We've frequently talked about how global warming, while being a real issue, has been increasingly exploited for those seeking power and money.  On the international front, we've just learned that between $26 and $41 billion  dollars have gone missing .  The Washington Post  is hardly a conservative publication yet even it has had to cover the many billions that were appropriated for electric vehicle charging stations (top of page) that have purchased almost nothing . This is not to be confused with the $42 billion program for rural internet which has connected zero people .  Big Climate exists to skim as much money as possible from these programs and, since most reporters and asssignment editors are liberal, they don't wish to dig into this deep corruption because it would make "their side" look bad.  Regardless of politics, the United States -- once the "land of opportunity -- is increasingly being strangled by its federal deficit. We simply cannot af...

This blog has expressed great concern about electric vehicles from the time they went from niche to "mainstream." And, while quite a bit of mud has been slung at me for that position (especially from a person at Yale University who shall remain nameless), it was richly validated last week. As Jo Nova writes, It’s rare in life to watch a bubble unravel so fast around us In the middle of 2023 American car sales yards started to fill with EV’s that weren’t selling. Then the repair costs started accumulating and EV’s were becoming hard to insur e, the second hand sales value fell. Then came the spectacular  Luton Airport fire  where 1,200 cars were cremated and an airport terminal collapsed. By late October the quarterly reports and the terrible earnings were piling up.  VW orders were down 50%, Ford was losing $38,000 on every car . In early November one of the largest rental car companies in the world announced they were  selling a third of their EV fleet  becaus...

Two news stories from yesterday. Daily Mail NPR In spite of massive  government subsidies, no one wants these cars. Which is good, given the child slave labor that goes into mining their ingredients.  Give me a great hybrid but EV's, except for certain cases, make no sense and are terrible for the environment. 

In London's Telegraph , Allison Pearson has written an insightful piece about the negatives of electric vehicles (EV) -- some of which hadn't occurred to me. Personally? I would never purchase an electric car.  London Luton Airport Parking Facility EV Fire With so many major events in world news the last few weeks, the giant car fire -- almost certainly started by an EV -- destroyed more than 1,400  autos and destroyed the multi-story parking facility. Ms. Pearson brings up, "what happens when this occurs in the Channel Tunnel (the tunnel connecting England and France)?" The results will be catastrophic: hundreds dead, the tunnel likely destroyed, and both nations taking a significant hit. It would take at least a decade to recover. But, the threat isn't confined to Europe. What happens if an EV busts into flames in NYC's Holland Tunnel? Or, on the Golden Gate Bridge? Holland Tunnel Your EV may burn your home down. Even if it doesn't, its resale value is ...

Since there's no football since the Chiefs' incredible victory over the Eagles, I'm providing two funnies this week.  Since watching a new electric car owner (college professor) brag and brag about how his new electric car has "no emissions," I thought this might be humorous.  More specifically, a load of "non-emitting fuel" 🙄 for your EV. 

Three weeks ago, a university professor was bragging about his new electric vehicle and how it had "no emissions." 'Fraid not. Of course, it doesn't include the children in slavery in China doing the dangerous mining of rare-earth minerals.  So, when we do whatever it is the global warming zealots wish to do (they have no plan other than installing windmills and solar panels), the end result will probably look something like this.

At left are the coal miners pushing the car toward the mine so it can be recharged. At right is the car being recharged by an extension cord from an outbuilding.  The story is here . 

At current exchange rates, $98.14  to recharge your car! They did end up discounting it to $61.34.  After "cheaper" electric vehicle owners paid those fees, they got to hear Sir Paul McCartney on his 80th birthday and Greta Thunberg proclaiming: “The biosphere is not just changing, it is destabilising, breaking down… unfortunately, this is not the ‘new normal’. It will get worse until we manage to halt the constant destruction of our life-supporting systems, until we prioritise people and planet over profit and greed.” I dunno, but $100 bucks to charge an electric car sounds pretty profitable to me.  -- addition -- This is what the venue looked like after. Evidently, they didn't pay any addition to Greta's speech about the environment. 

And... much of this is done by child or slave labor.  And... the grid is already strained by existing load.  And... China controls much of the supply of these metals.   The idea electric cars are good for the environment is magical thinking at its worst. 

  Licensed from iSpot Tweeted Saturday by a genuine climate scientist: Zeek is referring to the Diablo nuclear power plant which is scheduled to be shut down shortly. While I don't care for the phrase "polluting fossil gas" as the increased carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has increased agricultural productivity, think carefully about his assertion.  One of jillions of California's wind turbines Below is a graph of renewable energy by state. California has about 33 GW of solar and wind. I'd like to make a second point for you to consider and that is how trivial the amount of electricity generated by windmills and rooftop solar actually is. One-third (!) of America's solar installations are in California (orange above). It was the early pioneer in wind energy (blue above). It is the only state with utility-scale solar (yellow). Yet, all of that electrical output is negated by the removal of just one nuclear plant. And, building a nuke could have done for ...