Economic Suicide by Net Zero
There are numerous ways to kill an economy and its potential for growth.
Included in those methods – taxing capital investments to the point when investors seek alternative economies/countries, trespassing on the consumer market by government control of production, and government over regulation.
In other words, government can either kill or nurture an economy.
It can nurture and encourage capital investment, let the market work, and remove all unnecessary and/or unwarranted regulations.
The current administration is guilty of an attempt to kill the U.S. economy. I’m sure it was/is not a deliberate attempt to do so, but if the policies adopted continue for any extended period, will put our economy in great jeopardy.
The ‘root cause’ is climate change.
After the U.S. withdrawal in 2020, in 2021 President Biden rejoined the UN sponsored Paris Climate Accords and re-adopted its goal to attain net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and in the interim, reduce those emissions 50% by 2030. Did we or our representatives vote on this? No.
That decision was the basis for putting fossil fuel exploration and development on the chopping block. That decline in turn put the country back to reliance on other countries to supply our fossil fuel, which in turn raised the price of the country’s energy.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration energy consumption numbers reflect electricity generation using fossil fuels will fall to around 70% by 2040, after being above 80% just 10 years ago and for the previous 100.
At the same time, soaring energy demands from artificial intelligence and widespread electrification will prolong reliance on fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA reports that electricity demand has doubled over the last 10 years, and is estimating that between 2024 and 2035, demand will grow six times as fast as overall generation – demand exceeding supply – requiring a broad electricity generation makeup still led by coal and natural gas if that’s allowed.
As the price of energy increased and increases, so did/does the price of basically everything else. It costs more to grow, reap, process and ship food. It costs more to put gasoline and diesel fuel in vehicles transporting people and products.
So, as the price of fossil fuel went up, this country’s leaders had decided it was time to put trillions of dollars into the development and usage of solar and wind as green energy alternatives to fossil fuel. Those trillions in expenditures, along with the increasing cost of energy and transportation, set off an inflationary bubble to the price of everything in 2022.
Small price for adopting the ‘indisputable’ climate change dogma and the Paris Accord, right? Not in my book. Taxpayers got triple whammed – higher prices, less buying power and product and more national debt.
All this amounts to suicide – at the moment, economic suicide. I should clarify from another perspective – killing capitalism.
If you’ve been with me thus far in this exercise, you’re ahead of my writing here.
Solar and wind can and will be great sources of electrical energy. But they cannot get any country, our country – or the world – to zero carbon emissions by 2050 without intolerable economic pain.
The estimated demand for electricity is exponential. AI alone is estimated to add multiples to demand.
Facing the AI challenge to the electrical grid, then throwing in a policy of eliminating fossil fuel generated transportation and replacing that reliable source of electrical energy with solar and wind is pipe-dreaming, and then that dream will end in one of horror, not reality. Economic suicide.
The US has in excess of 288 million vehicles on its roads. Who’s going to replace them with EVs? California passed a law that no fossil fuel powered vehicles will be sold in the state beginning in 2035. So, in 10 years, somebody thinks the state’s 36 million vehicles can be replaced by EVs.
Without arguing the whole climate change issue, the fact is the United States, with the most successful economy in the world, is threatened by a group of fear-mongering people. They want to change everything, lower our expectations about a prosperous future for our children and grandchildren, and accept the fact that we’re guilty of being too prosperous. And to avoid Armageddon for the world, we must sacrifice ourselves and our offspring.
We’ve all heard of putting the cart before the horse, meaning doing things in the wrong order.
Putting a short-term time deadline on “net zero” is not only foolhardy, but also impossible given the current circumstances. The state of development, efficiency, cost and reliability of solar and wind as alternatives to fossil fuels is far from happening on a grand scale.
If the imposition of even the more severe regulations on emissions from power generation and vehicles is followed, our electrical grid will generate some multiples of less power and people with cars now will be without them by 2050 – with demand and cost for electricity going up.
Oh, the major proponents and mouthpieces of this lunacy would still be flying around in their private jets because they say they need to. But apparently the average family doesn’t need as much electricity as it currently uses, and they certainly don’t need a car. Does anybody captaining the ship hear how crazy that sounds to Americans?
Net Zero can be a goal.
But getting there is not just signing a Paris Accord ‘treaty’ and adopting totally unreasonable methods for its accomplishment won’t make it happen.
How about a reasonable plan to achieve a goal as opposed to an edict which is impossible to obey, one which is economically intolerable for the citizens, and one that doesn’t have the population using kerosene lamps at night? (Oops, kerosene is a fossil fuel)
*********************
Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
References:
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=26912
SPIDER Bytes
This week’s trivia question is: Who painted “The Creation of Adam”? The answer to last week’s question re: the name of Mickey Mouse’s dog. Pluto. Pluto is represented as an unclothed, loyal and intelligent pet. He walks on four legs and has no dialogue. Pluto came to the Disney film in 1930. Goofy didn’t show up until 1932 and is dog in Mickey’s films as well, but he’s a clothed close friend of Mickey Mouse.
Most of us are looking forward to Wednesday and there are no campaign ads. We will also be spared more media hype on the seemingly endless of polls. When was the last time a poll predicted a presidential election? In any case if you haven’t done so, remember to vote on Tuesday.
BTW, Merriam-Webster defines garbage as ‘discarded or useless material:’ Or ’waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility.’
The October jobs report Friday was at best, anemic. According to the BLS the economy added 12,000 jobs last month, the lowest number since the COVID shutdown. The federal government’s growth kept the number positive. Oh, as usual, the September report was revised downward by 31,000. The stock market went up as some investors believe the terrible report bodes well for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates farther this week.
The November edition of Florida Trend reports a new startup named DermaSensor. It’s a handheld device that detects common types of skin cancer. Using AI-powered spectroscopy and algorithms to detect malignant properties at the cellular and subcellular level, it determines the level of skin cancer risk. It was approved by the FDA earlier this year.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ first baseman won the MVP award for this year’s World Series. Freddie Freeman hit 4 home runs and had 12 RBIs in the five games of this year’s World Series against the Yankees.
In college football the 16 team SEC is currently being led by 8-1Texas A&M and the 18 team Big 10 has unlikely leader in Indiana with an 9-0 record. Oregon leads the college football rankings ahead of # 2 Georgia. Notre Dame joined the top 10 this week. This year’s college football playoffs will include 12 teams starting December 20 – ending on January 20, 2025. The 1-4 rated teams will have a bye for the first round.
Ford will stop production of the all-electric version of the F-150 called the Lightning the middle of this month until at least January. Some 2,100 auto workers will be laid off. The company has lost $5B on the EV truck as so far as sales just aren’t there for the $55,000 pickup truck. The gas version is $15,000 less expensive.
