top of page
Search

Renewable Energy and Economy




Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.”

― William Faulkner


We used the same quote to begin the March Notes and we use it again because it is even more true than it was one month ago. We also set in March that access to objective, researched information is crucial to the enormously difficult task of maintaining a true participatory democracy. This has always been true, but it is even more so now given the political reality that we find ourselves in since January 20, 2025.


This will focus on the economic opportunity inherent in transitioning to a renewable economy - despite the overwhelming misleading information coming from Washington. We will also summarize the misleading rhetoric from the Trump administration and from big oil about the impact of renewable energy in the United States.


In May we will tell the truth about the impact of climate change on the farming community and briefly, on the impact of climate change on health.


Let’s begin, as always, with the facts.


On March 10, 2025 Brad Plumer from the New York Times published an article that summarized the comments made by Chris Wright, the new US Energy Secretary as he gave the keynote address opening the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston, the nation’s biggest annual gathering of the energy industry. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/climate/energy-secretary-climate-change-fossil-fuels.html#


The following are excerpts from Mr. Plummer’s article:

1. Before a packed crowd of oil and gas executives on Monday, Chris Wright, delivered a scathing critique of the Biden administration’s energy policies and efforts to fight climate change and promised a “180 degree pivot.”


Mr. Wright, a former fracking executive, has emerged as the most forceful promoter of President Trump’s plans to expand American oil and gas production and dismantle virtually every federal policy aimed at curbing global warming.


Mr. Wright was dismissive of renewable power, which he said played only a small role in the world’s energy mix. “Beyond the obvious scale and cost problems, there is simply no physical way wind, solar and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas,” Mr. Wright said.


Mr. Wright has argued that there is a moral case for fossil fuels, saying they are crucial for alleviating global poverty and that moving too quickly to cut emissions risks driving up energy prices around the world. He has denounced efforts by countries to stop adding greenhouse gas to the atmosphere by 2050, calling that a “sinister goal.”


2. One day later, on March 11, the New York Times published a follow-up article by Ivan Penn, Solar Energy, Criticized by Trump, Claims Big U.S. Gain in 2024


Excerpts from Mr. Penn’s article:


The U.S. power grid added more capacity from solar energy in 2024 than from any other source in a single year in more than two decades, according to a new industry report released on Tuesday.


The report, produced by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie, a research firm, said about 50 gigawatts of new solar generation capacity was added last year, far more than any other source of electricity. Https://www.woodmac.com/press-releases/2024-press-releases/solar-adds-more-new-capacity-to-the-grid-in-2024-than-any-energy-technology-in-the-past-two-decades/


3. What are the facts? The following slides are used with permission from the Climate Reality Project, CRP, (https://realityhub.climaterealityproject.org), an organization started by former VP Al Gore in July 2011 to focus attention on the impact of climate change and the urgent need to transition to a renewable economy. These slides were part of a presentation given by VP Gore in Paris in March, 2025, as part of one of the regular training sessions that CRP conducts annually across the globe:



SLIDE SOURCE(S): Data on file






SLIDE SOURCE(S): Bloomberg New Energy Finance





SLIDE SOURCE(S): Bloomberg New Energy Finance



SLIDE SOURCE(S):





SLIDE SOURCE(S): Bloomberg New Energy Finance




4. And here is the “little secret” that Big Oil does not want you to know…








The truth is that despite the misleading and destructive policies and priorities of Big Oil and the Trump administration, investment in renewable energy is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. And so we need to continue to never be afraid to raise our voices for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.


An important footnote to remind all of us of the relentless urgency that we must bring to this process: an article in the New York Times by Lisa Friedman published on April 9th had the following headline:


Trump Threatens Climate Policies in the States

After halting federal attempts to combat global warming, President Trump is now targeting efforts by states to reduce greenhouse gases, setting up a legal clash.


Excerpts:


First, the Trump administration moved to dismantle federal climate regulations. Now it has launched an assault on efforts at the state and local levels, where many leaders are still working to try to avoid the dangerous impacts of global warming.


President Trump outlined the move in an expansive executive order he signed on Tuesday directing the Justice Department to block all “burdensome and ideologically motivated ‘climate change’ or energy policies that threaten American energy dominance and our economic and national security.”


Let’s go raise our voices!

 
 
 

Comments

©2022-2024 SoDak 350.

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
bottom of page