I want to talk about the failure of Biden's Green New Deal climate bank ATM and the failure of all these Biden-subsidized offshore windmill projects.
Many of you don't know this, but the first windmills were built in 1200 A.D. in Holland. They were vertical and land-based, and I'm sure they worked reasonably well for their time. It was a technological breakthrough created to grind grains.
By the 19th Century, there were more than 9,000 windmills in Holland and an important power source. They were mainly used to power various industrial uses.
The trouble is, many of today's Joe Biden greenies want us to go back to the 19th Century. Actually, I suspect many of those greenies want us to go back to the 13th Century, but that's a separate topic.
Here's the problem: The Bidens have spent a fortune on subsidizing these gigantic offshore windmill projects, which just don't work. Please read the Wall Street Journal’s editorial on the collapse of New York state wind development.
General Electric has lost a fortune — $1.4 billion last year, and $2.2 billion the year before. The state subsidies come from the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, which spent well over $1 trillion to subsidize everything outside of fossil fuels.
These huge wind turbines fall over, require expensive repairs and are completely non-economic. The Journal states that more than a dozen of these projects in the U.S. and Europe have been canceled or delayed in the last year.
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Meanwhile, the cost of offshore wind, at least in New York, is about $150 per megawatt hour. But wait a second, the wholesale price for natural gas is around $30 a megawatt hour. So you would think businesses and consumers would go for the cheaper natural gas.
But no! No! Natural gas is a fossil fuel, and the greenies don't like fossil fuels. Actually, natural gas is a clean-burning fuel and is part of the long-term solution both for economic growth and climate change.
In the last 20 years or so, the increased use of natural gas has led to huge reductions in lead, particulates, smog and carbon monoxide. Indeed, according to the Committee to Unleash Prosperity Hotline, over the last five decades, GDP is up nearly 800%, while energy consumption has increased only 29%, and carbon emissions have actually fallen 60%.
This is the biggest carbon decline of any of the major economies in the world. Much of this grand, clean air progress can be traced to the increased use of natural gas, but the Bidens are stubborn. They won't acknowledge this.
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Heck, even Europe has reclassified natural gas as a clean-burning fuel. Instead, the Bidens are doing everything they can to stop liquid natural gas development and exports. And, of course, they celebrated Earth Day by closing down 13 million acres in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.
And if Mr. Biden were to be re-elected with his Green New Deal gang, then get ready for massive electricity and other power shortages plaguing the American economy and everything in it.
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At that point, 13th Century Holland is going to look better and better.
This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow's opening commentary on the April 23, 2024, edition of "Kudlow."
