In the Unholy Inquisition that is the Trump administration,
the Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry in letter dated Sept. 28 to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed putting thumb screws to the
planet, and applying the rack to our weather. Pleading grid vulnerabilities in the face of
extreme weather events such as the 2014 Polar Vortex, he gave the FERC 60
days to approve the proposal which would have ratepayers subsidizing the dying fossil
fuels and nuclear industries to the tune of $14 billion per year.
U.S. taxpayers already foot the bill subsidizing big oil to
the tune of about $80 per year per taxpayer according to Oil Change
International. Under Perry’s plan, the U.S. would add another 6 billion tons of
carbon dioxide pollution over and above the Paris accords schedule which ties
the U.S. down to between 30 and 45 billion tons allowed by 2050.
Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria which left devastation in
their wake in Texas, Puerto Rico and throughout the Caribbean, the apocalyptic
fires which have reduced vast areas of California to ashes, the droughts
causing the death of over a billion trees, the acidification of the oceans—all
these extreme weather events are the direct result of burning fossil fuels, and
Rick Perry claims he wants more burning to meet these same kinds of extreme
weather events head on. He proposes subsidizing old crumbling reactors—99 of
them—in order to meet further extreme weather events, despite intensifying
risks to them posed by extreme weather events associated with climate warming.
A
recent major study published by Lancet claims that one of every every six premature
deaths can be attributed to toxic pollution—much from the fossil fuel
industry—killing more people than wars, disasters and hunger. Meantime 3
million Americans in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands still do not have
electricity, over 100 Portuguese have lost their lives to wild fires, nearly
35,000 Californians can’t return to their burnt-out communities. In Texas, more
than 60,000 displaced people are living in hotel rooms. Irma survivors in Florida who are trying to sign up for food
stamps are being turned away because officials can’t handle the numbers, and
121 Republican congress people have voted against climate disaster relief for
them. How twisted it that?
Although Perry pleads that, “Most…metrics for grid
reliability suggest that [it] is not in
good shape….” his own Energy Department’s report of three months ago reports to the
contrary. And by referencing the 2014 Polar Vortex to prop up his new rules, his
plan fails to factor in how coal power failed abysmally in subzero temperatures
because coal piles were frozen, while wind energy performed exceptionally well.
Nuclear energy was also forced off line because of temperatures below their
operating limit.
The U.S. is not alone. European
countries also spend billions each year on fossil fuel subsidies, but the
movement toward renewables is inexorable and growing. In the U.S. the solar
industry already provides many more jobs compared to coal. Despite the regressive
political climate, companies
are still investing in renewable energy because they see the advantage. The
Google Ivanpah Generating system is one example. Another remarkable example is Dong
Energy based in Copenhagen. Originally involved in fossil fuel exploration
and production, in less than a decade it became an 85% off shore wind company,
and is currently divesting from its remaining fossil fuel interests. And spurred
by the recent encyclical from the Vatican, in a project advanced by the Global
Catholic Climate Movement, 40
Catholic institutions world-wide are poised to make a record divestment from
fossil fuels.  |
| North Westfalia, Germany |
In the Land of the Free and Brave, despite employment trends,
the administration is wedded at the hip not just to its culture wars but to its
carbon-polluting elites and their political contributions.. But
an impressive array of stakeholders under the Energy Industry Associations
umbrella petitioned the FERC to reconsider Perry’s plan to subsidize a
dying market. Resistance is already building up, as the petitions listed below
indicate.
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