Gavin Newsom is blaming climate change for the blackouts he is creating

Michael Shellenberger
michaelshellenberger.substack.com
Mon, 09 May 2022 00:00 UTC

Now, people could die

Did you hear the news? California nearly got 100% of its electricity from renewables for a period last weekend!

But wait. Governor Gavin Newsom's administration said yesterday that we would once again have blackouts this summer.

What's going on?

According to Newsom's people... climate change. That and the fact that people might actually use their air conditioners this summer.

This is bonkers. We Californians pay more for electricity than anyone else in the country except people in Hawaii.

And we've known for years that we needed to build more natural gas plants.

But Gavin and his people are acting surprised. I mean, who could have ever predicted that climate change would make things hotter?

Comment: For a time, and in some places, perhaps - but certainly not as an across the board rule - and to be sure, its just a question of time before global cooling becomes an undeniable fact. This, however, gets us away from the main point of the article...

Do you know what happens when there are blackouts and people can't use their air conditioners? They die.

From homelessness and crime to energy, water, and forest fires, Newsom only makes things worse. He then looks around for someone to blame.

And when there isn't someone to blame, he blames climate change.

The problem isn't that Newsom isn't running California. It's that he's running it into the ground.

That and running for president. And that means he wants the big money support of powerful anti-energy, pro-scarcity interests.

Not me. For the last six years I have been warning the people of California that shutting down nuclear plants, not building enough natural gas plants, and over-relying on weather dependent renewables would be a disaster.

I testified to Congress SIX TIMES warning of the disaster that's now unfolding.

There's a role for renewables. I have solar panels in my backyard. But the fifth largest economy in the world can't rely on the weather, particularly not during a time of climate change.

The same week California generated nearly 100% of its electricity from renewables, it also had to shut off electricity coming from its solar farms.

The problem with weather-dependent renewables is that they produce too much energy when we don't need it and not enough when we do.

It was misleading for people to point to a few minutes during one day when energy from renewables matched demand for electricity. The rest of the time they aren't matched, which is why they make electricity so expensive.

Our electricity rates rose seven times more than they did in the rest of the US over the last 10 years. And now Newsom's people say they will raise electricity rates up to 9 percent every year over the next three years.

California needs abundant and reliable energy. As governor, I will make sure we have it.