We are not ready for renewable energy
How do you put 11,000 workers out of work in one day? With a pen. President Biden did exactly that with his pen. Using an executive proclamation, he ended the Keystone XL pipeline — a 1,200-mile pipeline system that was projected to carry crude oil from Canada to the U.S.
As a side note, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad transports 500,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada to the U.S. Warren Buffet owns BNSF. Cenovus (a Canadian oil company) stated that it costs $7 to $10 per barrel by pipeline versus $15 to $18 by train. Bloomberg had published research showing that trains could expect to carry 125,000 more barrels of Canadian crude each day (a 40% increase) if the Keystone XL was scrapped. Follow the money.
Greenhouse gas emissions increase up to 77% when using trains to ship oil instead of pipelines. The spill rate for hazardous material transported by rail is 33 times higher than pipelines. The Frazier Institute stated that between 2011 and 2013, 99.99 % of crude oil and petroleum products shipped via pipeline arrived safely at their destination.
There is no way to turn off fossil fuels and turn on renewable energy any time in the near future. President Biden is catering to radical environmentalists without thinking about the fallout of this order. It is just not the pipeline jobs that will be lost, but there will be a substantial economic “ripple effect” producing further job losses in associated goods and service industries, stores, and businesses and lost revenues to states, local governments and school systems — a total of $1.6 billion.
If Biden suspends new and existing oil and gas leasing on federal lands, by 2022 1 million jobs would be lost. Texas would lose 120,000 jobs while New Mexico would lose 62,000 and Wyoming would lose 33,000, claims the Austin AmericanStatesman newspaper.
On inauguration day, oil was at $53.24 a barrel. Since Biden was made president oil is over $60.00 a barrel.
We are not ready for renewable energy. Solar is still too expensive and does little to help the people who live in the northern part of the country. Windmills can only be used when the wind blows, and they are a danger to birds. Windmills only last about 25 years and then need to be decommissioned at a cost of over $400,000 each. There are about 60,000 windmills in service today and it is expected that this number will double in the next few years. Who is going to pay this cost?
Another downside to renewable energy can be seen in Texas. The windmills were frozen and the solar panels were covered with snow and ice, plus there was no sun. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the rolling power outages that affected millions of residents enduring bitter cold underscores the continued need for fossil fuels.
Doesn’t President Biden realize that fossil fuel will still be needed to produce the energy to supply electricity to electric cars? The average electric vehicle requires 30 kilowatt hours to travel 100 miles. This is the same amount of electricity an average American home uses each day. A U.S. Department of Energy study found that energy consumption can increase 38% by 2050 due to electric vehicles.
Instead of being energy independent, we will again bow down to Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries that hate us. We were energy independent under President Trump.