Do New York state citizens understand why Wind/Solar/Battery installations are being rammed down our throats? Are they even aware of the deceptively named Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 (CLCPA) that mandates impossible Net-Zero electricity generation by 2040?

Even if the entire U.S. achieved Net-Zero, our efforts would be meaningless because the biggest CO2 emitters, along with the rapidly developing Third World, have absolutely rejected both the Net-Zero scam and the Climate Catastrophe scam. This was made clear by last year’s Kazan Declaration.

The only reason for building Battery Farms is to provide backup for Wind and Solar Farms, both of which are exactly the wrong technologies for providing our baseload electrical power because of their inherent intermittency. The Germans named this problem “Dunkelflaute” after learning the hard way. It implies: “No wind and no sun equals no electricity.”

Wind and solar are already our most expensive sources of electricity based on the Strike Prices that New York forces us to pay for it. The Strike Prices are two to four times higher than the market prices for electricity generated by Natural Gas, Nuclear, Coal, Oil, or Hydro. For example, the projected Strike Price for Lake Erie and Offshore Wind power is over $160/MWH, versus about $40/MWH (or less) for conventional generation. It makes no sense for New York state to quadruple our own energy costs. Who benefits? Wall Street?

The huge Strike Prices that the state forces on us do not even include the massive costs of adding Battery Backup and Transmission System upgrades that must accompany Wind and Solar generation. A vote for Battery Farms will add both costs to our bills.

Now consider what will happen when CLCPA has eliminated fossil fuels and nuclear power. Last year the state generated a paltry 8% of its electrical energy from Wind and Solar, even after all the subsidies we lavished upon it. To achieve Net Zero per CLCPA by 2040 will require 20-30 times more Wind and Solar infrastructure than we now have, and at least 200 times more Battery Storage. To make it all work, we will need to cover the state with Wind/Solar/Battery farms. Those numbers will double as NYS mandates EVs, eliminates Natural Gas, and power hungry AI comes on line.

Historical data shows that Dunkelflaute periods of up to five days will be common, wherein we will need battery storage to supply 80% of our energy consumption throughout. Recent estimates show it will cost at least $3.6 trillion every 10 years –out of our pockets — to maintain sufficient battery storage to support Wind/Solar based power. But Battery backup will require that we nearly double (again) our total Wind and Solar infrastructure – just to keep Battery Farms charged to prevent catastrophic blackouts.

The reality is simple: The Wind/Solar/Battery boondoggle cannot possibly meet our future power needs, or achieve the Net-Zero mandates of CLCPA. Other countries like England and Germany have already crippled their economies with their Net-Zero delusions, and are now paying the price.

Still other countries (Sweden, Poland, Norway, Italy, China, India, Russia) have recently rejected more Wind/Solar/Battery power, and have moved toward Nuclear futures. They understand the disastrous consequences of Wind/Solar/Battery mandates.

Over 40 companies in the US are now contracting to build private Nuclear installations to protect themselves from the Green disaster. For example, Bill Gates just spent Hundreds of $Millions to bring Three Mile Island Nuclear back on line just for his AI.

Citizens should beware that payments to localities in return for siting rights are not friendly gifts to the people. Such payments come from our future electric bills, and are a license for Wind/Solar/Battery Farms to continuously pick our pockets in the future. They will gladly sucker us with a crumb or two from their tables today, so they can gobble up huge profits from us tomorrow.

Please don’t be fooled by promises of how many jobs will be created. Germany is the world leader in Green Energy, and also the biggest job loser. They were promised 500,000 new Green Jobs and a vibrant clean energy economy.In reality, Germany lost hundreds of thousands of jobs overall, and saw entire industries shut down in pursuit of the Net-Zero delusion. Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they had to re-commission over 20 coal-fired plants and buy Nuclear power from France to survive. Even with that, Volkswagen still had to shut down 2 entire factories because of Green Energy costs, and many other companies continue to leave Germany altogether.

So-called Green Jobs will always kill real jobs simply because Green Energy is the least efficient power source, and that causes ripple effects in the economy. A couple unions might prosper while building Wind/Solar/Battery infrastructure, but everyone else loses.

Keep in mind also that Net-Zero electricity is NOT sustainable. In spite of the popular narrative, Wind/Solar/Battery infrastructure must be totally replaced on a 10-20 year basis, at massive expense. State residents will be left holding the bag for rebuilding new infrastructure while removing the old. Where will we dump all the non-recyclable and often toxic waste from expended Wind/Solar/Battery installations?

The rest of the world is waking up to the impending train wreck caused by Net-Zero and Green Energy. Will we?

Legislators who support the Wind/Solar/Battery complex are demonstrating either their contempt for the people, or their ignorance of the Laws of Physics and Economics. A vote for Wind/Solar/Battery infrastructure is a vote to further de-industrialize NYS, rip off taxpayers and consumers, and encourage even more people to leave.

Mary Borrello is a Silver Creek resident.