America is in an energy crisis. One of the first things President Trump did when he re-entered the White House was to declare a National Energy Emergency to pave the way for America to use the resources we have under our feet.
The Biden Administration halted drilling and building pipelines that, coupled with the failed economic policy of the misnamed ‘Inflation Reduction Act’, caused prices to rise on everything that families need.
Rising fuel and utility costs have increased the cost of production and delivery for everything from food to everyday goods. If fuel and utility prices are high, it costs more to raise livestock, grow crops, and make and move goods around the country. Reliable and affordable energy is the backbone of any economy.
In the midst of all of this, the Biden Administration and Governor Hochul here in New York were, and are, pushing for increasing reliance on electric power when the infrastructure and grid capacity just aren’t there. This is not just an economic wet blanket but a serious safety issue for those who live in cold climates and need safe and reliable energy for heating and cooking.
Former Texas State Representative, Jason Isaac, Founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute gave The South Shore Press his perspective on wind energy and where it fits in America’s energy portfolio.
Much of the high cost of electricity is self-inflicted by regulatory efforts from the government.
Isaac said, “It's absolutely appalling that New York, the Northeastern United States, and California jockey back and forth for which region can have the highest electricity cost.”
As New York officials push all-electric on homeowners, businesses, and drivers across the state, advocates for clean drinking water and the environmental health of New York’s waterways are speaking out about the dangers and risks associated with wind turbines.
“We have gone so far backward with this climate alarmism that now we're destroying millions of acres of land to build Chinese-made wind and solar farms that are just subsidy farms, as opposed to small nuclear footprint or natural gas or coal that take up fractions of the amount of land that solar farms do.”
“It's hypocrisy at its absolute worst and it's incredibly detrimental to the habitat. We should see the cost of electricity decreasing right now because natural gas is so inexpensive. But it continues to go up everywhere.”
Isaac says that “wasn't the case seven or eight years ago. The cost for electricity was decreasing significantly. And then utility companies were forced to invest in things that don't work. I say ‘invest’, although it sounds like a kind of a positive word - they were forced to spend money on things like wind and solar.”
Many people look at a wind turbine and romanticize it as they were old fashioned windmills running from the current of the stream below. It’s the opposite. Wind turbines are not producing the clean energy that people assume.
“There's nothing clean about them. They're an environmental disaster,” says Isaac.” “I saw the five coastal turbines off of Block Island, Rhode Island that were installed within the last decade. All five of them were leaking oil and lube down the mast into the ocean.”
“You would think fish and wildlife would be all over that, shutting them down, putting booms all around them to clean up the oil that they're leaking into the ocean,” but that is not happening says Isaac. The myth of clean wind is alive and well despite its obvious dangers.
Let’s not forget what happened in Block Island when the high-voltage power lines came up off of the seafloor.
Isaac says, “They had to close the beach one summer because people were floating in tubes around the island with high-voltage power lines right below their feet.
When low-density energy forms such as wind and solar are the focus, there is necessarily a lot of expense and effort to bring the energy to the customer.
“You've got to build it out in the middle of nowhere where people are not, and then you have to use high-voltage power lines to bring it into where people are. We should just be building electric generation that's natural gas, coal, or nuclear, close to where the people are. It's much more affordable. It's much more reliable. And it is a lot cleaner.” says Isaac.
And, it is what people want. It remains to be seen if New York State will listen to the people. With Governor Hochul pushing a $75 billion fossil fuel tax that will be paid for by the customer, it seems they are not listening yet.