Weekend Digest #3
A curated assortment of scrolls.
Happy Saturday, barbarians.
Let’s get after it.
Housekeeping
The Hunger for Power ft. Robert Bryce. ICYMI I had a great conversation with Robert Bryce about his career as an author and journalist, Enron’s legacy, the grid as the commons, the vital importance of electricity, and more.
Guest Appearance on Off Chain. Bitcoiner extraordinaire Jimmy Song invited me onto his podcast. I had a great time talking with him about the darker elements of environmentalism, civic virtue and the common good, and what makes nuclear so damn special.
News Items
More Than Half of 2022’s Solar Projects Threatened By Spiking Costs, New Report Finds. The Black Cascade rears its ugly head as America’s solar projects slouch towards Bethlehem. Polysilicon, an essential element of solar panels, has shot up 300% in price. China’s coal crunch is spawning ripple effects—factories that were operating 5-6 days a week are now operating at ~2 days a week, according to Fortis Analysis. Bottlenecks in the supply chain strangle our ability to acquire solar panels. All of this collides to frustrate the ambitions of America’s already specious solar industry. We might be hitting an inflection point for renewables here—all the conference bullshit and hysterical moralizing that’s propped this economy up are about the get mugged by reality.
Robert Bryce’s Senate Testimony. This week Robert Bryce testified before the Senate’s Government Operations & Border Management Subcommittee for their hearing on “Strategies for Improving Critical Energy Infrastructure.” Noticeably, Robert was the only one who spoke about the need for reliability. Read his testimony—it’s important. We need to start reframing the energy conversation in terms of prosperity and security. As the energy crisis unfolds and the gray war with China continues it’ll be both fertile ground for making our pro-nuclear case and vital to the national interest. I hope to do more of that myself.
Is Xcel Running Out of Coal for the Winter? Previous guest and analyst over at Center for the American Experiment, Isaac Orr has written a recent piece about Xcel and other utilities running out of coal going into winter. “There are several reasons why coal suppliers have not increased production,” he writes, “including limited access to capital, uncertain demand outlook, labor shortages, and the time it takes to increase and transport new supplies. The lack of capital for coal facilities is partly due to pressure campaigns from environmental groups to force investors to divest from fossil fuel assets as part of their Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) investor guidelines.” Eep.
Why the Pro-Nuclear Movement is Winning. In sunnier news, Michael Shellenberger has written a stirring piece on why the pro-nuclear movement is winning. Here’s the shining paragraph for me: “The most important thing is to tell the truth about nuclear, I argued to friends and colleagues, starting in 2016, and build an honest pro-nuclear movement worldwide around the truth. Anti-nuclear people have been lying about the technology for decades. For pro-nuclear people to have any credibility, we must tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about nuclear power. And we must build our movement on the basis of the truth, and push back against those who exaggerate climate change, who suck up to the renewable energy industry like battered wives, and who sell fairy tales about magical nuclear reactors.” Hard to say it better myself!
Commentary
I’m going to write a longer piece about this in the coming weeks, but I wanted to flesh out a little bit of this here.
The left has no idea what energy is for or why we need it. The response to the death of certain environmental provisions within Biden’s policy plans has made this clear to me in a way I hadn’t fully noticed. Here’s a quote from the end of green apocalypticist Kate Aronoff over at The New Republic.
There are a few things wrong with this. The first is the idea that America and Americans should feel ashamed for developing. Perhaps Aronoff’s is nostalgic for a world wherein women were confined to dark kitchens all day, working their burnt hands to the bone to get the ironing, cooking, and washing done. I’m not.
Second is the idea that renewables offer any kind of solution. Renewables aren’t about providing electricity, they’re about patronage networks and professional-managerial-class and elite anxieties.
Third, recall Isaac Orr’s piece about depleted coal reserves above. Aronoff calls herself a socialist. Though she likely doesn’t remember it, I met her at the Democratic Socialists of America 2017 convention. She interviewed my co-delegate for a piece on socialists of color at the convention for In These Times if I recall correctly. Why do I mention this? Well, as we move into winter with depleted coal reserves in part because of the green left agenda who do we think it’ll hurt most? The working class the left loves to lie to itself about championing. Most TNR readers likely won’t notice, though. And that’s how the game is played.