Realism v Magical Thinking

Robert Bradley Jr. has a useful MasterResource piece on what he describes as a sea-change in US energy policy as realism overtakes magical thinking. 

 
Affordability In, Renewables Out (again)

“The EV bust in the U.S. is front-page business news. The domestic battery industry is following suit. The demise of the U.S. rooftop solar industry, despite subsidies, is now all about litigation to get out of long-term contracts. Add the EV school bus bust.”

A sea-change is occurring in energy policy as realism overtakes magical thinking. But you would not know it from the social media ‘denialists’ (thousands of climate-related professionals) who claim that

• Wind and solar are cheaper than fossil fuels (some highly dubious studies say so, but government is required for on-grid additions)
• Recent social/wind/battery additions are high (government play: continuing IRA-PTC-ITC subsidies in the U.S.; UK/EU subsidies; central planning edicts)
• Wind and solar are inevitable (no, the fossil fuel era is still young with a global boom under way)

The whole piece is well worth reading, especially here in the UK while we are stuck with Mad Ed Miliband.  

If these intermittent power sources were cheaper, would you buy it without a utility grid to back it up? Would you want to pay less for a vehicle with a trick motor? Want to pay for another vehicle to act as a battery if the primary vehicle stopped running? I doubt it.