Are Jones St. GOPers giving NC its very own Green New Deal?

 

That’s what appears to be happening with HB 951,  which passed the GOP-controlled House and is sitting in the GOP-controlled Senate.  (If you click on the aforementioned link, you’ll see that a number of members of the so-called House Freedom Caucus voted for this mess.  Word is that Timmy was running around promising the moon to every member of the GOP caucus in exchange for their votes.  *It’s so nice to see the House GOP putting their self-interests and lobbyist cash ahead of what’s best for their constituents and the state.*)

HB 951 is a boon for Duke Energy and a bunch of left-wing groups.  (It’s not so great for those of us paying electric bills.)

Legislative Republicans have already given the solar goons ONE BILLION DOLLARS.  

There are little to no state solar regulations in place, and the solar industry has not actually HAD to PROVE their product is an actual benefit to consumers / taxpayers.

HB 951 gives the solar goons even more taxpayer-funded goodies, and further waters down what local regulations do exist.  The original version of 951 called for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) — a beefing up of nuclear energy resources.  The current bill seriously downplays SMRs.  The lobbyists and activists who wrote the bill want the expensive windmills and solar panels, not nuclear power facilities.   The current bill says money “may be” spent on nuclear, not that it “will be” spent.  Talk about weasel words.

It talks about shuttering SIX coal-fired plants.  The experts and resources I’ve consulted tell me it’s “technically impossible” to replace a coal plant with just wind and / or solar.  Solar does you little good on an overcast day.  Wind power is no help on a day without a breeze.  These are better supplements than they are primary resources.

A lot of the arguments for the bill are based on saving us from “climate change.”  There is little to no evidence, my experts and resources tell me, that wind and solar have any significant effect on “climate change.”  (There is actually some chance there of wind and solar making climate change WORSE.)

Siting wind and solar facilities has been, for years, left up to the state’s 100 counties. HB 951 doesn’t really change that much.  (An amendment to give counties and their citizens even more say on the siting of these “clean energy” facilities got shot down by legislators.)   There is still no plan out there for the safe disposal of solar panels when their useful life ends.  And nothing in this 50-plus page bill makes a case for this big switch to solar and wind being a net benefit to the state’s consumers.

Expert analysis predicts North Carolina taxpayers will have to shell out an additional ONE BILLION DOLLARS to prop up these wind and solar facilities.

Folks, the alleged conservative majority is about to slap us with a HUGE, unexpected bill for this stuff.  They are getting their pockets stuffed with cash,  while our electric bills get bigger.  There is no real proof that solar and wind will save consumers money.  Based on experiences in Europe,  it will bleed all of us dry.  Empty our wallets.  Especially with solar panels, we are likely to see more environmental problems than constructive solutions.  This has been an economic and environmental nightmare EVERYWHERE it has been tried.

These people still have to pass a budget.  These people could be working on election reform.  2022 will be here before we know it.   But once again, all the solar goon cash wins over our alleged “representatives.”

Our only hope is to get to the Senate.  Find your senator and tell him or her to vote this sucker down.  Or to at least put a lot more protections for the rest of us in there.  HB 951 says it is about “modernization” but it is really about putting more money in the pockets of monied interests.