President Donald Trump froze trillions of dollars in funding last month. Federal court rulings temporarily paused some of Trump’s orders, but numerous reports say if taxpayer funding is ultimately terminated, renewable projects will be in serious jeopardy. [emphasis, links added]
During the Biden-Harris administration, President Joe Biden and the Democrats passed hundreds of regulations against the oil, gas, and coal industries. [emphasis, links added]
The National Review noted the [“breathtaking cronyism that characterized] President Obama’s entire ‘green jobs’ agenda, noting that four out of every five ‘green’ energy companies to receive taxpayer support were ‘run by or primarily owned by Obama financial backers.’ ”
Despite the unfriendly regulatory environment, the U.S. is producing more oil and gas than any nation in history.
Renewable energy proponents often claim that wind and solar are cheaper than fossil fuels, and many have claimed that Trump’s actions will raise the cost of energy.
If it’s true that renewable energy is cheaper, it seems odd that renewable energy projects would flounder when federal funding is blocked.
“What we’re seeing is the eco-left movement proving in real time that their schemes cannot stand without taxpayer support. The free market should be deciding what products Americans do or don’t want to buy, and not the government picking winners and losers. It’s really simple,” Larry Behrens, communications director for Power the Future, told Just the News.
Media frenzy
The legacy media attacked Trump’s funding freeze order immediately after it was announced.
E&E News reported that Trump blocked $90 million in funding that the Hopi Tribe in Arizona was hoping to use for solar projects that would replace jobs lost after a coal plant closed in 2019.
The projects would also, the tribe hoped, end blackouts that have caused food to spoil and medical equipment to malfunction.
Pennsylvania was hoping for $156 million to support a program that helps low-income homeowners install solar panels, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The upgrades, the Inquirer reports, would lower electric bills after the millions in taxpayer funding are doled out for the supposedly cheaper form of energy.
In an op-ed in the Reno Gazette-Journal, former Nevada Lieutenant Gov. Kate Marshall claimed that wind and solar power were projected to drop Nevada’s electricity rates by 22% to 35% over the next 30 years.
The claim includes a now-broken link [archived here] to an article on the Department of Energy website, likely removed since Trump took office and Chris Wright replaced Jennifer Granholm as energy secretary.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis declared that Trump is threatening “clean, affordable energy.” The Guardian reports the freeze is causing “panic,” and Newsweek reports that contractors stopped work on solar projects.
“Outlandish”
These are just a sample of the media reports and statements from officials spreading in the wake of Trump’s funding freeze.
By contrast, the oil and gas industry under former President Joe Biden, who campaigned on a promise to “end fossil fuels,” saw production increase to record highs.
Rather than raise doubt about the ability of intermittent wind and solar to replace fossil fuels and lower costs, the oil and gas industry’s success has been used to dispute that the Biden administration ever warred against the oil and gas industry.
Read rest at Just The News
