I have been pondering for several days an email which I received from exactly such a person. He knows what he is talking about. He knows its all bullshit. But, in his words, he would rather feed at the trough of the biggest orgy of spending in history rather than screaming hoarse from the poorhouse
There is an ocean of money to be made. And nobody cares if it will work or not.
Thanks. I'll ask the family Trekkie for elaboration and maybe it is time to watch it. Am more of a fantasy than sci-fi fan but I'm always open to wisdom.
Borg: A "race"* with a technology enforced collective. Their individual brains have been subsumed into a distributed group mind**. They seek out other races to assimilate and "add their uniqueness to our own". Their catch phrase is "Resistance is futile." Which translates as "Hold still while I assimilate you."
* Actually a mixture of whatever races they've assimilated by the point of the timeline in STNG, but probably started out as a single race.
** The original concept, as presented, was a distributed group mind, making it extremely difficult to defeat, as destroying any portion just reduces the overall processing power, slightly. In later corruptions, the Borg have a "queen" or queens who are top of the pyramid organizers/rulers. As far as I can tell, these were added because of weak/lazy writers.
My rule-of-thumb on any issue is the following: if 2/3 or more of major media corporations are singing the same narrative, then you can be certain that it’s contrived and controlled and paid for by powerful interest groups.
Follow the money is always the best advice to start an investigation into graft, corruption and illiteracy vs literacy.
Oil business is in the business of making money 💰 . Politicians are in the business of taking money.
At the end of the day the cost of all this is paid through TAXES, "carbon taxes" paid by companies who trickle down the cost to consumers, so no one knows it's there...
Consumers, poor and middle class are just fleeced... But hey! "You have to save the planet 🤡, or else😡"
Don't forget the creation of "energy markets" from the previous, reliable, stable, and affordable centralized utilities.
These markets create a new speculation play ground for banksters. Making that market volatile with unreliable generation which must be taken, means that the speculation will be wildly profitable.
Ultimately, all profits will come out of the consumers' pockets, but bankers/speculators will make a fortune.
All under the guise of "opening up electricity production to the "free market"". Which even fools a lot of consumers who pay those higher prices into thinking it's a good idea. Meanwhile, actual research shows that state owned utilities (state in the general sense of any gov't entity) provide better service at a lower cost on the average.
The Green Grift is possibly the largest wealth transfer in human history - from taxpayer's national treasuries to private corporations and NGOs and who knows where else. It's staggering to think how much. It will foment significant shifts in the world power-sphere. You can see it clearly today with BRICS, House of Saud, Iran, etc. I can see it in Canada which is hell bent on committing energy seppuku on the world stage. The nonsense that comes out of Trudeau and his cabinet ministers makes me wonder who is calling in the plays.
Thanks, Irina, for this text. Will distribute it a lot.
I guess the larger part of politicians is just as illiterate as you described. - For the others in industries and companies earning profits from the current thing, I guess there is a large part knowing that the "transition" is a big grift, and as it was already pointed out here, they try to get a large share instead of trying to teach the public about the laws of nature.
"That old saying by Cato is quite well known; he said he was surprised that one haruspex did not burst out laughing when he saw another one. (Latin: Vetus autem illud Catonis admodum scitum est, qui mirari se aiebat quod non rideret haruspex haruspicem cum vidisset)."
Unfortunately pain is a good teacher. People will become energy literate when they feel the pain of intermittent energy availability. 60+ years of reliable energy has taught citizens that this is a normal fact of life. They’ll start to question this assumption when their lights don’t come on, their food rots, they lose mobility and when their clothing is soaked in sweat.
Pain is one of the best teachers, yes. As I like to tell my daughter, there are always two ways to do something: the easy way and the hard way. Which way you choose is up to you. I would add that if you don't choose, life will choose for you and it will choose the hard way.
As usual, there are people who profit from illiteracy. Think about the three card monte dealer’s relationship to the rube with his pockets stuffed with cash. The solar and wind developers are flush with subsidies, investor’s money, and never ending tax credits, they can put up wind farms that will make money even if they never produce a kwh. The utilities win because they get paid for building grid upgrades. Neither of these groups will blow the whistle. The old world media is also illiterate and compliant. I guess it is up to you, Irina, to head off the disaster.
It is easy to become despondent over the extraordinary delusions pushed by the energy illiterates. As always, the best corrective is to ensure that they feel the consequences of their policies directly, so when the turn on the light switch, it stays dark, or when the get in the EV, it doesn't start, or more importantly, when they turn on the heat, nothing comes out.
Alas, until then, the past will describe the future
as usual pure gold ! and as usual I ask rhetorically " what price have the energy illiterates paid for their ignorance ?" I would argue that they have PROFITED massively ! not just in terms of money but in power and control -here in the us oil and gas (adjusted for inflation) sell for much less then they did 25 years ago ! meanwhile the "greenies" get trillion$ in tax dollars and power to force their overpriced"green" energy on to the grid ! here in the us' the
economic and scientific illiterate control the educational system -the media -and the governmental bureaucracies that have real power - as long as these conditions continue the question has to be -" what is the catalyst to change it ?" inquiring minds want to know
Some time ago, I asked about the veracity of reports made by the IEA. You replied that before 2019 (?) they could probably be trusted.
According to a 2009 and 2015 study led by Dr. Richard Perez and Dr. Mark Perez, the total amount of proven Hydrocarbon reserves was approximately 1,500 Terawatt years.
2020 global consumption of energy, was approximately 25 TWy and according to the EIA, the Hydrocarbon contribution was 79.1% or approximately 20 TWy.
If nothing changes, 1500 / 20 = 75 years of hydrocarbons at present rates of consumption.
While I do not disagree with your observations about absurdity, what are you doing to chart a course for your children (if you decide to have them) or grandchildren or greats that is positive, and discusses how to balance everything we have to work with.
I understand defending the rich and powerful oil interests -- in many ways, they deserve it. But so do the people of the world.
Somebody has to talk sensibly about the future. We are all in this together.
That's why a rapid switch to nuclear energy is the only viable option. Also keep in mind the World will need a 5X increase in energy consumption to bring up the developing world. Nuclear fuel is in unlimited supply.
Lot of tax payer dollars are in renewables! The media just repeats what they are told by the special interest groups. The people in the west are too comfortable to do their own research. When the power goes out, there are blackouts, it will be blamed on cyber attacks from our so-called adversaries or red-states. Thank people like Irina who are bringing out the truth!
Dera Irena, What if that hydrogen is produced by using renewable energy produced by solar/ wind power plants, that otherwise would be curtailed temporary to preserve the power system stability?
That has a round trip efficiency of ~10-30% so that makes solar/wind 3-10X more expensive than it already is. And H2 being the most leaky fuel, lowest energy density fuel by volume and most difficult to store. Even rocket scientists no longer want to use it, even though lift-off mass is everything for rockets, its just too difficult to utilize.
I get tired of explaining a believe in Groupthink as opposed to international conspiracies. Groupthink is well known and reasonably well understood. But you are right; we have a huge nr of grifters making Billions £ out of the transition. We don't need to understand the complexities of physics and chemistry associated with a non-linear chaotic weather system to engage in debate (but it helps 😁). However we can all understand today's impact of those pushing the narrative compared to something that MIGHT happen in the future.... even though the predictions of catastrophes have been shockingly wrong for the last 50yrs. Check out William Briggs (Statistician to the Stars on Twitter) for probability on probability of future events.
I have to pop your and probably some other thought bubbles.
Not only are we led by a bunch of self-satisfied fearmongera like the former auther of children's books Robert "Energy Transition" Habeck and Annalena "Creative CV Writer" Baerbock as supposed spearheads of the IMF / Davos christened "Young Global Leaders" - but so are these bigots (as you say, without even knowing, realizing or wanting to be told otherwise) caught in their own pseudo-glorious fight for a "Transition" they neither understand in its entirety nor care to listen to objective criticism.
Hence, Green Socialism will be the way the Ox marches towards, stubbornly, without considerations to the path of destruction it weaves while trodding towards the de-industrialization as ultima ratio.
I think it's ineptitude paired with quasi-religious beliefs. Religion is not stupid per se, but it makes for a bad opponent to logic and science.
Put differently, they themselves are what you described. I'd say if Climate Doctrine is a religion, a zealot is someone who so firmly believes that they are doing "good" that they'd be apalled at the profiteering argument. Because they just want to save the world.
On the other hand you have NGOs that are definitely using them and their zealousy to push for said profiteering.
I'd not even be sure if this extends into any industry complex like "renewables" - but everyone who has an easy (but expensive) "solution" obviously smell the chance of a lifetime and they go for it, asking for subsidies and the like.
About a decade ago it was mainly solar (and some wind) - now it's this grand narrative that we "must" do something "now". And in come CO2 catching solutions, the evils of meat/lifestock (ie go vegan) etc.
If you don't follow there's only one alternative:
Die a fiery death as your ultimate punishment.
Not at the stake for crying there is no Climate Change - analogous to shouting Jehova - but by the threat of said Change to smite any unbeliever.
Irina
The second group exists. Without a doubt
I have been pondering for several days an email which I received from exactly such a person. He knows what he is talking about. He knows its all bullshit. But, in his words, he would rather feed at the trough of the biggest orgy of spending in history rather than screaming hoarse from the poorhouse
There is an ocean of money to be made. And nobody cares if it will work or not.
Well, at least he's honest. I guess I'll just keep screaming from the poorhouse.
Honest for now.
Like the Borg, once people start making money they assimilate into it.
Who's the Borg? I don't want to google it. :)
I guess you could also call this sort of honesty open arrogance...
Star trek, resistance is futile. Watch it
Thanks. I'll ask the family Trekkie for elaboration and maybe it is time to watch it. Am more of a fantasy than sci-fi fan but I'm always open to wisdom.
Borg: A "race"* with a technology enforced collective. Their individual brains have been subsumed into a distributed group mind**. They seek out other races to assimilate and "add their uniqueness to our own". Their catch phrase is "Resistance is futile." Which translates as "Hold still while I assimilate you."
* Actually a mixture of whatever races they've assimilated by the point of the timeline in STNG, but probably started out as a single race.
** The original concept, as presented, was a distributed group mind, making it extremely difficult to defeat, as destroying any portion just reduces the overall processing power, slightly. In later corruptions, the Borg have a "queen" or queens who are top of the pyramid organizers/rulers. As far as I can tell, these were added because of weak/lazy writers.
Oh, so that's where "Resistance is futile" comes from. Thank you!
Thought-provoking 👏👏 Thank you.
I really wish I could say it was a pleasure.
My rule-of-thumb on any issue is the following: if 2/3 or more of major media corporations are singing the same narrative, then you can be certain that it’s contrived and controlled and paid for by powerful interest groups.
Excellent rule. Let's hope more people start to follow it.
Its all about money and control as @Bash stated.
Oil companies have become ESG compliant... 😁
Follow the money is always the best advice to start an investigation into graft, corruption and illiteracy vs literacy.
Oil business is in the business of making money 💰 . Politicians are in the business of taking money.
At the end of the day the cost of all this is paid through TAXES, "carbon taxes" paid by companies who trickle down the cost to consumers, so no one knows it's there...
Consumers, poor and middle class are just fleeced... But hey! "You have to save the planet 🤡, or else😡"
Yeah, that's one trickling down that is happening all right.
Don't forget the creation of "energy markets" from the previous, reliable, stable, and affordable centralized utilities.
These markets create a new speculation play ground for banksters. Making that market volatile with unreliable generation which must be taken, means that the speculation will be wildly profitable.
Ultimately, all profits will come out of the consumers' pockets, but bankers/speculators will make a fortune.
All under the guise of "opening up electricity production to the "free market"". Which even fools a lot of consumers who pay those higher prices into thinking it's a good idea. Meanwhile, actual research shows that state owned utilities (state in the general sense of any gov't entity) provide better service at a lower cost on the average.
Am I overusing quote marks today?
The Green Grift is possibly the largest wealth transfer in human history - from taxpayer's national treasuries to private corporations and NGOs and who knows where else. It's staggering to think how much. It will foment significant shifts in the world power-sphere. You can see it clearly today with BRICS, House of Saud, Iran, etc. I can see it in Canada which is hell bent on committing energy seppuku on the world stage. The nonsense that comes out of Trudeau and his cabinet ministers makes me wonder who is calling in the plays.
I wonder the same about Germany.
Thanks, Irina, for this text. Will distribute it a lot.
I guess the larger part of politicians is just as illiterate as you described. - For the others in industries and companies earning profits from the current thing, I guess there is a large part knowing that the "transition" is a big grift, and as it was already pointed out here, they try to get a large share instead of trying to teach the public about the laws of nature.
Reminds me of the famous quote from Cicero, De Divinatione (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Divinatione), about the two haruspex (soothsayer) passing each other.
"That old saying by Cato is quite well known; he said he was surprised that one haruspex did not burst out laughing when he saw another one. (Latin: Vetus autem illud Catonis admodum scitum est, qui mirari se aiebat quod non rideret haruspex haruspicem cum vidisset)."
Unfortunately pain is a good teacher. People will become energy literate when they feel the pain of intermittent energy availability. 60+ years of reliable energy has taught citizens that this is a normal fact of life. They’ll start to question this assumption when their lights don’t come on, their food rots, they lose mobility and when their clothing is soaked in sweat.
Pain is one of the best teachers, yes. As I like to tell my daughter, there are always two ways to do something: the easy way and the hard way. Which way you choose is up to you. I would add that if you don't choose, life will choose for you and it will choose the hard way.
Fantastic insightful piece Irina,
Thank you.
As usual, there are people who profit from illiteracy. Think about the three card monte dealer’s relationship to the rube with his pockets stuffed with cash. The solar and wind developers are flush with subsidies, investor’s money, and never ending tax credits, they can put up wind farms that will make money even if they never produce a kwh. The utilities win because they get paid for building grid upgrades. Neither of these groups will blow the whistle. The old world media is also illiterate and compliant. I guess it is up to you, Irina, to head off the disaster.
There are thousands of sane voices out there and even more sane brains. That keeps my hope alive.
More all the time. I work with Meredith Angwin and Robert Bryce frequently. There is some hope.
Yes, there is!
It is easy to become despondent over the extraordinary delusions pushed by the energy illiterates. As always, the best corrective is to ensure that they feel the consequences of their policies directly, so when the turn on the light switch, it stays dark, or when the get in the EV, it doesn't start, or more importantly, when they turn on the heat, nothing comes out.
Alas, until then, the past will describe the future
I'm in, how do we do that?
as usual pure gold ! and as usual I ask rhetorically " what price have the energy illiterates paid for their ignorance ?" I would argue that they have PROFITED massively ! not just in terms of money but in power and control -here in the us oil and gas (adjusted for inflation) sell for much less then they did 25 years ago ! meanwhile the "greenies" get trillion$ in tax dollars and power to force their overpriced"green" energy on to the grid ! here in the us' the
economic and scientific illiterate control the educational system -the media -and the governmental bureaucracies that have real power - as long as these conditions continue the question has to be -" what is the catalyst to change it ?" inquiring minds want to know
Irina,
Some time ago, I asked about the veracity of reports made by the IEA. You replied that before 2019 (?) they could probably be trusted.
According to a 2009 and 2015 study led by Dr. Richard Perez and Dr. Mark Perez, the total amount of proven Hydrocarbon reserves was approximately 1,500 Terawatt years.
2020 global consumption of energy, was approximately 25 TWy and according to the EIA, the Hydrocarbon contribution was 79.1% or approximately 20 TWy.
If nothing changes, 1500 / 20 = 75 years of hydrocarbons at present rates of consumption.
While I do not disagree with your observations about absurdity, what are you doing to chart a course for your children (if you decide to have them) or grandchildren or greats that is positive, and discusses how to balance everything we have to work with.
I understand defending the rich and powerful oil interests -- in many ways, they deserve it. But so do the people of the world.
Somebody has to talk sensibly about the future. We are all in this together.
If you think I'm defending rich and powerful oil interests, I'm afraid you've been reading something I did not write.
As for the future course for my daughter, we teach her what energy is and where it comes from, and we teach her not to waste it.
That's why a rapid switch to nuclear energy is the only viable option. Also keep in mind the World will need a 5X increase in energy consumption to bring up the developing world. Nuclear fuel is in unlimited supply.
Lot of tax payer dollars are in renewables! The media just repeats what they are told by the special interest groups. The people in the west are too comfortable to do their own research. When the power goes out, there are blackouts, it will be blamed on cyber attacks from our so-called adversaries or red-states. Thank people like Irina who are bringing out the truth!
Dera Irena, What if that hydrogen is produced by using renewable energy produced by solar/ wind power plants, that otherwise would be curtailed temporary to preserve the power system stability?
That would mean irregularly operating electrolysers and that would mean even higher energy intensity.
That has a round trip efficiency of ~10-30% so that makes solar/wind 3-10X more expensive than it already is. And H2 being the most leaky fuel, lowest energy density fuel by volume and most difficult to store. Even rocket scientists no longer want to use it, even though lift-off mass is everything for rockets, its just too difficult to utilize.
I get tired of explaining a believe in Groupthink as opposed to international conspiracies. Groupthink is well known and reasonably well understood. But you are right; we have a huge nr of grifters making Billions £ out of the transition. We don't need to understand the complexities of physics and chemistry associated with a non-linear chaotic weather system to engage in debate (but it helps 😁). However we can all understand today's impact of those pushing the narrative compared to something that MIGHT happen in the future.... even though the predictions of catastrophes have been shockingly wrong for the last 50yrs. Check out William Briggs (Statistician to the Stars on Twitter) for probability on probability of future events.
I have to pop your and probably some other thought bubbles.
Not only are we led by a bunch of self-satisfied fearmongera like the former auther of children's books Robert "Energy Transition" Habeck and Annalena "Creative CV Writer" Baerbock as supposed spearheads of the IMF / Davos christened "Young Global Leaders" - but so are these bigots (as you say, without even knowing, realizing or wanting to be told otherwise) caught in their own pseudo-glorious fight for a "Transition" they neither understand in its entirety nor care to listen to objective criticism.
Hence, Green Socialism will be the way the Ox marches towards, stubbornly, without considerations to the path of destruction it weaves while trodding towards the de-industrialization as ultima ratio.
How does this pop my bubble? You're saying its 100% stupidity and no profit-seeking?
I think it's ineptitude paired with quasi-religious beliefs. Religion is not stupid per se, but it makes for a bad opponent to logic and science.
Put differently, they themselves are what you described. I'd say if Climate Doctrine is a religion, a zealot is someone who so firmly believes that they are doing "good" that they'd be apalled at the profiteering argument. Because they just want to save the world.
On the other hand you have NGOs that are definitely using them and their zealousy to push for said profiteering.
I'd not even be sure if this extends into any industry complex like "renewables" - but everyone who has an easy (but expensive) "solution" obviously smell the chance of a lifetime and they go for it, asking for subsidies and the like.
About a decade ago it was mainly solar (and some wind) - now it's this grand narrative that we "must" do something "now". And in come CO2 catching solutions, the evils of meat/lifestock (ie go vegan) etc.
If you don't follow there's only one alternative:
Die a fiery death as your ultimate punishment.
Not at the stake for crying there is no Climate Change - analogous to shouting Jehova - but by the threat of said Change to smite any unbeliever.
It's the Middle Ages all over again, come to think of it. But with electricity.