This is an update of articles that I have read that I want to mention but only have time to summarize briefly. Previous commentaries are available here.
My primary focus lately has been New York’s Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (Climate Act). I have been following the it since it was first proposed and most of the articles described below are related to the net-zero transition. My opinions expressed in this article do not reflect the position of any of my previous employers or any other company I have been associated with, these comments are mine alone.
EPA Deregulatory Action
Alex Epstein breaks down the regulations that the Trump Administration is going to reconsider. Despite the constant drumbeat in the media the American environment is in pretty good shape. In my opinion all the rules mentioned represent overreach and will have larger negative impacts than positive benefits. However, I don’t think that there will be many changes for the affected companies. I suspect the presumption will be why make investments when another administration can just undo them all. Absent overwhelming evidence of the impact of the overreach policies, like a catastrophic blackout, I do not know what would change public opinion enough to satisfy investors that reliable power is a necessary investment and regulators to change policies to prioritize reducing reliability risks.
Endangerment Finding was Politically Motivated
One of the deregulatory actions described by Epstein included the endangerment finding that claimed that a trace gas necessary for human life needed to be regulated. Kevin Killough notes that the “Emails obtained through FOIA requests suggest the procedure Obama’s EPA used to come to its endangerment finding was informed by people who wanted to regulate greenhouse gases as a pollutant no matter what and came to a predetermined conclusion on behalf of a “progressive” national policy.” For all the talk about science driving Progressive policy the reality is that the climate change transition proponents could have cared less about the science.
Reality or Waste
Collin Kinniburgh describes the tradeoffs for New York gas utilities replacing ancient natural gas pipelines against the Climate Act electrification transition. Utilities say the spending is necessary to maintain “public safety and world class reliable service,” as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the leaky pipes. Naturally the electrification advocates who have no skin in the game if people freeze to death or go broke due to higher costs, argue that it is a waste of money because the infrastructure will be made obsolete by the Climate Act. I hope that the companies are simply acknowledging the fact that when the costs become evident that the political winds driving the conversion will stall. In addition, I believe that keeping natural gas infrastructure is a pragmatic tradeoff. It is not only that an electric system dependent upon wind, solar, and short-term energy storage has not been shown to be able to provide electric power as reliably as it is today, but the State has yet to confront the consequences of a long duration blackout due to, for example, an ice storm, on an all-electric residential system. Natural gas capabilities can save lives during those events.
Climate Fact Check
This summary serves as a fact check on the top false claims made about climate change by the media in February 2025. Debunked media claims include claims that greenhouse gases threaten public health, Atlantic Ocean losing circulation, adjusting temperature data is science, earth’s thermostat is rising, and glaciers shrinking faster than ever. In each instance, the fact checks cite rebuttal information.
Wind Power and Eagles
David Wojick raises the important point that almost every wind project in America has a permit to kill a certain number of eagles per year. The article points out that “Estimates suggest that wind farms kill at least 150,000 birds annually in the U.S. alone”. It goes on to explain why that is probably a low-ball estimate because scavengers quickly remove the dead birds. Compounding the problem eagles “reproduce slowly so even a small number of deaths can have devastating impacts on populations”. In New York the last cumulative environmental impact that should have addressed this issue was completed before the Scoping Plan was published. The Scoping Plan projects that 16,690 MW of land-based wind will be needed in 2050. The Alle-Catt Wind Energy Center is a proposed 340-megawatt (MW) wind power generation facility in Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Wyoming Counties targeted to begin construction in 2025 that will use 2.9 MW wind turbines. Using that size turbine means there will be 5,755 Eagle Cuisinarts built. There is no estimate how many eagles could be legally killed each year when that many are deployed but there are only 1,000 Bald Eagles in the state. Have we lived to see Bald Eagles return to New York only to kill them off in this mad attempt to control the weather?
Oh the Calamity
This article really deserves more attention because it includes every green narrative talking point about the evils of natural gas pipelines. I simply do not have the time or the stomach to deal with rebutting it. Fair warning here is a link to an article from City Limit describing how critics argue that the approval of a major gas pipeline running through much of upstate New York shows how the state’s commitment to its climate goals is waning. Vinny Gambini sums it up.
Electricity Bills are Going Up
The Journal News reports that 1.3 million New Yorkers are in utility arrears, and ratepayers, advocates and lawmakers are all recommending action amid their frustration. What is absolutely necessary for understanding why the electricity bills are going up is a clear, transparent, and well documented description of the costs, emission reductions, realistic implementation schedules, and expected revenue streams for the strategies proposed to meet the Climate Act mandates. The utility companies are burying many costs imposed on them by the lawmakers.
Energy Choices Review
Thomas Shepstone describes a new report out by ARC Research does a beautiful job setting out a rationale discission of energy issues against the shrill cries of climate cultists. It’s titled “The Choices We Face, Energy for the 21st Century: A Declaration of Guiding Principles.” Authors Mike Mills and Dr. Scott Tinker argue that the transition away from fossil fuels is driven by climate policy concerns and make the point that: “Notwithstanding the certainties and uncertainties around climate issues, the principles of the physics of energy are independent of climate science.” They go on to argue: “Because energy is foundational for civilization, as a guide for framing civil dialogue and deep thinking around the energy-environment balance, we propose herein nine energy principles, three each in three domains—Economics, Politics, and Science and Technology.” The guiding principles are:
- Lifting up those in poverty to alleviate suffering and promote human dignity requires more energy.
- Human flourishing requires more energy that is less expensive and more reliable, not less energy that is more expensive and less reliable.
- In the pursuit of flourishing, humans continually invent new products and services, all of which necessarily use energy.
- Energy security is a top priority for global leaders, revealed in their actions, if not always their words.
- When wealthy economies export energy production, they impose environmental impacts on less-wealthy nations.
- Government mandates and/or excessive intrusion in markets stifles energy innovation, options, and freedoms.
- Capturing and delivering energy to society is about inventing, building, and perfecting technologies based on what physics and engineering allow.
- All society-scale energy systems have environmental trade-offs.
- The energy available in nature itself is fundamentally unlimited.
This is a useful summary of what New York energy policy should be discussing instead of its monomaniacal concentration on aspirational climate change mitigation.
Pragmatic Environmentalist of New York 