Another high-profile player has stepped into the nation’s energy debate. On October 1, Google CEO Eric Schmidt called for installing 380,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power in the United States and cutting fossil-fuel electricity generation by 88 percent by 2030. That is certainly a sweeping plan but, on examination, poorly thought out.
Mr. Schmidt barely mentioned the trillions of taxpayer and ratepayer dollars for the plan to be achieved, and he avoids the lower reliability certain to ensue. The Google proposal comes on the heels of a plan floated in July by T. Boone Pickens. That one is based on wind power providing 20 percent of the nation’s electricity and using natural gas for transportation that is currently used for electricity. Read more
