Friday, August 25, 2023

GOP Hopefuls Better Start Talking Energy

 This post is authored and sponsored by the Mississippi Energy Institute. 

There's one issue that may be both the most long-term, economically-impactful issue for Americans and the issue that best contrasts the eventual Republican and Democrat Presidential nominees, whoever they are. It's energy, and among all the topics and issues covered in the 8/23 debate, it was hardly mentioned. 

Energy has evolved from what has long been a mostly a regional issue to a controversial partisan divide. Pressured by environmental activist funding and led by the Biden Administration, Democrats have started the U.S. down the same road Europe started on years ago. That road is made of heavily subsidized renewables and opposition to reliable fossil fuels. At times, they've even turned their noses up at reliable nuclear power, their largest carbon-free source. They heavily tax gasoline and diesel. The result is high costs, reliability problems, and a huge reliance on imported energy, including energy from Russia. 

Republican candidate energy platforms propose to go back to the American way, where an abundance of energy, like oil and natural gas, is produced at home to keep prices down and people employed and to use innovation, not cash subsidies, to find solutions to environmental challenges. Renewables are a part of the equation, but reliability and affordability remain the most important drivers. Also, domestic production is good, and policies that unnecessarily increase dependence on imports are bad. 

Energy is absolutely foundational to the entire economy. What has happened in Europe shows us what happens if the U.S. continues down this road. Often, people fail to appreciate the scale of energy or how far-reaching it is into almost everything we use today. If this issue gets lost in the shuffle, a second Biden term could cause irreversible harm in the U.S. energy sector with major negative impacts into the automotive sector and elsewhere. If so, our choice will be to either pay more or change our lifestyles.

Energy as a partisan matter could be a great thing for Republicans because it's a winning issue. I doubt the vast majority of Americans want the European energy way, but it must be brought to the forefront and talked about.

JJ Readers: How should Republican candidates talk about energy to capture the interest and support of swing voters?


29 comments:

Anonymous said...

The average family is paying more than $709 more each month in added costs. The Democrat's war against energy is a large part of that. The GOP better get its messaging right regarding this because watching the debate the other night they are all out of touch with the actual concerns of the average American households.

"The typical American household spent $709 more in July than they did two years ago to buy the same goods and services, according to Moody’s Analytics." https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/11/economy/inflation-rate-spending/index.html

Anonymous said...

Candidates must campaign to the right to win the nomination and if successful in the general, govern from center-right to accomplish anything.

That recipe yields a primary winner who either will alter course (be able to work across the aisle and within the party) to pass legislation or a Trumpian/McDanielish “Fighter” who will be unable to work with others to get things done and retain key staff.

Don’t like that argument? Please tell me about Trump’s policies that saw legislation passed. How’s that wall looking? Is she locked up? Whatever. The fighters lose for their well intended but naive to the process voters who believe a key member of the executive branch can win by fighting.

What does that mean for energy? The president who focuses on oil production at the expense of the environment may have moderate gains. While a moderate who works with various interests on both sides of the aisle is more likely to move America forward. Too bad for all of us (especially the extreme left and right) that moderates have trouble winning these days.

Anonymous said...

Like Trump says, drill baby drill.

Mr. Green Jeans said...

Instead of whining about the insignificant amount renewable energy may cost consumers, why don't you oppose the billion of dollars that regular citizens pay to subsidize fossil fuels and cut rate prices paid for energy by large energy consumers such as the refineries, chemical plants and manufacturing. These are the subsidies that are hurting families and hitting them hard in the pocketbook. BTW, unlike renewable energy, fossil energy pollutes the air and water every time it generates one watt of electricity. Atomic energy mining, transportation and construction is dirty, expensive and does not even include the fact that it creates the deadliest pollution in the universe that they still can't figure out how to permanently protect humans from. Last note, you may to check the polls concerning where the voters are on renewables and energy choice before you encourage politicians to jump off the fossil energy cliff.

Anonymous said...

Wait until Mississippi's average family sees the electricity bill from these past few weeks.

Anonymous said...

Bidenomics is finally kicking in, or is it kicking our ass?

Biden's puppet strings are being pulled by racist/Marxist Obama. They don't want a middle class, only a ruling class (them) and serfs (us).

Eliminating fossil fuels from the serfs, taking away our guns, and making the serfs more and more dependent on government (control) is the path to reach their goals.

Sounds like Chowke doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

Rest easy @8:24. Brandon Presley ostensibly cut taxes all by himself in what then was a shrinking Nettleton (pop. 1935) 15 years or so ago. He'll solve all of our economic woes.

Anonymous said...

There is no such thing as renewable energy.

Anonymous said...

Partisan politics in energy is the last thing this nation needs. You’ve shown your colors. I expect that an institute with your name would be a little more analytic. But you’re not, you present no facts, just a advocate of partisan politics.

How about a reality check. Iowa gets 41% of its energy from non-hydroelectric renewables, almost entirely from wind. Unreliable? Nope. Kansas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska get 34%, 28%, 28%, 24%, and 20% from non-hydroelectric renewables. Texas is the only state in this group with significant solar. All of these states are bastions of the Republican party. Only one though treats his renewables like the proverbial red-headed step child when his un-winterized equipment fails. You sound as partisan as he. Somehow or another snow and ice aren’t crippling renewables in the plains states. They are reliable. Makes you want to go “Hmmmmm”. Everyone of the aforementioned states has cheaper electricity than Mississippi (and I know, Texas has lots of gas and oil)

So please stop advocating for more partisanship in anything. Let’s use our brains and work together. And change your name to the Mississippi Fossil Fuels Energy Institute.

Anonymous said...

@9:01
Almost true. The sun, our source of wind and solar, is burning out more each day and is only forecast to last another 7 billion years.
Pumped storage is the closest thing to renewable, and probably should be considered so.

Anonymous said...

I realize Mississippi has a reason to love fossil fuels as oil was once thriving here.

But the fact is that our energy comes from the nuclear plant at Grand Gulf.

We do buy gas, but we are close enough to refineries not to be paying what others are. I would also suggest to all of you to look at the history of when oil prices go up and down over the last 30 years. Put the dates on President times in office when you start or just GOP vs Dem, I don't care which.

The price of gas and oil is not in the control of an administration other than whether or not release reserves. That's always no win as Biden discovered even though it brought gas prices down. It didn't bring down world oil prices. The industry working in concert, whether it's for profit as OPEC has done, or to ally with other countries to the detriment of a mutual enemy, or like Putin, to start a war that impacts both energy and grain.

Please try NOT to be the puppet of either party to learn about issues that matter to you whether it's economics or gender biology or the history of religion.

If you don't, you have zero control over your fate in one of the few countries left where you could control your representatives rather than give them your power and enrich them instead of yourselves.

And here is Mississippi, all you have to do is get the income of anyone you elected, get their incomes each year as it's mandatory to file it with the Secretary of State, and compare that to their lifestyles. Find out the value of their property on Zillow. See how much their cars cost. It's just MATH.

But you did re-elect Ed Pittman even AFTER the news broke that the old Deposit Guaranty "forgave" his loan in 6 figures before the decimal point.

More than a few here and abroad didn't think our democratic republic could last, including John Adams. They pointed out that it required well informed citizens smart enough to see their level of self-determination was dependent on them choosing honorable leaders and making sure those leaders were not showing signs of succumbing to the temptations of wealth and power" but that our leaders remain " servants of the republic".

As for me, I'd rather not be dependent on one source of energy ever and reducing our dependence on those who have gained far to much power over our financial well being, seems more than fine with me!

Anonymous said...

@8:59
Bidenomics didn’t build out all that wind power in the great plains. Take your guns and go shoot up some Bud Light.

Anonymous said...

Getting your electricity from the wind is great. Getting your electricity from the sun is even greater. What would be even greater is if the people would only use electricity when the sun shines and the wind blows.

When the sun shines and the wind blows, that sort of reminds me of something else the government thought of years ago. They even put that in writing. Why not ask the people who were given that guarantee years ago see how much they appreciate it?

We can learn a lot from looking at history.

Anonymous said...

9:54 am By your own facts, how does that not make solar more renewable?

I will tell you that my friends with solar panels pay ten of dollars for energy each month and for reasons I don't understand, their neighbors on either side saw a drop in their bills of over $100. An attempt to lengthen the time it pays for itself?

Also, I just upgraded my 3 air conditioner units 3 years ago. That expense is completely recovered and I've been enjoying a significantly lower bill. I'm particularly glad when I hear how much my friends with a comparable size house are paying during this heat wave. I'm not counting the tax incentive deduction I got to take...just household monthly costs. Counting that,the return on investment starts around a year later. It's far better than the interest I would have gotten at the bank or return on stocks.




Anonymous said...

@10:23
That was tongue in cheek. Someone’s got to try and be funny here. (But the sun is burning up its fuel and is going away, just very slowly)

Anonymous said...

Iowa gets 41% of its energy from non-hydroelectric renewables, almost entirely from wind. Unreliable? Nope. Kansas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska get 34%, 28%, 28%, 24%, and 20% from non-hydroelectric renewables.

Links?

Makes you want to go “Hmmmmm”.

Maxwell Smart said...

Renewable energy sources have kept the Texas power grid stable this summer even as the state breaks record after record for power usage.

https://www.businessinsider.com/renewable-energy-kept-texas-power-grid-stable-record-power-use-2023-8

Anonymous said...

What is going to happen to solar power when solar radiation modification is brought into play?

Anonymous said...

@10:44
Every month every utility sized electricity generator provides data on all of their production metrics and reports them to the Energy Information Administration. The EIA publishes a report monthly. I used the June data. The monthly report also has data year-to-data for every form of electricity generation by type:
oil, gas, coal, coke, petroleum liquids, hydro, nuclear, wind, solar, non-hydro renewables, etc. the have data going back to 1950.

It’s on the Energy Information Administration website eia.gov.

I had an error in my statement about everybody having cheaper electricity than Mississippi. All of those states are less expensive except Kansas they are slightly above Mississippi.

Anonymous said...

August 25, 2023 at 9:54 AM, no, there is no renewable energy. You can word your defense of the lie all you choose, but the fact remains, no renewable energy.

Anonymous said...

@12:18
I wrote that post. And if you could analyze my argument you’d have figured out I agree with you.

And I agree it’s poorly named. But that’s what folks have come to accept as its name. It’s like idiot baseball announcers using the word velocity instead of speed. They think they sound smart but it’s the wrong word. Or people who pronounce height as “highth”. It’s pronounced like “hite”. Sooner or later the misuse normalized.

I don’t know what to call it, so I just roll with it and not complain.

Anonymous said...

8:24, your analysis is 100% right.

Anonymous said...

Let's figure out a way to wash our plentiful coal and burn it cleanly.

We could call it Clean Coal!

It should only take someone else's money to make it all work!

Anonymous said...

@4:01
All the mercury in out swordfish, all the mercury in the bass in the everglades is from coal. 100%.
Coal is filthy, even after scrubbers (which are designed to confine nitrious oxideds etc), they still release heavy metals including uranium. Look at their licenses, it’s all spelled out what they can release. Clean coal is a disaterous myth.

Natural gas, on the other hand is clean (relatively), it only releases carbon pollution, not the myriads of heavy metals.

Anonymous said...

August 25, 2023 at 10:38 AM, I believe @10:23 is a bot.

Anonymous said...

@5:59
If you want to talk energy falsely, i’ll take you down with facts. I’ve posted multipe posts today (unusual for me), but if it’s energy related - standby.

Anonymous said...

I don't talk anything falsely. What are you even talking about?

Anonymous said...

8:43 - You represent a small handful of Belhaven/Millsaps alum clones, not the average Mississippi nor national household.

60% of us don't buy your green-bullshit, another 30% are on the dole and don't care and, at most, 10% raise a toast to your Kool-Aid.

With Apologies to Tater Salad.. said...

"It's not THAT the wind is blowin'. It's WHAT the wind is blowin'". And WHAT the wind is blowin' is smoke.

There is no such thing as 'renewables'.


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