{"id":423736,"date":"2026-01-29T12:44:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T11:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=423736"},"modified":"2026-01-29T12:44:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T11:44:30","slug":"all-of-the-above-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=423736","title":{"rendered":"All of the above, please"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From American Thinker<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind and solar industry lobbyists are appealing to conservatives in a last-ditch effort to promote wind and solar power as a reliable energy source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Bill Ponton<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind and solar industry lobbyists are appealing to conservatives in a last-ditch effort to promote wind and solar power as a reliable energy source. They are rallying around the slogan, \u201call of the above\u201d. By that, they mean that we should avail ourselves of all sources of electricity. The Western Way, a non-profit that seeks pro-market solutions to energy and environmental challenges, issued a recent\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0touting the reliability of power grids with a wide range of energy sources. It concludes with the following passage:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

This whitepaper has sought to clear up this confusion. Phasing out tax subsidies for certain energy sources at the federal level does not mean phasing out the energy sources themselves at the local, state and regional level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make no mistake: The U.S. needs every economically viable energy source to maintain a stable power grid, win the global AI race and restore the nation\u2019s manufacturing might. Not only that, but all those different energy sources will also need to work together as efficiently as possible, and therefore solutions will look different from state to state and region to region based on their unique circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, relying too much on a small number of sources only increases the likelihood of grid failures, especially during unexpected events like equipment failures or severe weather. For grid operators, the risk of blackouts is much lower when they have more options in the generation stack \u2013 not fewer options \u2013 to choose from.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The author is incorrect in stating that \u201c\u2026 the risk of blackouts is much lower when they have more options in the generation stack \u2013 not fewer options \u2013 to choose from.\u201d As I discussed in a recent article entitled, \u201cNot all gigawatts are the same\u201d<\/a>, intermittent power sources (wind and solar) do not come with the same level of reliability as firm power sources (coal, gas, oil, nuclear). Intermittent sources add nothing to the reliability of a grid. For a grid to be reliable, firm capacity must exceed peak demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only role that intermittent sources play is to reduce fuel usage, but that comes at a price, and it\u2019s not one that I would call economically viable. Depending on the region, operators are paying between 1.5 to 2.8 times more in terms of USD\/kWh (see table below). My calculations are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Table
Image created by author.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I assume that the author wishes to preserve remaining state mandates for renewable energy as federal tax subsidies get phased out, and he hopes to achieve it by muddying the waters. To that end, he might have success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many conservative politicians in western states are beholden to the wind and solar power industry that provides livelihoods to their constituents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One need only look back at the past economic folly with ethanol mandates that have enriched farmers in the Midwest for almost five decades. Ronald Reagan summed it up best when he said, \u201cGovernment programs, once launched, never disappear. A government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we\u2019ll ever see on this earth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"A
Image generated by ChatGPT.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wind and solar industry lobbyists are appealing to conservatives in a last-ditch effort to promote wind and solar power as a reliable energy source.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":423746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"Explore the debate on wind and solar power advocacy and its impact on energy reliability in this insightful analysis.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Exploring the Reliability of Wind and Solar Energy Sources","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvY2xpbWF0ZS1zY2llbmNlLnByZXNzXC93cC1jb250ZW50XC91cGxvYWRzXC8yMDI2XC8wMVwvMEFRTjZ4NDlaOUtBRlNzb05rV2s2MGNORlFuSzI5WTJ0Z3E5enpiT19FeFI0VVRvN1lJT1JSdkFrS3hMTkFwZURMX00xODU4ZG4wR2JXaFlGUjhDRDNLZ0M4VzNfLXdpOWhCa29YQmVHeEh6N0VseWZIaGJzZlMzX1RuSGQwVG5PLTEtNTgweDEwMjQuanBlZyIsInR4dCI6IkFsbCBvZiB0aGUgYWJvdmUsIHBsZWFzZSIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiaGlnaHdheSIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNTU4MTI0NDl9.4rD336fFkRo_1d9ADqfTO53Fsi8JNDNS2hVkIBboi3gMQ"},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819635,691835642,691818206,691828207,691818728],"class_list":{"0":"post-423736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-coal","9":"tag-gas-and-oil","10":"tag-nuclear-power","11":"tag-tax-subsidies","12":"tag-wind-and-solar","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0AQN6x49Z9KAFSsoNkWk60cNFQnK29Y2tgq9zzbO_ExR4UTo7YIORRvAkKxLNApeDL_M1858dn0GbWhYFR8CD3KgC8W3_-wi9hBkoXBeGxHz7ElyfHhbsfS3_TnHd0TnO-1.jpeg?fit=816%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1Mes","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":432806,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=432806","url_meta":{"origin":423736,"position":0},"title":"Energy Realists Saved the US Grid (Alex\u00a0Epstein)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year, America was already in a serious electricity reliability crisis. 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