Uh-oh. This is gonna leave a mark. On Joe Biden, the Democrat Party, and the wingnut crazies of the “existential threat of our time,” that is. Popcorn time, you rational, independent-thinking RedStaters, you.
As the histrionic “green energy” drive on the looney left continues to spin out of control with reckless abandon, Reuters now reports that the European Union — of all smug, clueless organizations — has drawn up plans to label at least some natural gas and nuclear energy projects as “green” investments after a year-long battle between governments over which investments are truly climate-friendly and which are not.
EU drafts plan to label gas and nuclear investments as green https://t.co/OVMfnKA9ru pic.twitter.com/xXiwl65Yv5
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 1, 2022
So here’s the scoop — part of it, anyway.
Europe, like the rest of the world, has been struggling to meet the nonsensical “green energy” goals demanded and agreed to during last year’s ridiculous UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Incidentally, while Biden crowed about the summit, even CBS News blistered it as “failed,” as we reported in November. As we also reported, China mocked Biden for his “weakness” in kowtowing to the crazy.
Fossil fuel analysts in the industry warned at the time that full conversion to wind and solar power and the total abandonment of fossil fuels would be a disaster — unable to produce sufficient energy to meet demands. “Shockingly,” the experts’ warnings proved true when Germany, one of the agreement’s signatories, was forced in April to restart coal-fired plants after the lights started going out at night, as reported by Blackout News (in German).
Due to the government-mandated coal phase-out, 11 coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 4.7 GW were shut down on January 1, 2021. But the coal phase-out ended up lasting only 8 days, after which several power plants had to be reconnected to the grid due to a prolonged low-wind period.
Bummer, huh? And who knew the wind didn’t blow 24×7, 365 days a year? [Rolling-eyes emoji]
So Germany learned its lesson. Just kidding. Check out this tweet from Saturday:
Today, Germany will retire the most productive nuclear reactor in the world, along with two others. Germany also burns more coal than any other country in Europe. The UK is right to choose a different path.
Auch der lieber!
Today, Germany will retire the most productive nuclear reactor in the world, along with two others. Germany also burns more coal than any other country in Europe. The UK is right to choose a different path. #netzeroneedsnuclearhttps://t.co/00uWSdhp5x
— Nuclear Industry Association (@NIAUK) December 31, 2021
Here’s a bit of background, via Reuters.
The European Commission is expected to propose rules in January deciding whether gas and nuclear projects will be included in the EU “sustainable finance taxonomy”.
This is a list of economic activities and the environmental criteria they must meet to be labeled as green investments.
By restricting the “green” label to truly climate-friendly projects, the system aims to make those investments more attractive to private capital, and stop “greenwashing”, where companies or investors overstate their eco-friendly credentials.
Brussels has also made moves to apply the system to some EU funding, meaning the rules could decide which projects are eligible for certain public finance.
Reuters said it has seen a draft of the commission’s proposal, which would label nuclear power plant investments as “green” if a project has a plan, funds, and a site to safely dispose of radioactive waste. New nuclear plants — to be deemed “green” — must receive construction permits before 2045.
Investments in natural gas power plants would also be deemed green if they produce emissions below 270g of CO2 equivalent per kilowatt-hour (kWh) — I have no idea how to interpret that — and replace a more-polluting fossil fuel plant, in addition to receiving a construction permit by Dec. 31, 2030, and plan to switch to low-carbon gases by the end of 2035.
OK so we get the need to reverse course — we got it before the silly climate summit agreements were announced — but how does the ever-smug EU justify its plan among the looney tunes on the left? Easy: it slapped an “acceptable” label on the plan, as Reuters noted — transitional.
Gas and nuclear power generation would be labeled green on the grounds that they are “transitional” activities — defined as those that are not fully sustainable, but which have emissions below industry average and do not lock in polluting assets.
The EU said in a statement, per Reuters:
Taking account of scientific advice and current technological progress as well as varying transition challenges across member states, the Commission considers there is a role for natural gas and nuclear as a means to facilitate the transition towards a predominantly renewable-based future.
Here’s the thing, as even the irrelevant independent left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore suggested in April 2020 in reference to the documentary Planet of the Humans: So-called “green” energy is neither “green” nor energy.
Meanwhile, somewhere in La Mancha, the ghost of Don Quixote tips at windmills.
Related on RedState:
What Happens When BLM and Greenpeace Team Up? ‘Fossil Fuel Racism’
Hapless John Kerry Brags About New ‘Green Energy’ Auto Jobs… in Mexico
Even Michael Moore Now Knows: ‘Green Energy’ – Is Neither Green Nor Energy
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