One state that has been particularly hard-hit is California. On a recent day, temperatures climbed to 122 F in Palm Springs.
Besides creating new drought conditions, the excessive heat in the Golden State is also causing another problem: Brownouts due to power shortages mostly tied to increased air conditioner use.
As The Daily Caller reported Tuesday, the demand for power is outstripping the state’s ability to provide it by as much as 5,000 megawatts per day, leading California’s power grid operator to call on residents to cut electricity usage at peak times — while temperatures remain elevated.
“Due to high temperatures in California and most of the western U.S., the California Independent System Operator Corporation (ISO) has issued a statewide Flex Alert that calls for voluntary electricity conservation from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, July 24, and Wednesday, July 25,” said a Flex Alert from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO).
“Consumers are urged to conserve electricity, especially during the late afternoon and evening when air conditioners typically are at peak use. Consumers can help avoid power interruptions by turning off all unnecessary lights, using major appliances before 5 p.m. and after 9 p.m., and setting air conditioners to 78 degrees or higher,” the alert continued.
What’s interesting to note is that state officials were warned about this eventuality in May.
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) warned that both California and Texas faced “significant risk of encountering operating conditions that could result in operating reserve shortfalls” if summer heat was severe.
And it is.
But what’s causing the problem in California? In a word, liberalism.
Bad planning, bad policies
Back in 2007, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a RINO who allowed himself to be brainwashed by the Left’s human-caused “global warming” hoax, signed Democratic legislation mandating reductions in “greenhouse gas” emissions down to 1990s levels by 2020, and all but eliminating them by 2015.
At the time he signed the bill, the Global Warming Solutions Act, Schwarzenegger chastised the rest of the country for failing to follow the ‘environmental leadership’ of the Golden State. Blasting the Bush administration, the Governator lectured, “It would not act, so California did. California has taken the leadership in moving the entire country beyond debate and denial to action.”
While Arnie and Democrats were patting themselves on the back, they forgot to factor in two things: Growth and reality. (Related: UN official actually ADMITS that ‘global warming’ is a scam designed to ‘change world’s economic model’.)
According to City Journal in 2008:
In truth, however, the Golden State’s energy leadership is a mirage. California’s environmental policies have made it heavily dependent on other states for power; generated some of the highest, business-crippling energy costs in the country; and left it vulnerable to periodic electricity shortages. Its economic growth has occurred not because of, but despite, those policies, which would be disastrous if extended to the rest of the country.
Through the years California Leftists in government and in environmental groups pushed for more “clean” energy — solar panels, especially — while deemphasizing statewide fossil fuel-driven energy production.
The result: Not only is California a net power importer, as the state’s population has exploded thanks primarily to the tech industry, its dream of a completely clean-energy production grid has never been realized. At the same time, the brainiacs in Sacramento are also shutting down the one true emissions-free source that can generate sizable amounts of power: Nuclear plants.
“California has mandated that 50 percent of its electricity come from renewable energy by 2030,” notes the Institute for Energy Research, calling the state’s power shortage self-inflicted.
“California has been designing through regulation and mandates an electricity system largely dependent on the weather. Time will tell how this experiment works out.”
Read more about junk environmental science at JunkScienceWatch.com.
J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.
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