Since the announcement that a bunch of borrowed federal dollars being poured into hydrogen here and elsewhere was reported, I wondered what on earth this was all about. Maybe you are wondering, too.
Even though it is described as green energy, just like every other green initiative, so far, it really isn’t, as best I can tell.
Not being a scientist, of course, I’m not allowed to have an opinion on this, and I’m pretty sure all debate on it, like everything else liberals come up with, will be silenced. But I have one anyway.
First, a cursory search on the internet — namely Facebook, where only reliable news comes from — wasn’t very helpful. It turns out it covers everything useless, but mostly what Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are up to these days, and why, when she wasn’t at some game, he may not play his best, or who she’s hugging in the private suite.
I’d rather just watch Bud Light commercials or grass grow.
But I did see a pretty balanced pro vs. con discussion that involved some actual scientists. It turns out hydrogen is very clean when burned. But making it? Not so much.
And, at least for now, it is not very efficient with the energy it takes to make and how much infrastructure it takes to use it. That might be costly, but necessary, if they’re really going to make us use it.
Wow, maybe they should include how that will work and get paid for? How will they provide the energy to produce it or get it to a market that can actually work? Reasonable questions, I think, especially if it’s a good idea.
The sad part is neither the elected officials or non-elected bureaucrats who are pushing this seem to have much more knowledge of it than me.The difference is they’re spending lots of our money on it.
It’s money they don’t have, by the way, and neither do we.
Remember Solyndra Solar? A big building in California President Obama loaned $500-plus million dollars and they went broke? Last time I drove by, it it was empty. In August, President Biden offered billions of dollars to pump into electric cars nobody can afford, and even the CEO of Ford, after a disastrous trip in his electric pickup, says it needs more work.
And no one seems to wonder where the charging stations get the power to charge cars? Or what if my power is out because our grid is overworked and I can’t use my car even for emergencies? Then what?
Last October, in Wyoming, subsidized (taxpayer-encouraged and funded) public transportation in a couple counties went with all electric buses. It didn’t last though, despite being celebrated by President Biden. The company that built the buses went broke and so did the buses. Oh well, it’s just public money. So they’re back to diesel. Because they work.
So why would a simple old fart nearing 70 years old bring this up without any green energy experience, education or background? Because like lots of people, I’m not a fool (at least not all the time).
We have real, pressing problems right now. No, not bailing out people who went to college on borrowed money for a degree that won’t provide them income to meet their debt or studying the mating habit of some fly somewhere, which might be a life changing issue but we have lots of flies already.
No, but open borders, crime and criminals, and the cost of just getting by seem much more on our minds these days. But they say those concerns and fears are unwarranted. It’s in your head. Bidenomics and skyrocketing costs are good for us, and things are going very well.
We just don’t appreciate it.
And what is the traditional response to any problem created by liberals? More money to do the same thing. There is an old saying about insanity most people know, so I won’t repeat it here. But it is worth repeating that cashless bail is a failure, decriminalizing drugs hasn’t been good, closing jails is stupid, and so is defunding the police. But they keep doing it. These and the costs of food and other necessary things are real concerns for people.
Meanwhile, what is our government doing? Rushing us into green technology that isn’t working on its own and won’t anytime soon, searching for life in outer space when we can’t admit a beating heart in an unborn baby is life right here on earth, defining what is a woman (but they can’t), and nothing to make us feel safer in our homes.
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John McCroskey was Lewis County sheriff from 1995 to 2005. He lives outside Chehalis and can be contacted at musingsonthemiddlefork@gmail.com.
