Stop pretending green is profitable
Richmond Times-Dispatch|Charles Battig|December 25, 2010
In this season of giving, it is worthy to note the generosity of the Virginia legislature to the renewable-energy lobby. State Sen. Frank Wagner's website lists his visionary Virginia Energy Plan (VEP), passed in the 2006 Virginia General Assembly, during the heyday of climate change hysteria.
Gov. Tim Kaine's 2008 roving Climate Change Commission sought vindication for various imagined catastrophes arbitrarily attributed to man-made climate change. The commission considered it axiomatic that climate change was man-made and resulted from fossil fuel usage; the validity of that assumption justified by "science is settled" U.N. reports and Kaine's views. The final commission report included recommendations for increased use of renewable …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]In this season of giving, it is worthy to note the generosity of the Virginia legislature to the renewable-energy lobby. State Sen. Frank Wagner's website lists his visionary Virginia Energy Plan (VEP), passed in the 2006 Virginia General Assembly, during the heyday of climate change hysteria.
Gov. Tim Kaine's 2008 roving Climate Change Commission sought vindication for various imagined catastrophes arbitrarily attributed to man-made climate change. The commission considered it axiomatic that climate change was man-made and resulted from fossil fuel usage; the validity of that assumption justified by "science is settled" U.N. reports and Kaine's views. The final commission report included recommendations for increased use of renewable fuel sources and energy conservation. Higher consumer utility cost was seen as a desirable incentive for lowered energy usage.
The next year brought Climategate and evidence of climate science malfeasance, collapse of the U.N. Copenhagen climate-change agenda, recognition of 10 years of flat temperatures since 1998, and public awareness that dire forecasts of global climate catastrophes never materialized.
The McDonnell administration has brought changes to the commonwealth. However, the 2010 VEP still carries the imprimatur of Wagner and the favored place given renewable energy at the cost of the under-represented Virginia taxpayer.
Financial failure of green-jobs projects in Spain is ignored. Al Gore has recanted his support for corn ethanol, explaining it as a political calculation of the moment. Yet, McDonnell and Wagner continue to play Santa with taxpayer monies by promoting legislation for offshore wind power even though the 2010 VEP characterizes the 12.5 to 22.5 cents per kilowatt hour price as "not cost effective." Massachusetts' Cape Wind project imposes a ratepayer cost premium for wind of 2 to 3 over conventional fuels. Little mention is made of necessary, additional conventional-powered plants to provide base load when the wind fails. Ho,ho,ho!