OPINION:
The Spanish government boasted last month that it had become a global leader in fueling its economy with windmills and solar panels. Among leftists, there is no higher virtue to signal than replacing nuclear, gas and coal plants with these in-vogue alternatives.
Shortly after achieving this green energy miracle, Spain and Portugal’s 60 million citizens were plunged into darkness not experienced since medieval times, when, not coincidentally, windmills were widely used as a power source. NASA satellite imagery captured the blackout stretching across the Iberian Peninsula.
Modern Europeans brag about the superiority of their electric train network, but some Spanish passengers may have entertained second thoughts when powerless locomotives left them stranded for hours. Even gasoline-fueled cars slowed without traffic lights to guide the chaos on the streets of Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon.
Those stuck in dark, high-rise elevators had no way to summon help when cellphone towers stopped transmitting. The public resorted to cash or barter to pay for what food or drink remained in markets swiftly emptied by panic buying.
The responsible authorities in Spain haven’t been forthcoming about what caused the disruption. Ordinarily, “renewable” systems reliant on sun and wind power run out of juice on cloudy and windless days, but the situation here appears more complex. Portugal imports power from Spain, and its electric company, REN, said it had to disconnect when the Spanish network experienced a “significant oscillation.”
Under that theory, a glut of sunlight produced a surplus of solar electricity over a short period, introducing a dangerous imbalance into Spain’s grid. Automated circuit breakers shut down everything to prevent a destructive surge from coursing through the entire system.
Common sense suggests that such things happen when one relies on volatile power sources dependent upon Mother Nature’s whims. Many on the left would rather blame the catastrophe on climate change.
They’re right to do so. Madrid’s socialist government is obsessed with achieving “net zero” carbon dioxide emissions. That’s why, in 2023, Spain ordered the decommissioning of all nuclear plants, with the final demolition scheduled in 2035.
“The renewable transformation in our country is now a reality,” Spain’s electricity provider recently bragged, adding it had “successfully integrated over 98% of renewable generation at the peninsular level, a figure significantly higher than those recorded by neighbouring European countries.”
Spain didn’t bother accounting for the downside of this strategy. “When you hitch your wagon to the weather, it’s just a risky endeavor,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright observed on CNBC. “Even in standard operating conditions, it’s just driven up the price of energy so much in Europe.”
Despite the volatility and expense, Democrats on this side of the Atlantic want Uncle Sam to continue paying companies to set up wind turbines everywhere. These projects are somehow an act of “environmental justice” even though their merciless blades slice through thousands of eagles, hawks and condors every year.
Investors also saturate once-pristine landscapes with massive solar arrays, hoping to turn those environmental subsidies into big profits. Thanks to November’s election results, however, this madness is ending. President Trump has canceled permits for offshore windmill installations.
The Interior Department has ordered Empire Offshore Wind to halt construction on a massive project for the New York Power Authority and Consolidated Edison. Manhattan liberals, like Spain, were gung-ho about doing whatever it took to increase their renewable bragging rights.
Mr. Trump just saved the Big Apple from itself.
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