417 Comments

Germany shutting down its nuclear power stations was an insane move.

Expand full comment
Mar 1, 2022Liked by Michael Shellenberger

I have been following Michael Shellenberger for quite some time and found his book enlightening. Energy is such an important issue and the slogans and panic brought about by climate hysterics has deeply damaged our country. Nothing became as clear to me as their anti-nuclear power position. Nuclear is the cleanest, safest, most efficient form of energy that doesn't rely on fossil fuels. So-called "green" energy is the most dangerous to produce and is dependent on fossil fuels. And now our mis-guided energy policies have been used against us by a foreign power, which will impact us for years to come.

Expand full comment

'For all his fawning over Putin...' If you want to control Russia, fawn over Putin the way Trump did:

1. Flooded the world with price-crashing oil,


2. Killed Russian mercenaries in Syria,


3. Sold offensive weapons to Ukraine that Obama/Biden would not,


4. Upped the US defense budget,


5. Bullied NATO to spend $100B for its own defense,


6. Nixed a Russia friendly missile treaty,


7. Killed Soleimani and Baghdadi, and bombed ISIS out of existence,


8. Threatened to bomb Moscow if Putin invaded Ukraine.

If that's fawning, I'll take a micro-chipped soccer ball every day.

Expand full comment

The Earth doesn't need "healing". Things have never been better. When I was a kid, rivers were so polluted, they caught on fire. LA and Denver had unbreathable air. The highways were lined with garbage. None of those things are true today, and they haven't been for a very long time.

Climate change is only framed as a catastrophic problem by extremist idealogues (who are being played), and by the insanely wealthy elite who profit by encouraging suicidal policy decisions.

What needs healing is the damage caused by the international Left.

Expand full comment
Mar 1, 2022·edited Mar 1, 2022

Subhead is great: "While we banned plastic straws, Russia drilled and doubled nuclear energy production."

It is just like the media fawning over a 14 year old child out of, where, Denmark, about climate change. Taking lessons from children is such a trope of the stupid. You hear it all the time, "listen to the children". Children are, generally, idiots about matters of substance. This is true whether the child is ordinary or on the spectrum. Thunberg became insulated to criticism because she was identified as being on the autism spectrum. Then she shouted at adults, castigated them, screamed, and the MSM lapped it up and anyone who criticized was ostracized. They are great when it comes to unwavering love - given and sought. But they know no science, no policy, nothing about human existence on a global scale. Shame on anyone who fell for this.

The drinking straw thing is another example of this stupidity. A child in California (of course) made some calculations about how many straws are produced and then extrapolated to how many end up in the nostrils of sea turtles. And the Media and the Green Religionists went wild for him. Starbuck changed their business for it.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Expand full comment

We listen to micro brains like AOC and John Kerry. Natural gas and nuclear power would have saved tens of millions of lives due to raging energy wars and "greened up" the world at the same time. Not only light water reactors but the LIFTR technologies that the US shelved in the 1970's and China is perfecting right now.

Expand full comment
founding

They want global equity.

The west is too rich.

Your truck is too big and the cruise ships waste food.

They’ve been saying this my whole life.

They are sacks of shit.

This is intentional.

Expand full comment

This is so brilliant - and obvious. I'm sure this will be picked up by all major media outlets. I'm sure Lester Holt, CNN and MSNBC will lead with this story. I'm sure Joe Biden will make major energy policy a focus of his SOTU. Yea, right. No, what I'm sure of is the hysterics will continue and Michael Shellenberger will be further branded a climate denier. Sad. Thanks for sharing.

Expand full comment

Shellenberger nails it and underscores the name of this blog with his contribution to Common Sense. As he says, why should we defend Europe from Russia when Europe funds Russia's aggression? It's been 75 years since WW II, Europe's economy is effectively the size of ours, and we're continuing to subsidize their defense? And as for those who feel global warming is an emergency, but who won't embrace zero pollution and reliable baseload nuclear energy, or who won't protest in front of Chinese embassies worldwide given their leadership role in global warming, they display either their cynicism or the failure of their educational training.

Expand full comment
founding

“John Kerry, the United States’ climate envoy, perfectly captured the myopia of this view when he said, in the days before the war, that the Russian invasion of Ukraine “could have a profound negative impact on the climate”

—————————————————

Elite Democrats said Trump is a poor person’s idea of what a rich person is. All of those people also think John Kerry is sophisticated.

He is a fucking simpleton, and so are they.

Expand full comment
founding

My husband is in the commercial solar industry, and this is exactly what he has been saying. It is simply not possible to fulfill the world's energy needs with green energy for the reasons stated in the article: it is an inconsistent source, and we lack adequate storage capability. Not to mention that not even "green" energy is entirely green, as certainly, there are demands on the environment to produce solar and wind energy and the batteries required to store it. The best solution is to continue to develop solar and wind, but also nuclear and storage. We are at least 10 years away from making a major shift. Natural gas is a cleaner option in the meantime. All that said, it is still a good idea to ditch plastic straws and bags and other highly disposable plastic, much of which ends up in the ocean.

Expand full comment
Mar 1, 2022·edited Mar 1, 2022

QUESTIONS -

I hear Western media ask "how long can Russia sustain its attack ?" in the face of crippling sanctions.

>> Better question - How long can Western Europe stay united in the face of $10 per gallon gasoline and severe shortages of natural gas and coal ?

Like it or not, Europe is addicted to Russian energy products. The Russians have a legendary tolerance for pain. Western Europeans are legendary for their cushy lifestyles and an inability to deal with disruption - they go nuts when the coffee is not made right. As usual, the west is quick to deny reality. Consequently, if I were Ukrainian, I would not count on the sustained support of Western Europe. The west is famous for virtue signaling - not for making real sacrifices.

I wish it were not so, but it seems Putin has the upper-hand.

Expand full comment

My take: Europe (especially Germany) has given Putin the very rope he'll use to strangle the EU with...

Meanwhile while civilians are targeted and being killed in Ukraine John Kerry wants you to remember how great it is that you drive a Prius...

The US does something similar - let China be a sole source for computer chips and rare earth required for producing them and you end up victimized yourself.

Apparently foresight has been outsourced to China as well...

Expand full comment

Well, thank you Captain Obvious.

Another liberal shocked to discover what conservatives (and, gasp!, Trump too) have been warning Europe about for years.

Maybe next we’ll hear about the risks of depending on chips from China for everything under the sun?

Expand full comment

Wow...I am enjoying seeing so many liberals, like Michael Shellenberger, express and adopt conservative positions on key issues. Refreshing. Common sense, indeed.

Expand full comment

The West addiction isn't just to energy that someone else provides, it's addiction to cheap goods from China and the rest of the Third World. As US sets records in balance of payments imports, Russia and China set records the other way. US every day becomes more and more an importer using borrowed dollars. In the end, this is poverty.

Also, it's not just energy, Russia is largest exporter of wheat and uranium and second largest exporter of sawn lumber.

Finally the world has three new suspect and unpopular leaders at US, Britain and Germany (just 2 months), And it's easy for them to sing with a media echo chamber the Disney "kill the beast, kill the beast, kill the beast" rather than diplomacy or stopping the zero interest rate rape of their own citizens.

Expand full comment