Oh, please, stop, you’re just embarrassing yourselves at this point, Warmists
Solar has taken off in red states. Trump’s funding freeze is causing panic
Mike Mullett strains to see through sheets of misty rain while driving through working-class neighborhoods of Columbus, a quaint town in southern Indiana.
He’s trying to find the senior center, multi-family homes and rent-assisted properties – more than 530 in total – that he and many other locals hope will receive $4.42m in federal funding for solar electricity projects.
But now that money is at risk.
On 20 January, Donald Trump paused billions of dollars of federal grant funding for clean energy and other projects around the country initiated by the Biden administration’s Green New Deal.
“We’ve been slavishly working on a plan since April 2023 that would provide solar energy to hundreds of households in two low- and moderate-income Columbus neighborhoods,” says Mullett. The project was expected to be rolled out in April, with previously approved funding thought to have been made available by 14 February.
“Unless the Trump administration makes a 180-degree turn on funding, that expectation will obviously not be met.”
So, without massive amounts of taxpayer money they cannot do the project? Why is that? Is it because solar is just too damned expensive? Why would it take two years? If they wanted to install natural gas hookups, it would be easy peasy and a whole lot less expensive. I mean, the Warmists keep telling us that the cost of solar has plummeted, yet, it seems that without massive subsidies and payoffs few want to install it. Weird.
He says that if the federal funding is lost, private funding that has been committed to help pay for the project would be gone too.
“If the pending litigation in federal district courts must run its course all the way to the US supreme court, the delay in the rollout of the [funding] would certainly be measured in months, perhaps extending even into 2026,” he says.
OK, go for it. Get your private funding. But, really, give it time. Some portion of the funding has simply been frozen pending review, and, since it has already been appropriate a portion will come back. Once they make sure it is being used wisely and not fraudulently.
“We’ve been slavishly working on a plan since April 2023 that would provide solar energy to hundreds of households in two low- and moderate-income Columbus neighborhoods,”
Why? Aren’t they already connected to the grid? Isn’t that already the easiest, most efficient and cheapest way to deliver electricity to those homes? This isn’t just a boondoggle to funnel money to connected people with no-bid contracts. It is wasteful and stupid on top of being criminal.
“Fxxk you, Indiana! And your 35,000 Federal workers need to start looking for real jobs.”
Fuck you, investors in Galera Therapeutics, Rimjob and his buddies pissed away 75M+ of your dollars without giving you anything in return.
Looks like he made out okay though.
It’s 17º F here in the wilds of east central Kentucky, at he beginning of the Appalachian Mountains and next door to the Daniel Boone National Forest. We did not lose our heat pump HVAC system in the floods, and we did not lose electricity. That’s good for us, and it is something for which I thank the Lord, but not everyone here has been as fortunate.
Yet, for all of that, the HVAC system has not been able to keep the house warm enough. Oh, I wouldn’t have frozen to death, but when the thermostat tells me that it was 64º in the house, I turned to our propane fireplace for supplemental heat.
If it was sunny this morning, the HVAC system could have kept up, because the outside condenser unit is on the northeast side of the house, and gets morning sun, but, alas! it’s cloudy, and we got another 2¼ inches of snow this morning.
Columbus, Ohio, where our esteemed host’s story was centered, sits at 39.39612º North latitude, while our humble abode is at 37º 40′ 10″ North, or 3º 20′ south of Columbus, about 230 miles. That normally means colder temperatures in the winter. Does Columbus have the electric capacity to power all of the total electric heating systems our activist friends believe we should all use? Will solar panels be able to generate enough additional sparktricity in that northern city? When cold and snowy winters come to Columbus, is the distribution grid hardened enough to keep the power on in people’s homes?
Remember: the generators that people can afford rarely have sufficient capacity to run a heat pump HVAC system.
One thing the activists seem to forget, as St Greta screams, “How dare you!” at normal people: much of France, almost all of Germany, all of Poland, all of the United Kingdom, are at latitudes further north than our main border with Canada. Much of democratic Europe, especially the wealthier nations, are the northern ones. The PIGS, the poorer southern members of the European Union — Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain — have more sunshine and warmer winters, but they also have less resources to build solar power stations, or for people to abandon gas-fired heating systems.
It has been very cold where I live also. I installed a new heat pump a couple of years ago and due to new technology by Carrier (stolen by China) it is proving to have a very low cost of operation AND keeps my home very comfortable. If I lose sparktricity, I have a wood stove and plenty of wood that will heat the entire home to a cozy temperature even with no sparks at all.
I had a heat pump back in the early 80’s when living in the Tri Cities area – Kingsport, Bristol, Johnson City… just about 250 miles south of you….Only way to be comfortable was to turn on the emergency (electric strip) heater. And yes, like you, the unit would provide an uncomfortable mid 60’s temp…with the emergency function we could be warm… had some God awful utility bills…
I hear the “new tech” cry but I wouldn’t have one even if St Greta paid for it.
The normal heat pump cycle is so comfortable I didn’t bother installing the e-heat “toaster oven”.
Regardless of the technology you use or the path you choose (baseboards, steam, fire, gas furnace, combo) you will always find people who had horrific bills and uncomfortable temperatures. You should always do your own homework and make the best choice you can because you pay the bills and have to live with it. I live in Virginia and for this climate, even the coldest cold I get, the heat pump works just fine. You do you.
I wrote about my experience. And yes, everyone should make their own decision.
Glad your selection works for you.
Mine did not.
I live in west TN. Several friends who have heat pumps . They don’t work well in 9 degree weather.