Trump's "malicious ignorance"

Newsweek's David Brennan writes about President Trump's campaign against the alternative energy source of wind power in a rambling speech at a National Republican Congressional Committee dinner, suggesting that wind turbines undermine property values, kill birds and even cause cancer -- none of which is true.

But, then, what else did we expect from this "maliciously ignorant" liar we elected president?   Brennan writes:

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"The president is a climate change denier and staunch opponent of wind-generated power. He often makes outlandish criticisms of the renewable technology and instead lauds traditional fuels such as coal. Trump's opposition to renewable energy has been described by scientists as 'malicious ignorance.'

"Trump’s most common line of attacks on wind power are that the turbines kill birds — they do, but at a far lower rate than other energy sources — and that reliance on turbines would mean there is no electricity when there is no wind — an argument nullified by the existence of battery storage. . . .

“'If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75 percent in value.'  He then introduced his newest argument, telling the audience:  "And they say the noise causes cancer' . . . . [But] No research has ever shown harm from such low frequencies, and no cancer of any kind has a proven link to high levels of noise. Chemicals and particulates released in the extraction, storage, transportation and burning of coal and other fossil fuels, in comparison, have been proven to cause higher rates of cancer. . . .

"[He also falsely claims that] 'I know a lot about wind. . . .  When the wind stops blowing, that’s the end of your electric' . . . .

"Despite Trump’s continued opposition, the U.S. wind energy industry is growing. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the industry supported more than 100,000 jobs in 2017 and provided 6.3 percent of the nation’s energy. The Energy Information Association says wind power is on track to surpass hydropower as the country’s largest source of renewable energy by 2019."

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"Malicious ignorance."    Indeed.    It would be funny -- if only he had no power to control our national energy policies and our dangerously inadequate and overdue coping with the effects of climate change.

But we gave him that power when he was elected in 2016.   We must not make the same mistake in November 2020.

Ralph