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Democratic Governors Energy Policies Do You No Favors by Bob Hassoldt Lewiston Tribune, September 11, 2022

After the election, Inslee will once again advocate
tearing out the lower Snake River dams

Three of the most long-standing and prevalent lies are:

• "The check is in the mail."
• "I'll still respect you in the morning."
• "We Democrats are always looking out for the poor and middle class."

Case in point: the decisions by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to require that only electric vehicles be sold in their respective states by 2035 or sooner.

Never mind that even with a purchase subsidy, these EVs are only affordable to the upper middle class and wealthy.

Never mind that as you read this, the power grid and generating capacity in California are so precarious that it can't handle the current electric load being placed on it, much less a few extra million mandated EVs.

Never mind that after the election, Inslee will once again advocate tearing out the lower Snake River dams, thereby further reducing the region's electric power generating capability.

No, never mind that at all.

Somehow we're going to replace and increase all the energy that EVs require with "renewable energy," along with beefing up and expanding the power grid, and that the cost of doing so will not require a significant increase in the electric rates and taxes for the working class people of America.

Yeah, right.

The cold hard fact is that people who have never lived off the grid do not know the limitations of "renewable energy" and have no clue of how capricious it is to generate that power on a steady basis.

And you ask: How can I say this with such confidence?

Well, my office is completely off the grid. And this column, like all the others before it, was written on a computer that is powered with electricity that is produced by a solar system. So I'm personally well aware of the costs of a renewable energy system and what it can and can't do. I'd daresay that renewable energy politicians and advocates at the state and national levels are completely unaware of the costs and limitations. Otherwise, they are aware of them and are lying about the affordability and reliability of this type of energy to the American public.

As opponents of a fossil fuel-free energy grid will tell you, wind and solar doesn't work when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining. That's easy for anyone to understand.

Wind and solar also don't work efficiently enough when there are low-light and no-wind conditions during the day. And when those conditions occur at the same time, a renewable energy grid won't even come close to powering all those mandated EVs, much less domestic and commercial needs.

Low-light and no-wind conditions were in place on the morning of Sept. 3. The smoke from Oregon and California wildfires created enough haze to reduce my system's power-producing capability to a 40% level for several hours. With no breeze to blow that smoke out of the area, any wind turbines in the region weren't producing any power, either.

These conditions occur on a regular basis during the summer in our area. Three years ago in August, they were in place for more than a week. In the winter, those cloudy, low-light and no-wind conditions can occur for a couple of weeks at a time. And it's not due to "climate change." It's simply a natural weather pattern.

So you can mandate and wish for a renewable energy grid all you want but not even the most disillusioned advocate can make the sun shine or the wind blow on demand, although that seems to be the story they're pushing at all levels of government.

The cold -- or hot -- fact, depending on the season, is that without a backup system such as hydro, nuclear or natural gas in place, you'll never come close to producing enough energy at an affordable rate to completely switch over to a "carbon free" electric grid, much less have it in place by 2030 or 2035, according to the dictates of Govs. Inslee and Newsom.

We still don't know the costs and benefits -- and how much carbon reduction will occur -- if these schemes are put in place. We do know that the Texas windmills will freeze up in cold weather, that Newsom is extending the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant because he doesn't begin to have enough renewable energy to keep the lights on in California and that the Biden administration wants to tear out the non-fossil energy producing lower Snake River dams in favor of more taxpayer-subsidized wind and solar power.

What we're being presented with by the Democrats is an agenda that is poorly thought out and completely dependant on unpredictable weather patterns.

The one certainty is that the politicians implementing it believe that they can actually control the climate and make your life better if you'll only pay more taxes. What they fail to comprehend is that taking more money out of your pocket and putting it under their control isn't helping you.

So spare us please the tender mercies of the Democratic Party at any level of government and don't do us any more favors. Because the ones you're putting in place are killing us now.