Columnist schools Trump on the real reason for the rolling blackouts in California
Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen explained that the real reason that California is experiencing rolling blackouts again has nothing to do with American-made fuels as President Donald Trump thinks.
Taking to Twitter, the president claimed that the rolling blackouts were due to Democrats and that he gave Americans energy independence.
The reality is that the western United States is seeing a heatwave that already set a new record for 130 degrees being among the hottest temperatures recorded on record.
"That spike is amplified because so much of California's population is stuck at home under pandemic-related lockdowns," Olsen also said.
But while the president still hasn't managed to get the pandemic under control, there's also the idea that renewable energy is somehow not able to keep up with demand because you can't turn it up or down. The reality is that if more people could diversify their personal energy, they wouldn't have to rely entirely on the traditional electric utility business.
Trump getting American oil and coal from the United States doesn't fix the rolling blackouts. American oil doesn't have any kind of superpowers. It isn't magical. Getting oil from an Alaska wildlife refuge doesn't make it any more effective than getting oil from Canada or anywhere else.
It was 19 years ago that California had rolling blackouts. The state didn't have as much renewable energy then as they do now, but blackouts continued.
Climate change will persist whether Trump and the GOP believe in it or not. The high heat of the Central Valley isn't going to suddenly stop, nor will California restrict population growth in the desert, after all, the entire city of Los Angeles was built in a desert, putting huge weight on not only power but water as well.
Olsen thinks that if California can guarantee backups for non-fossil fuels then they'd have proof that a state can function on entirely renewable energy. Arguably, personal solar panels on roofs would at least keep the air conditioning running in areas of the state on days like this. Otherwise, Olsen said that climate activists might have to agree that nuclear power is the only answer.
Trump maintains coal is the only thing to save us.