If you flip a coin, it comes up heads half the time. But if you give Donald Trump a chance, he can be wrong about energy every single time.
“It’s so expensive,” Trump said. “And honestly, it’s not working so good. I know a lot about solar. I love solar. But the payback is what, 18 years? Oh great, let me do it. Eighteen years.”
Donald Trump knows a lot about solar. Apparently like he knows about Russia not invading the Ukraine.
In fact, the cost of solar has declined 70 percent since 2008, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, and the return on investment for a homeowner in California, say, is nine years. In New Jersey, it is seven years.
Solar can be installed in small, incremental units that pay back in a handful of years. A coal power plant requires more than a billion dollar investment, needs extensive supporting architecture, and has a payback period of at least 20 years.
But Trump didn’t stop with being wrong about solar. He also talked about wind, where he also found plenty of things to be wrong about.
“The wind kills all your birds. All your birds, killed. You know, the environmentalists never talk about that,” Trump said.
Just to be sure, let’s peek out the window … yup, birds still there. Trump’s statement not only exaggerates the death of birds from windmills, it also belittles the amount of study and discussion that’s been centered on this issue.
In fact, environmentalists often talk about wind turbine’s impact on birds, but many believe the relatively small number of bird deaths is worth transitioning to a clean energy economy.
Wind turbines kill far fewer birds than do tall buildings, though it seems unlikely that Trump will mention this fact.
Why would Trump be so wrong on such simple issues about energy? Part of it probably comes from taking it on the nose in a fight with a wind farm in Scotland.
Donald Trump on Wednesday lost a protracted legal battle over a wind farm in sight of his Scottish golf resort, as Britain’s highest court dismissed his appeal to halt construction. ...
For more than two years, Mr. Trump has sought to overturn that initial decision through a series of challenges in the Scottish courts, culminating in his appeal to the U.K.’s top legal authority.
Trump being Trump, he’ll never forgive wind power for not staying out of sight of his golf course.
And then there’s another reason: Donald Trump has friends who own coal mines.
“I have friends that own the mines. I mean, they can’t live,” he said. “The restrictions environmentally are so unbelievable where inspectors come two and three times a day and they can’t afford it any longer and they’re closing all the mines … It’s not going to happen anymore, folks. We’re going to use our heads.”
Want to guess how many times inspectors check underground mines for environmental rules? Never, that’s how often. Inspectors are down there for safety inspections. Miner safety. And if they’re in a mine two or three times a day, there’s a clear reason: Because that mine has had so many safety violations that MSHA doesn’t believe it can be trusted to operate safely without close supervision. Considering that Trump’s close friend in mining is Robert Murray who also owned the disastrous Crandall Canyon Mine where nine miners and rescuers were killed due to unsafe practices, and who has been cited literally thousands of times for unsafe practices, there’s a very good reason to inspect the hell out him.
There’s a good reason why the mines are closing: natural gas. Fracking is producing natural gas in such volumes and prices that power plants across the country are converting to natural gas as quickly as possible. The largest coal plant ever built is in the midst of a transition that will see it burning zero coal by year’s end.
Trump supports fracking. Trump supports coal. But the truth is, even for those fossil fuels, you only need one. Coal is dying—because coal can’t compete.
As Paula Dwyer wrote for Bloomberg shortly after the exchange, "Not only do Trump’s energy policies misunderstand supply and demand in this market. He seems to be winging it, letting industry officials all but write them."