Seems that Californians relate energy just to electricity and believe pursuit of intermittent renewable electricity from wind and solar will save California and the world. Unlike France, Californians are supportive of the 12-cent gas tax to fund infrastructure improvements and other emissions crusade cost. Thus, it’s unlikely, for now, that California will follow France in their revolt of high costs associated with the emission crusade.
Californians seem to be oblivious to the fact that 100% of the industries that use fossil fuels to “make products and move things” to support the economies around the world are increasing their usage each year, not decreasing it. The world has become accustomed to the lifestyles provided by elaborate infrastructures and military that support the prosperity of growing populations that are all based on fossil fuels.
Even though it’s been more than a decade since the passage of AB32, California remains as the most environmentally regulated location in the world, yet California still contributes a miniscule less than one percent, and has had little to no impact on the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions.
California household users are paying more than 40% more, and industrial users are paying more than 100% than the national average for electricity according to 2018 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Continuation of that emissions crusade at the expense of our 40 million citizens, and continued funding for the High Speed train, will further fuel the growth of our homelessness and poverty populations. In addition, Californians continue to pay almost $1.00 more per gallon of fuel than the rest of the country.
Since electricity alone has not, and will not, run the economies in the world without major lifestyle changes, as electricity alone is unable to support the military, airlines, cruise ships, supertankers, container shipping, and trucking infrastructures. Nor can electricity from wind and solar provide the 6,000 products from petroleum that are part of every transportation infrastructure, electricity generation, cooling, heating, manufacturing, agriculture, and virtually every product used in our daily and leisurely lifestyles. Until electricity storage technology can support intermittent electricity from wind and solar, the world will continue to have redundant fossil fuel backups for those windless and cloudy days to provide 24/7 electricity to the economy.
Interestingly, the primary economic reasons refineries even exist is to manufacture the aviation, diesel, and gasoline fuels for our military and transportation industries nationwide. It may be shocking to most, but there are no economic reasons JUST to manufacture the other “stuff” of chemicals and by-products from crude oil that are the basis of 6,000 products from petroleum that are part of every infrastructure and virtually everything in our daily and leisurely lifestyles.
Currently, all these industries are increasing their needs for fossil fuels to “make products and move things” each year, not decreasing.
- The airline industry with 23,000 commercial airplanes that accommodates 4 billion passengers annually that takes us anywhere in the world is consuming more than 225 million gallons of aviation fuels EVERY DAY to move almost 10 million passengers and other things every day, and increasing every year.
- The cruise liner industry with 300 cruise liners that use around 80,000 gallons of fuel per day, per liner, to accommodate 25 million passengers annually, is increasing every year.
- As a side note, the billions of vehicle trips to and from airports, hotels, ports, and amusement parks is increasing each year.
- The 52,000 merchant ships that move products around the world. In California alone, imports and exports monthly, amount to $50 billion dollars of products. Merchant ship usage is increasing every year.
- The usage of the 6,000 products from petroleum that are now being made with the chemicals and by-products of oil, is increasing each year.
The state’s love affair with wind and solar continues to drive up the cost of electricity, and importing crude oil from foreign countries at the rate of more than 354 million barrels annually at a cost of $60 million dollars a day drives up the cost of everything in Californians’ lifestyles. While many people have bought into the fantasy that California is a world leader in energy, it’s pure delusion.
It’s time to stop forecasting the demise of the world from GHG’s and paying dearly for the emissions crusade, and start developing plans to either change lifestyles to reduce GHG’s, or start focusing on continuous improvements in efficiencies to extend the availability of fossil fuels for thousands of years.