{"id":1799764,"date":"2023-01-09T09:34:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-09T14:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1799764"},"modified":"2023-01-09T09:35:05","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T14:35:05","slug":"paul-driessen-vital-energy-lessons-for-virginia-and-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/paul-driessen-vital-energy-lessons-for-virginia-and-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Driessen: Vital Energy Lessons For Virginia and America"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpaul-driessen-vital-energy-lessons-for-virginia-and-america%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1799764&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4d2314de-5837-4c65-9166-2033fc9b560f@news.ap_.org_.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"isPasted\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When they open their 30-day session on January 11, Virginia\u2019s Senate and House of Delegates must correct some serious energy mistakes they made two years ago, when Democrats controlled nearly the entire state government and passed the \u201c<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.virginia.gov\/renewable-energy\/RenewableEnergy.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Virginia Clean Economy Act<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">One of those party-line decisions requires that Virginia adopt California\u2019s requirement that only low-emission vehicles (LEVs) be sold by the model year 2025 and only zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by MY 2035. That means in barely twelve years only new electric vehicles (EVs) could be sold in Virginia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Again mimicking California, in addition to EVs, the VCEA also requires a massive shift from affordable, reliable coal and natural gas-generated electricity to expensive, weather-dependent, land-intensive wind and solar electricity, stabilized and backed up by huge batteries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As I\u2019ve explained previously (<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/jeffersonpolicyjournal.com\/virginias-clean-economy-act-will-have-dirty-results\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">here<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/townhall.com\/columnists\/pauldriessen\/2020\/05\/30\/destroying-the-environment-to-save-it-n2569710\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">here<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/cornwallalliance.org\/2022\/01\/assessing-virginias-hidden-wind-and-solar-costs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">here<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/climatechangedispatch.com\/the-coming-green-electricity-nightmare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">here<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">), this is unworkable. Texas, Buffalo, and the Midwest have demonstrated that heavy reliance on wind and solar can bring deadly blackouts during blizzards. California told residents not to charge their soon-to-be-mandatory EVs during last summer\u2019s heat waves, to prevent blackouts. Switzerland might ban EV charging this winter for the same reason. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Suburban Virginia Republican Coalition PAC (SUVGOP) recognizes these realities and understands that the wind turbines, solar panels, and transmission lines will not be in Democrat strongholds like Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church, and Richmond. They will be in beautiful rural Virginia, which will also be hardest hit by bans on gasoline and diesel vehicles. SUVGOP has therefore gotten the ball rolling on reversing these ill-advised laws, by launching a campaign to repeal LEV\/ZEV mandates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">SUVGOP calls its campaign \u201c<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/suvgop.com\/dont-ca-my-va\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Don\u2019t CA my VA<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.\u201d (When I lived in the Centennial State, bumper stickers proclaimed a crasser version of this message: \u201cDon\u2019t Californiacate Colorado.\u201d)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Arguments for avoiding or terminating LEV\/ZEV mandates are compelling \u2013 for Virginia and America.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* While great for short hauls, EVs don\u2019t get you far along on your 800-mile vacation trip; recharging can take hours, depending on multiple factors; and charging stations are more limited off main highways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* You don\u2019t want to get caught in your EV during a hurricane evacuation or blizzard, especially since already limited battery life decreases in cold weather and with heater or AC use.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* EVs (and backup batteries) can burst into chemical-fueled infernos, especially if they get immersed in water. That can be catastrophic and deadly if the EV is in a home or underground garage (or\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/auto\/cargo-ship-4000-cars-sinks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">on a cargo ship<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0loaded with EVs).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* EVs require\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visualcapitalist.com\/how-much-copper-is-in-an-electric-vehicle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">3-4 times more metals<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0than internal-combustion cars: copper, iron, nickel, aluminum, cobalt, lithium, rare earth, and others. Those materials don\u2019t just appear via Materials Acquisition for Global Industrial Change mechanisms (MAGIC). They must be dug out and processed, somewhere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">China\u2019s BYD Auto company alone used\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visualcapitalist.com\/how-much-copper-is-in-an-electric-vehicle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">13,000 tons of copper<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to make EVs in 2016. Based on average porphyry ore deposits today, every 100,000 tons of copper requires processing\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.geologyforinvestors.com\/porphyry-largest-source-copper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">23,000,000 tons of copper ore<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, after removing 35,000,000 tons of overlying rock \u2013 using explosives and fossil fuels!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Start calculating how many billions of tons of copper and other metals and minerals would be required for all the EVs, wind turbines, solar panels, transmission lines, and grid-stabilizing and backup batteries in Virginia, your state, or the United States, or the entire world, are planning to mandate. Then calculate how many trillions of tons of ore would require \u2013 and how much mining, blasting, processing, and fuel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Where will all that work take place? In whose backyards? With how much ecological destruction, air and water pollution, hazardous waste generation, slave and child labor, and human health risks?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cClean\u201d energy and vehicles? There may be zero emissions out of Virginia EV tailpipes \u2013 maybe even at the electricity source, if it comes from wind or solar power when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But there are no \u201czero emissions\u201d for mining, processing, and manufacturing. It just happens somewhere else, often in Africa or Asia, often by Chinese companies \u2013 affecting someone else\u2019s air and water quality, scenery, croplands, wildlife habitats, wildlife, health, and well-being.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Meanwhile, millions of acres of Virginia and US lands would be covered with turbines, panels, transformers, and transmission lines; millions of birds, bats, and other animals would be killed annually.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bottom line: There is no such thing as \u201cclean, green, renewable, sustainable\u201d energy or vehicles. It\u2019s just a matter of where and how and how much the mining and materials processing, manufacturing, and emissions take place. It\u2019s just a matter of how good the \u201cgreen\u201d PR programs are; and whether US environmentalists, journalists, and politicians recognize or censor these realities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Earth\u2019s atmospheric, oceanic and climate systems are global. The loss of habitats and species is a global problem. We should act locally, and think globally.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Regarding backup batteries, the VCEA mandates the acquisition of 3,100 megawatts of storage. Assuming legislators meant 3,100 megawatt-hours, this would require some 36,000 Tesla half-ton 85-kWh modules, and it would still meet less than 1% of Virginia\u2019s average daily\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/findenergy.com\/va\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">electricity consumption<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0(and less than 0.5% of its peak demand). This doesn\u2019t include batteries to stabilize wind-solar grid fluctuations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Virginia legislators also need to address these vitally important issues:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* How many wind turbines, solar panels, transformers, backup\/grid-balancing battery modules, and miles of new transmission lines will The Old Dominion need to replace existing coal and gas generation?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* How many more will it require after half of all cars, trucks, and buses are electric? After families are forced to convert gas home and water heating, stoves, and ovens to electricity \u2013 and upgrade home and neighborhood electrical systems to handle the added loads?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* Where and on whose property will all these \u201crenewable\u201d systems and power lines be installed? How many millions of acres of land and coastal areas will be impacted? Will residents or local governments be able to veto developments? How often will the eminent domain be employed?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* How many millions (billions?) of tons of metals, minerals, carbon-fiber composites, plastics, concrete, and other materials will be needed? How much ore, overburden, and fuel?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* How many of these materials (and turbines, panels, battery modules, and transformers) will come from China or other adversarial nations, or their surrogates? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* Under what pollution control, wildlife habitat and endangered species protection, workplace safety, slave and child labor, and other \u201cresponsible sourcing\u201d laws will all this work be done?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* Where will worn-out, broken, and obsolete solar panels, wind turbine blades, and other non-recyclable equipment be landfilled?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">* How many billions or trillions of dollars will all this cost ratepayers and taxpayers?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It takes more than declaring that actions taken under \u201cclean economy\u201d laws are \u201cin the public interest\u201d to make it so. Legislators must look beyond tailpipes, and beyond Virginia or US borders, to avoid destroying the planet with wind and solar, to save it from fossil fuels and climate change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The 2023 legislative session is a perfect opportunity to start reexamining \u201cclean economy\u201d assumptions and mandates \u2013 and implementing reality-based\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurasiareview.com\/27122022-esgs-perverse-narrow-fraudulent-ethical-principles-oped\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Environment-Social-Governance<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0(ESG) principles. Are Virginia\u2019s legislators up to the task? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><em>Paul Driessen is a senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (<\/em><\/span><em><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cfact.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">www.CFACT.org<\/span><\/a><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><em>) and author of books and articles on energy, environment, climate, and human rights issues.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When they open their 30-day session on January 11, Virginia\u2019s Senate and House of Delegates must correct some serious energy mistakes they made two years ago, when Democrats controlled nearly the entire state government and passed the \u201cVirginia Clean Economy Act.\u201d\u00a0 One of those party-line decisions requires that Virginia adopt California\u2019s requirement that only low-emission &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1799767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[5374,5458,11761,4486,7843,5531,3819,5468,14026],"class_list":["post-1799764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-america","tag-bongino","tag-driessen","tag-energy","tag-lessons","tag-paul","tag-report","tag-virginia","tag-vital"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1799764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1799764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1799764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1799767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1799764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1799764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1799764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}