* Isabel asked Gov. Pritzker today about how President Trump has canceled wind, solar and EV subsidies and has apparently agreed to pay a French company a billion taxpayer dollars not to build an off-shore wind farm and instead invest in fossil fuels. With energy prices rising during the war with Iran, Isabel wanted to know his reaction…
We need energy policies that actually support people, affordability, making sure that people can both preserve the environment, because lots of individuals out there in the world really want to do the right thing. And also we all collectively, I think, want to make sure that we’re preserving our planet, and electrification is an important part of that. This President obviously had some problem with electrification. It may have something to do with his dementia. He doesn’t understand that the world has changed and that we need to address this problem, and adding more fossil fuel pollution to the environment is very negative for not just us who are living in this moment, but also for our children, our grandchildren are going to have to live with the consequences of the policies that he’s rolled back. So meanwhile, here in the state of Illinois, we’re doing everything we can with the resources that we have to promote electrification and to promote clean energy, build more clean energy. Those are the things that I’ve been focused on, and I think will help us bring down costs for average families.
A much simpler response would’ve been: Spiking petroleum energy prices during yet another war in the most volatile part of the world clearly show why we need to diversify our own power supply, not narrow it. But, whatevs. He loves running up his word-counts.
* Pritzker did talk about Iran later…
And, you know, as was mentioned earlier, when oil prices and gas prices are going up, it hurts everybody, especially hurts people who live in rural areas, who have to travel by car much farther than everybody else [and that] costs and more. Who’s done that? Donald Trump. Donald Trump decided to go to war with Iran. They did not come after us. It was a decision by him to go after them, and we’re now in this war. I know he’s saying that there’s some kind of negotiation with Iranians, or denying that any of that is happening. And indeed, after he made that announcement, they attacked. So doesn’t seem like there actually is a peace that’s being talked about. But we need to get out of Iran. We need to get out of that conflict right now, in part because we need to bring our economy back, because he’s going to take us into a recession.
But he didn’t close the circle on energy diversification.
- Dotnonymous x - Tuesday, Mar 24, 26 @ 1:28 pm:
What do the masters of oil wars want the world to run on…besides oil?
- Dotnonymous x - Tuesday, Mar 24, 26 @ 1:34 pm:
- We need to get out of that conflict right now, in part because we need to bring our economy back, because he’s going to take us into a recession.-
Capitalism is a boom and bust system…and that would be yet another “Recession”, or more accurately, a “bust out.”
- JB13 - Tuesday, Mar 24, 26 @ 1:51 pm:
“Energy diversification” is a commendable goal shared by true capitalists. Let the market decide which forms are truly desired and economically sustainable.
But “energy diversification” is *not* the goal of anyone who wish to use taxes, regulations, military or police force, or any other machination of government to force people to use only one preferred source of energy
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Mar 24, 26 @ 1:54 pm:
===But “energy diversification” is *not* the goal of anyone who wish to use taxes, regulations, military or police force, or any other machination of government to force people to use only one preferred source of energy===
Which is exactly what the president is doing now with fossil fuels.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Mar 24, 26 @ 2:06 pm:
= Let the market decide which forms are truly desired and economically sustainable.=
So you agree that we should stop subsidizing the oil and coal industries in the US right?
When Ag, Oil, Coal, Wind, and Solar are all heavily subsidized the market isn’t really deciding much. The government is.
People have to realize that our country and economy are not “capitalist” in the Adam Smith sense. We are a hybrid version of socialist with a market driven economy. The two can and do coexist. Politicians and ownership scream about subsidies and socialism when someone else is being subsidized, but they love it when they are being subsidized.
More to the post, energy diversification is an intelligent policy for economic and national defense reasons. The lessons learned during the OPEC embargo of the 70’s have long been forgotten. But that event was the catalyst for energy conservation efforts, especially efforts to increase fuel efficiency in vehicles. An intelligent administration would encourage the growth of any source of energy and improved fuel efficiency to protect us from wild energy fluctuation like we are experiencing now. INstead the current admin is removing or reducing energy option and fuel efficiency standards. That weakens our country in many ways.
- Archpundit - Tuesday, Mar 24, 26 @ 2:07 pm:
—Let the market decide which forms are truly desired and economically sustainable.
The United States has subsidized fossil fuels for nearly 70 years and starting in 2016 renewables including biofuels so not just wind, solar, and geothermal, started to receive more subsidies than do fossil fuels. Tell me more about how markets have ever decided what people use in the United States.
Fossil fuels are damaging the planet and future generations will pay for your cheap oil–though I’ve looked at my home insurance increases and I’m already paying.
- Norseman - Tuesday, Mar 24, 26 @ 2:08 pm:
Agreed. Too long and not sharp enough. I’d have gone with:
- Dotnonymous x - Tuesday, Mar 24, 26 @ 2:14 pm:
- The United States has subsidized fossil fuels for nearly 70 years… -
The masters of oil wars have subsidized fossil fuels for nearly 70 years.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Mar 24, 26 @ 2:23 pm:
The same folks that have decided that climate change and or man made climate change is not a thing or if it is a thing aren’t worried about a few degrees of warming or the very wealthy people who have convinced folks to not care certainly aren’t going to be aware of the effects of blood bicarbonate and certainly haven’t considered that at some point in the next several decades blood bicarbonate will be so high in everyone it is beyond what we’ve considered a healthy range in medicine.
===It may have something to do with his dementia===
Nice to have these allegations be made.