There’s an advantage living next to California. It provides an object lesson of how not to run a state.
News broke on Monday that a huge algae bloom turned San Francisco Bay brown and was killing lots and lots of fish. Local scientists, of course, first blamed “climate change” – the vague catch-all used to explain away incompetent governance, short-sighted policies, and probably male pattern baldness.
As it turned out, the algae bloom was fueled by excessive amounts of unprocessed human urine and fecal matter dumped into the bay, thanks to San Francisco’s woefully out-of-date wastewater treatment system.
Politicians refuse to modernize the crucial infrastructure because of the multibillion-dollar price tag. Most of the rest of America hasn’t had a problem updating their facilities, but California seems fine to keep polluting the bay. Perhaps they need those tax dollars to clean human waste from San Francisco’s streets.
California can’t provide enough electricity
That story didn’t dominate the national news since a worse infrastructure-caused calamity hit the failed state on Tuesday. Sacramento politicians, of course, still blamed “climate change” for the lack of reliable energy. Who could have predicted summer would be hot?
Once again, like the past few summers, California is unable to provide electricity to its citizens.
Last month, California banned future sales of gas-powered vehicles. This week, they instructed citizens not to charge their electric cars.
“CA is experiencing an unprecedented heatwave. This will be the hottest & longest on record for September,” Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted. “Our energy grid is being pushed to its max. The risk of outages is real. We need everyone to double down to save energy after 4pm today.”
Oddly, the governor made the announcement wearing a snug fleece jacket; his office is apparently kept downright chilly.
The state imports power from Arizona
Newsom is certainly a big believer in catastrophic climate change requiring humanity to blade over acres of virgin desert for solar panel farms and erect hundreds of bird-slicing windmills.
The problem with both is that they’re expensive and unreliable. Which explains why California fired up several aging gas-burning plants to make up the difference.
A far more efficient energy source is nuclear, but Newsom bragged for years about shutting down Diablo Canyon, the last reactor in the state. Thankfully, cooler heads in Sacramento prevailed this week and extended the plant’s operation by five years.
Importing nuclear energy from Arizona is fine, though. California interests own more than a quarter of Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. This helps make the once-golden state the top energy importer in the US
“Not in my back yard” might as well be the state motto.
It’s hard to reconcile Sacramento’s paeans to the environment while waste pours into San Francisco Bay, rusty gas-fired plants pollute the sky, and citizens opt for their old pickup truck since the Tesla’s out of juice.
Why, it’s as if California’s leaders have no idea what they’re doing. (Crazy talk, I know.)
Seize this moment with next-gen nuclear plants
The opportunity for Arizona is clear, if only our leaders are willing to seize it.
The US Department of Energy is supporting research and development on several innovative reactors that will provide clean, carbon-free energy with less expense and even higher safety standards.
Designs such as the Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor, Very High Temperature Reactor, and Molten Salt Reactor promise efficient power production for decades to come. The last design even repurposes waste from current reactors, solving two problems at once.
By all means, California can keep doubling down on renewables. But when those options fail to keep the lights on, they can import excess power from Arizona’s next-generation nuclear plants.
That allows Sacramento politicians to brag about their 1970s-era “no nukes” pose while Arizona leads the energy sector into a sustainable, and profitable, future.
Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Republic and azcentral.com. On Twitter: @exjon.
Comments are closed.