CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, March 1, 2021

Texas: The Failure of Wind and Solar

Climate change? It happens. For example: The Medieval Warming Period (950 A.D. to 1250 A.D.), and The Little Ice Age (1300 A.D. to 1850 A.D.) which was made worse by deceased sunspot activity called the Maunder Minimum (1645 A.D. to 1715 A.D).

We can debate the cause of climate change; however, both NASA and NOAA have data showing we are entering a period of global cooling, not global warming. Historically, higher sunspot activity has caused global warming and lesser sunspot activity has led to global cooling. Sunspot activity is expected to decrease between now and about 2035.

Does human activity cause climate change? Probably not; however, for a host of reasons, it is a good idea to keep our environment as clean as possible.

Now, fast backward to Texas on the evening of Feb. 13, 2021. As temperatures in the Lone Star State dipped to zero degrees, electricity production from wind turbines and solar panels went down 91-percent, placing more demand on coal-fired and natural gas-fired electric plants and on Texas’ nuclear power plants. Meanwhile, demand for heat and water shot through the roof.

Unfortunately, the deep freeze also reduced electricity production from coal and gas by 23-percent and from nuclear power by 26-percent. The lack of electrical power put Texas into a power-triage situation, placing power-distribution managers in the God-like position of deciding which portions of Texas were going to be without heat and potable water so what little electricity that remained could be used to avert a disaster of Biblical proportions.

Recall, Nature abhors a vacuum. Wherever a vacuum occurs, Nature will literally move faulty check-valves, filters, plumbers’ tape, and even duck tape to fill it. While natural gas is one of the most environmentally friendly ways for home and office heating and for manufacturing products, the safety of natural gas depends on the absence of oxygen.

As long as natural gas pipes are filled with natural gas, they are very safe. Keeping natural gas pipes filled with natural gas and only natural gas depends on high-pressure pumps that depend upon electricity. If electricity fails to keep the gas pipes filled with natural gas and the outside ambient atmospheric pressure is higher than the pressure of the gas inside the gas pipes, the resulting vacuum starts to suck oxygen into the gas pipes.

If the check-valves and filters designed to keep the dreaded oxygen from coming in from outside and mixing with the natural gas start to fail, a tiny spark could cause hundreds of gas-piped homes, offices, and manufacturing plants to experience a catastrophic explosion and fire.

No, that is not a reason to call your gas company and cancel service. It is a reason to rebuild and protect America’s electrical grid which is woefully undersized and already vulnerable to domestic Antifa-like vandalism and to Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) attack by foreign powers. Global cooling makes matters worse.

Fortunately, during those freezing nights in the middle of February when Wind-power and Solar-power failed, Texas had enough electric power from conventional sources to keep its natural-gas pipes full of natural gas. The lesson: We should not overly rely on the alternative energy sources touted by the Green New Deal. The Law of Unintended Consequences could blow up entire city blocks.

Suggested reading: "An Insider Explains Why Texans Lost Their Power," by Vic Hughes, The American Insider, Feb. 20, 2021. Cooling? NOAA Confirms Full-blown’ Grand Solar Minimum. News Wire,

Dr. Hamilton can be contacted at:

Email: william@central-view.com