Greta Thunberg said “I want you to panic” and nations did. They over-invested in unreliable weather-dependent energy sources & under-invested in reliable energy. Now, global energy shortages are forcing the poor to choose between food & electricity pic.twitter.com/bhitwz1AAo
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
Overdependence on unreliable energies isn’t the only reason for energy shortages. Post-pandemic economic recovery resulted in higher energy demand. And too little natural gas stored on-site after a colder-than-expected winter played a role. https://t.co/LNW5XfP069
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
But the heavy investment in unreliable renewables made energy supplies more vulnerable to a single commodity’s volatility. Today’s grids mean that high gas prices cause energy price spikes and a return to the dirtiest forms of electricity production, including diesel and coal.
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
The return to coal was most dramatic in Germany. Electricity from wind was 20% lower in Germany in the first half of 2021 than the first half of 2020, resulting in a 24% higher use of fossil fuels and 28% greater emissions from electricity.
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
Lack of wind in Britain led its grid operator to ask French electricity giant, Électricité de France, to restart a coal plant in Nottinghamshire. And California requested permission from the federal government to violate air pollution regulations so diesel plants can operate
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
In 2019, @GretaThunberg called nuclear “extremely dangerous, expensive & time-consuming”
& unnecessary for most nationsAfterwards, Germany and Sweden closed nuclear reactors that could have kept running for decades.
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
Germany, Sweden, the US and other nations replaced their nuclear plants with fossil fuels, contributing to global energy supply shortages
As a result, what turned out to be “dangerous and expensive” wasn’t nuclear, it was Greta Thunberg & her anti-nuclear climate movement https://t.co/IZI2ljMOTQ
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
This isn’t the first time that pro-scarcity environmentalists created real world scarcity. They have done so in the past pic.twitter.com/n8DxGFNifi
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
But it’s obvious that Greta Thunberg and the Malthusian Axis doesn’t care about climate change. If they did, they wouldn’t be replacing nuclear plants with fossil fuels, and opposing the means for poor nations to adapt to it.
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
As @jordanbpeterson says, “If you don’t understand somebody’s intentions, consider the consequences of their actions.
The consequences of Greta et al.’s actions are panic, energy shortages, and rising carbon emissions.
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
That said, Greta made clear last year that she hates “the system” more than she fears climate change https://t.co/78J3R3Qt75
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021
In 2019 Greta singled out for attack France & Brazil, which get 86% & 79% of their power from zero-carbon sources
Why? Because her real concern isn’t climate change, it’s destroying “the system” https://t.co/sP8mxZXu82
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 21, 2021