By Lloyd Leugner           

The fallacies and lies going unchallenged about the wonderful environmental advantages of wind, solar and other so-called “green” energy production technologies continually astound me. Canadians, including our own naïve politicians and media, blindly believe the climate crisis cult crowd without any investigation of the actual advantages and disadvantages of these technologies.

I have researched these green energy techniques for many years, including research from the Friends of Science Society, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geo-scientists of Alberta, and the Centre of Climate and Energy Solutions, all of whose knowledge I have much respect for.

Research into deceptive propaganda promoted by environmentalists was obtained from international scientific sources, all of whom continue to report that for years to come, hydrocarbon energy consumption will continue to be necessary at approximately 79.7%, while so-called green energy will provide only about 20.3% made up of nuclear at 2.2%, biomass at 7.5%, with wind, solar, hydro and geothermal at around 10.6% each, all generating their own set of environmental problems and all at unacceptable and unnecessary costs to consumers. Witness these excessive costs in the UK, the European countries, and soon-to-be in North and South America.

To have your eyes opened about immoral, excessively costly, inefficient green energy, read Michael Shellenberger’s book; “Apocalypse Never, why environmental alarmism hurts us all,” Norman Roger’s; “A Critique of Wind and Solar,” Mark Mills’; “The New Energy Economy: An Exercise in Magical Thinking” and review Michael Moore’s documentary, Planet of the Humans. 

Environmentalists declare that the excess power generated by wind and solar can be stored in grid-scale storage batteries to provide power when the “wind doesn’t blow” and the “sun doesn’t shine.” This is bald-faced environmental propaganda and a marketing lie; there aren’t enough batteries in the world to accomplish this. The Tesla Giga battery factory would require 1000 years of production to manufacture enough batteries to meet just two days of the United States electrical demand, and it requires between 50-100 pounds of mining production and processing of lithium for every pound of battery produced!

Trans Alta Utilities recently turned the switch on its newly installed $16 million grid-storage battery plant at its Summerview wind farm near Pincher Creek in southern Alberta. The Operations Manager proudly reported that this Tesla-manufactured lithium-ion battery storage facility could power the town of Pincher Creek for “90 minutes.”

Extending these numbers with simple math, grid battery storage would provide approximately enough electricity to supply the entire province of Alberta for one hour at a cost of $8 billion and supply the entire province for one cold winter day at a cost of approximately $69 billion! How will Alberta’s energy consumers ever pay for this green energy scam? There isn’t a country in the world that can afford this obscene expense to replace hydrocarbon energy, all in the name of environmentalism.

No business will invest in these monstrosities if there is no financial or economic advantage. The space required for grid storage battery facilities near Pincher Creek was almost the size of a soccer pitch. Other considerations never discussed are where the lithium is mined and the safety and environmental challenges of the mining process: How does the hydrocarbon-fueled and lubricated machinery required for mining operations reduce greenhouse gases or carbon emissions? How are lithium-ion batteries disposed of? Do they end up in a landfill alongside worn-out wind turbine blades?

Green energy promoters, the brainwashed, technologically illiterate Greta Thunberg crowd, engineers who support and promote renewable energy, politicians and the propagandist media never discuss grid storage battery safety. In October 2019, a grid storage battery facility near Phoenix, Arizona, unexpectedly exploded, causing a massive fire. The facility had only been in operation since 2017. Fortunately, no one was killed, but it could have been a disaster. A number of first responders were injured when they opened the building door, and the battery gases exploded.

Finally, a comment on the outright marketing propaganda presented by corporate customers of these technologies who claim that their manufacturing processes use nothing but renewable, zero emissions green energy. An example is your everyday lunch box Ziploc sandwich bag. The American manufacturer claims that it uses nothing but green renewable energy in its manufacturing process. The wind turbine label appears on each plastic bag to convince the customer of “honesty in marketing.” This is a blatant and fraudulent lie.

When the spokesman was questioned, he admitted that coal-fired energy production was used when the renewable wind energy supply could not satisfy the plant’s needs. What is even more remarkable is that every plastics manufacturing process, whether making bottles or bags, uses one or more of the elements polyethylene, polypropylene or polystyrene in the process. All of these elements are derived from, you guessed it, oil and natural gas, but environmentalists will never admit this and may not even be aware of it while spreading their lies about the advantages of green renewable energy and the evils of “fossil” fuels and lubricants.

Every thinking individual should be demanding that politicians, the mainstream media, public broadcasters, university professors, engineering professionals and environmentalists themselves tell the truth about the disadvantages of these so-called green renewable energy technologies that are NEVER discussed and why no one is challenging the fraudulent untruths and outright lies presented by the purveyors and propagandists of the climate crisis brainwashers.

As David Solway noted in his remarkable editorial, “Global Warmists Go Disney” in The Pipeline, the climate crisis crowd continues to perpetuate man-made global warming. There are three defining characteristics of the climate change movement.

1. Data falsification (to support the lie that climate change is occurring).

2. Profit (by wealthy industrialists who accept public money for the initial investment).

3. Ostracism of dissenting voices (dispute, disparage or discredit climate change deniers).

Winston Churchill said, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” It’s time that climate change lies are questioned by everyone.

Lloyd “Tex” Leugner, CD, Warrant Officer (Ret’d), is a member of Royal Canadian Electrical Mechanical Engineers and Veterans4Freedom, an author, and recipient of the Governor General’s Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers in helping improve the quality of life for Alberta Veterans suffering from PTSD. Lloyd is also the meeting facilitator for the Cochrane Freedom Alliance, formed in 2019.