Ep. 186 What Really Happened With the Texas Power Grid
Since the deep freeze in February caused millions of Texas homes to lose their power, partisans have been fighting over the blame. The governor blamed wind turbines and the green agenda, whereas Paul Krugman said the fault was with natural gas. Bob shows the numbers; natural gas was to blame only in the sense that nobody expected wind to be useful during a winter crisis.
Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:
- Bob’s article at Mises.org, which gives links to all the relevant sources.
- The Foundations of IBC.
- Help support the Bob Murphy Show.
The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.
About the author, Robert
Christian and economist, Chief Economist at infineo, and Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute.
Bob, a question.
I keep hearing a bunch of my friends casually throwing out that “solar and wind are way cheaper than fossil fuels now,” and rolling their eyes at anyone who disagrees. These people tend to be very liberal, and I’m skeptical if they have their facts right.
How do pro renewable people come up with their “cheap” numbers? Is it solar in the summer in Arizona only? Or do they conveniently forget that you’d need tons of battery storage to provide base load around the clock and in all conditions?
How do the prices compare in terms of capacity?
Hi “Not Bob,” try IER’s stuff on levelized costs. Here’s a post that links to a study.
Thanks, “Bob”
I find many people are quite capable of maintaining three simultaneous ideas:
* You are a better person if you make this sacrifice for the good of the planet and go with solar and wind.
* Solar and wind are cheaper and work better, therefore we should pick those and profit.
* Government subsidies must never be taken away … the decision is too important to be left up to individuals.
This episode is so great, upon relistening. Bob so cleanly dissects the (K)ontradictions of the Windpower Zealot narrative. <3
I suppose the innumerate will just get glazed eyes at such a presentation, but Bob is irrefultable, unstoppable here.
I should edit down a 1-minute version for my attention-deficit friends.