governor Jay Inslee
He will need a new job in less than 4 months.
He must be networking in NY.