Climate scolds and "green" energy proponents have been fooling some of the people all the time, but they are finding that they can't fool all of the people all of the time. Even the people they can fool some of the time are being fooled less often. As evidence, we take note of how many "green" energy boondoggles around the world are being rejected by voters and by local governments.

That's good for our modern lifestyles. It's good for the economies of the places that are kicking these boondoggles to the curb. And in the end, it's even good for the environment. An editorial at Issues & Insights has some specifics:

The net-zero zealots want to force a worldwide renewable energy transition. But they don’t always get their way. Their fanciful projects have been blocked more than 1,000 times globally. In a world seemingly gone mad, this is welcome news.

“The total number of alt-energy rejections or restrictions now exceeds 1,000 — it’s 1,011 to be exact,” says energy author Robert Bryce, who operates a database that shows 814 U.S rejections of solar, wind and battery projects. Add those to others across the world and the total exceeds a grand.

“The rejections keep coming,” says Bryce. “Since the beginning of May, a provincial government in Queensland has rejected an enormous wind project, a county board in Illinois spiked a solar project, and a district council in East Devon (England) vetoed a battery project.”

When officials asked residents for comments on the proposed $1 billion, 450-megawatt project wind project included battery storage in Queensland, Australia, 142 responded, reports Bryce, and 88% opposed it.

This is a clear sign that these schemes are increasingly being seen for what they are: Expensive, unreliable, bad for the economy, bad for the environment, and did I mention expensive? On Monday, we reported that of all of the various energy sources, the two primary "renewable" energy sources, wind and solar, scored dead last in every metric, including cost, cleanliness, and reliability. 

See Also: Pros and Cons: An Analysis of Energy Sources

As for the "green" part of the claims around these technologies, that is, as we have seen and will see again, the purest of horse squeeze. Issues & Insights has some specifics here, as well:

Though it’s hyped as an eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuel and nuclear energy, renewable energy doesn’t have a harmonious relationship with nature. Wind and solar projects destroy animal habitats, require deforestation, and convert farms and pristine open fields into industrial zones. When solar farms are sited in the desert, far from population centers and human activity, they break up the crust that binds soil and absorbs carbon dioxide. Offshore wind developments disturb coastal marine ecosystems.

Renewables also stomp out massive land footprints, due to their low energy density. For instance, solar and wind power require roughly 40 to 50 times more space than coal plants and 90 to 100 times more land than natural gas facilities, researchers say.

That's not something you see the Green New Deal advocates and the climate scolds factoring into their claims; they also don't count the dead eagles, and just the aesthetic damage these huge, ugly installations cause. Plenty of us live out in the environment because it's beautiful; we want it to stay that way, without having enormous windmills and fields of solar panels cluttering up the landscape.

See Also: The Latest Gambit From the Climate Scolds: Blackouts Are Good!

Here in the United States, we are seeing a major turnaround in energy policy. In the latest move, the Trump administration is opening up Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve for the development of its natural gas and oil resources. That's 13 million acres of mostly tundra, which contains enormous reserves.

"Congress was clear: the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska was set aside to support America’s energy security through responsible development," (Secretary of the Interior Doug) Burgum said in a statement. "The 2024 rule ignored that mandate, prioritizing obstruction over production and undermining our ability to harness domestic resources at a time when American energy independence has never been more critical. We're restoring the balance and putting our energy future back on track."

Sanity is returning to the United States and the world. There are and will be niche applications where technology like wind and solar power is viable. Here in the Great Land, people living off-grid often depend on a combination of solar, battery, and diesel generators for power, and in an Alaska summer, with 20+ hours of daylight, that can work out pretty well. But on the grid, those methods aren't reliable; not on that scale. The very fact that solar and wind power require government subsidies speaks volumes.

Now those boondoggles are being rejected. People are, as we used to say back in the day, getting hip to the scam. That's a trend we hope to see accelerating.