Mein Gott, part deux ...

A pond correspondent wondered whether there was a part II to Mein Gott's musings and indeed there was, with the pond now offering it in a late arvo slot, Wake up, US energy policy set to change the world, The new US Energy Secretary Chris Wright plans to change world energy strategies. Australia is in grave risk of being left behind in what will be a gas plus technology driven world.

The pond will run it largely unannotated, what with the chief annotation being that the planet is comprehensively fucked ... and what follows will help fuck it further, if that's possible, given it's level of fuckedness ...

The tone was set with a standard reptile reference to "zealots", courtesy of Sky Noise down under ... (she's blonde, that always helps) ... Sky News host Danica De Giorgio criticised the renewable energy “zealots”, including Minister Chris Bowen, for their "obsession" with keeping the "dying fantasy" of renewables alive. “It's as if they have been completely brainwashed, and it's all at the expense of households,” Ms De Giorgio said. Ms De Giorgio went on to describe Mr Bowen as the "bozo in charge of the mess", for continuing to peddle the "nonsense" that renewables are the cheapest and most reliable option. “How is this bloke still there? How does he have a job?” she said. “The biggest threat to reliability and the biggest threat to blackouts is Chris Bowen himself. “Not only is he continuing to peddle this nonsense about renewables being the cheapest option – he's continuing to lie to us – claiming they are the most reliable.”

The pond has already noted that Danica is a Master of Ceremonies as well as a rocket scientist and expert climatologist ... so enough of alll that ...

Mein Gott started with a cry ... Wake up Australia! 

But if we wake up, would we not be woke?

Then it was on for woke young and old ...

The new US Energy Secretary Chris Wright plans to change world energy strategies. Australia is in grave risk of being left behind in what will be a gas and technology driven world.
Wright, who is the American equivalent of Australia’s Energy Minister Chris Bowen, provides a low-emissions energy strategy that Australia will need to embrace to be globally competitive and maintain living standards. US energy policies have left Americans in a similar situation to Australians, with more than 20 per cent of Americans struggling to pay their energy bills and 10 per cent receiving a disconnection notice in the past 12 months.
Wright: “I am a climate realist. I’ve been studying, speaking and writing about climate change for over 20 years.
“Climate change is a global physical phenomenon that is a side effect of building the modern world.
“We have indeed raised global atmospheric CO2 concentration by 50 per cent in the process of more than doubling human life expectancy, lifting … almost all of the world’s citizens out of grinding poverty, launching modern medicine, telecommunications, planes, trains and automobiles too. Everything in life involves trade-offs. Everything.

Muh lud, contrary views from an authoritarian contrarian ...

Sure enough, talk is cheap, and actions speak louder than gaseous blather ...

Graudian it here, and as for that WaPo yarn (paywall, where democracy dies in a billionaire darkness) ...

The United States, under President Donald Trump, is withdrawing from a pair of global programs it had once deemed crucial for curtailing fossil fuels and dealing with the consequences of climate change.

In a letter obtained by The Washington Post, the United States said it is withdrawing from a board overseeing a fund for vulnerable countries hit by climate disasters. That “loss and damage” fund had stemmed from a hard-won diplomatic agreement reached in 2023.

Separately, a treasury spokesperson said the United States is pulling out of a global climate finance program — known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) — that seeks to help several large developing countries move away from fossil fuels, particularly coal.

The treasury spokesperson said the move was consistent with Trump’s executive order putting “America first in international environmental agreements.” The spokesperson said the United States would “continue to engage with partner countries on energy and investment issues of common interest.”

“The impacts on developing countries are huge” from the U.S. retreat, said Richard Sherman, a South African who co-chairs the loss and damage board.

Neither move comes as a surprise, given that Trump had already enacted major cuts to climate spending and research and had ordered the United States to withdraw from the Paris agreement. The United States also blocked scientists from attending a key global climate event in February.

But the latest steps heighten the challenge for the rest of the world, where the costs of addressing climate change continue to rise — without meaningful financial contributions from the largest economy.

“By turning its back on international climate financing, the U.S. is failing its moral obligation as a historic polluter, abandoning the global community and shirking its share of our collective responsibility,” said Namrata Chowdhary, the chief of public engagement for 350.org, a climate advocacy group.

Never mind, a good gassing will fix what ails ya ...

“Natural gas today supplies 25 per cent of global primary energy and has been the fastest-growing source of energy over the last 15 years.
“Wind and solar, the darlings of the last administration and so much of the world today, supply roughly 3 per cent of global primary energy.
“Everywhere wind and solar penetrations have increased significantly, prices on the grid went up and stability of the grid went down. Is this pathway really going to put natural gas in the rear-view mirror?
“Nitrogen fertilisers, synthesising natural gas, is responsible for fully half of global food production. Natural gas is the largest source of home heating in the US. It is central to the rapidly growing petrochemical industry and the largest supplier of processed heat for manufacturing steel, cement, countless metals, gypsum, semiconductors, polysilicon and thousands of other materials. Oh yes, and natural gas is also responsible for 43 per cent of US electricity.”

As for the man Mein Gott is devoted to, the reptiles offered a snap, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright at the S& P (sic) Global energy conference in Houston, Texas. Picture: AFP

Then it was on with the solutions, accompanied by Mein Gott's vision:

Here are Wright’s long-term solutions (followed by my adaptation to Australia):

1. Advance energy addition, not subtraction:

“Going forward, my department’s goal will be to unleash the great abundance of American energy required to power modern life and to achieve a durable state of American energy dominance.”

2. Unleash American energy innovation:

“US research and development efforts will prioritise affordable, reliable, and secure energy technologies, including fossil fuels, advanced nuclear, geothermal and hydropower. The US must also prioritise true technological breakthroughs – such as nuclear fusion, high-performance computing, quantum computing, and AI – to maintain America’s global competitiveness.”

(That's the Bjorn-again one's line. More money for research, research until the cows come home, a pity that the chainsaw man is cutting funding for research)

3. Return to regular order on LNG exports:

“America is blessed with abundant energy resources – we are the world’s top oil and gas producer and a net energy exporter for the first time in decades. Our energy abundance is an asset, not a liability. On January 20, the US resumed consideration of pending applications to export American liquefied natural gas to countries without a free-trade agreement with the US.”

Gas the planet! No need for a firing squad when you can do a good gassing ...

4. Promote affordability and consumer choice in home appliances:

“A top US priority will be to ensure that American families can choose from a range of affordable home appliances and products. My department will initiate a comprehensive review of the DOE Appliance Standards Program. Any standards should include a cost-benefit analysis considering the upfront cost of purchasing new products and reflecting actual cost savings for American families.”

5. Refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve:

“The SPR is a national asset that protects our security in times of crisis. It must be refilled. Unfortunately, the SPR is currently at historically low levels. We will not permit this to become a new status quo.”

6. Modernise America’s nuclear stockpile:

“We urgently need to modernise the nation’s nuclear weapons systems. My department will continue its critical mission of protecting our national security and nuclear deterrence in the development, modernisation and stewardship of America’s atomic weapons enterprise, including the peaceful use of nuclear technology and non-proliferation.”

For some reason, the reptiles decided to interrupt with a snap ... The shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant stands in the middle of the Susquehanna River, near Middletown, Pennsylvania. Picture: AFP

Was it intended as a not so covert warning of the rampant stupidity on view? Who knows, but by this time, the pond had run out of annotation strength, and just wanted it over and done. The planet's fucked, and the mango Mussolini and his minions will help fuck it more ...

7. Unleash commercial nuclear power in the US:

“The long-awaited American nuclear renaissance must launch during President Trump’s administration. As global energy demand continues to grow, America must lead the commercialisation of affordable and abundant nuclear energy. As such, the department will work diligently and creatively to enable the rapid deployment and export of next-generation nuclear technology.”

8. Strengthen grid reliability and security:

“Fortifying America’s electric grid is critical to the reliable and secure delivery of electricity. Under President Trump’s Executive Order, “Declaring a National Energy Emergency”, the department will identify and exercise all lawful authorities to strengthen the nation’s grid, including the backbone of the grid, our transmission system. Moreover, after two decades of very slow demand growth, electricity demand is forecast to soar in the coming years.”

9. Streamline permitting and identify undue burdens on American energy:

“The US will prioritise more efficient permitting to enable private sector investments and build the energy infrastructure needed to make energy more affordable, reliable and secure.”

Now to Australia... 

... which is to say, now to some Mein Gott renewables bashing, and some gas loving ...

...We have erected many remote renewable facilities that, like those in the US and Europe, have proved to be very costly when transmission lines plus replacement and restoration costs are included.
We need to make them more efficient by combining them with natural gas “turn-off, turn-on” power, which (like the US) we can also use to replace coal.
Beetaloo in the Northern Territory can do the job, augmented by Victoria’s large low-cost reserves, which require electoral defeat of the ALP state government to gain access.
Given the US and parts of Europe are returning to nuclear, Australia’s ban on this carbon-free energy source makes no sense. But we should only use it where the sums make sense.
We can use these twin strategies to slash emissions, avoid brownouts and, without current unaffordable subsidies, reduce power bills.

Strange. 

There was a hands-down chance for Mein Gott to nuke the country to save the planet, run out an SMR dreaming, and the best he could offer was a caveat?

...we should only use it where the sums make sense.

The sums don't make sense, so we shouldn't use it?

We should rely on gassing the planet with a fossil fuel instead?

Yep, the planet's fucked, and for some reason the reptiles decided to end with another snap, The first of two new Origin Energy appraisal wells to be drilled and fracture stimulated to help determine the potential of the resource in the Beetaloo Basin.

The pond would rather end with a 'toon ...

Sorry poley bear, the tip is all you've got, that and the consolation of listening to the loons cry as you sink into the sea ...

Update: in the pond's previous Mein Gott outing, there was a mention of TDS ... and just as with Mein Gott, there was a part II... and why is the pond not surprised?

So, as Kurt Vonnegut noted endlessly, it goes ...