Turning Out The Lights

Senator Chuck Schumer has said that once his party takes over the US government they will change the world.

One of the things this means is the forced shutdown of most if not all of the fossil fuel power plants in the US. Articles such as this one outline how such a thing might be done:

https://qz.com/1941220/how-long-will-it-take-to-close-fossil-fuel-plants-in-the-us/

Here are some facts which should help you understand what such a thing may mean:

(1) US generating capacity is approximately 1.2 million megawatts:

The largest fuel source for this capacity is natural gas (44%), followed by coal (21%). Nuclear, hydro, and wind together account for about one-quarter of capacity. Solar currently constitutes over 3% of all capacity.

Source - https://www.publicpower.org/resource/americas-electricity-generating-capacity

So ... if we close ALL fossil fuel plants, we potentially lose 65% of our available electricity unless additional carbon free sources are brought online. That's a BIG loss.

(2) Approximately 38% of our electricity is used by residential customers, with the rest going to commercial, industrial, and transportation needs.

Source - https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/use-of-electricity.php

Think about what this means. No fossil fuel means we're left with barely enough electricity to heat and light our homes. Nothing left for business, industry, or the allegedly burgeoning electric car industry. Without MASSIVE new infrastructure construction, this just does not compute.

And where does the capital necessary for such construction come from? Corporations are already up to their gills in debt, so the most likely source is government printing of more fiat money, further degrading the already dying US dollar.

Barring a miracle, Schumer's and Biden's plans to "change the world" may send us back to the stone age. Frankly I think that's exactly what they have in mind. After all, didn't one of our Nobel laureates make the following claim?

Giving society cheap, abundant energy ... would be the equivalent of giving an idiot child a machine gun.

Yes, we're being treated like idiot children (or a basket of deplorables), while the high and mighty fly their jets to and fro at will. And THESE are the clowns you voted into office? Sheesh !!!

By the way, you can find two earlier assessments of how switching to electric cars would affect the US and German power grids here:

http://sainthoward.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-fallacy-of-electric-vehicles.html

https://deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de/2017/07/10/niemand-weiss-woher-der-strom-fuer-elektro-autos-kommen-soll/ [translation required]

Once again, it all just does not add up.

I would revise the above statement about cheap energy as follows:

Giving the morons in the US government the ability to tear down our electric generating infrastructure ... would be the equivalent of giving an idiot child a machine gun.

And if you don't believe me, you'll soon see it with your own eyes ... when the lights go out.

Update - 12/6/2020

Here is evidence that our energy "transition" may be a rocky one:

https://deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de/507922/DWN-SPEZIAL-Zwischenbilanz-zur-Energiewende-Deutschlands-Stromnetz-ist-akut-gefaehrdet-es-droht-eine-Strommangel-Wirtschaft [translation required]

Yes, it's talking about Germany, but the same principles apply here. And if anything, the US government is nowhere near as efficient as its German counterpart.