Harry Reid and Tesla

I don't much like Harry Reid, or energy illiteracy, so this tweet doubly irked me:

Here's the problem with the statement. Electricity wasn't installed; the capacity to generate electricity was.

That equipment to generate electricity from renewable sources is probably not made with renewable sources (think steel - and the sources to produce energy in China).

To illustrate, think Tesla and Nevada.

Tesla has been shopping for a site to build an enormous battery factory, primarily for its electric cars which it often links to solar power in marketing. We won't know until tomorrow, at the earliest, what price will be paid to lure Tesla to Nevada or, given Harry Reid's influence in Congress, how the subsidies will split between Nevada and the federal government.

We do know Tesla didn't choose Nevada because of an early mover "renewables" advantage the state had previously paid for. Nevada gets over 80% of its electricity generation from fossil fuels.

image (53)

The green Tesla gigafactory will be built with the same energy that builds casinos.

That may not end up being the only similarity.

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