Bluegrass Times

Winter is almost at hand and alarm bells should be ringing all over Washington, D.C. However, our leaders are focused mostly on vaccinations and their mandates. Apparently, our Congress is unaware of the disaster that may befall our country this winter. America is facing a massive infrastructure disaster, the likes of which we may never recover.

Over the last year, the Generac Power Systems company’s stock has jumped 68% in market value. The reason? The company has had record sales of $920 million during the second quarter. No, Generac’s increase is not because they’ve created a more sophisticated or cute-looking generator. The reason for their massive success is America’s electric grid is failing. Americans across the country are spending billions of dollars on generators because the grid is becoming more unreliable every day.

The reason why it is such an alarming problem is that it is a compounded problem. Not only are people unable to use electricity in their homes, but it is a massive drag on our economy. Last winter, California wasn’t the only state to have massive blackouts. The blackouts in Texas saddled the state with over $200 billion in damage. Also, approximately 700 people died due to hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning.

As we all know, many of the states are suffering from financial losses. California now has an exodus of taxpayers leaving the state, partly due to daily rolling blackouts. Of course, this does not make the financial crisis in that state any easier. The real question is, can taxpayers afford to pay for generators and all the other expenses related to this infrastructure problem?

States should give opportunities and incentives to get the energy they need. The federal government makes it impossible for states to take care of their own. For example, President Biden declared he wants to “decarbonize” the power industry by 2035. Undoubtedly, this action will require that all gas-fired and coal generators will be retired. Once again, the local representatives we are funding will not have the power to help the citizens in their states.

There are three problems with decarbonizing the power industry. If we use only solar and wind-powered systems, we will be at the mercy of the weather. If there isn’t enough wind or sunlight, there may not be enough power to keep the grid alive. Second, these alternatives are expensive. Solar energy panels are not cheaply made. They are high-priced and the initial costs are staggering. Wind energy requires costly and regular repairs by an experienced crew. Third, due to recent fiat currency policies, the costs of these services may escalate considerably. This means that the current prices of energy most American families are experiencing may be much higher. The final problem with this issue is production.

America has only two factories that assembles solar panels. Since there is such an intense fear of climate change, the U.S. does not refine any of the rare-earth materials. These materials are required for the fabrication of the components in both solar and wind powered units. Our elected leaders in Washington, D.C., are more concerned with controlling the citizenry rather than infrastructure issues. We must demand term limits to reduce the power of Washington politicians.

We must also place restrictions on federal overreach and spending thereby handing infrastructure issues to state politicians. Article V of the Constitution provides for a Convention of States. A convention of this nature would reduce the power of political opportunists by amending the Constitution with term limits. It would take power away from the corrupt and distracted federal government and return that power to the states--where Americans can influence their local representatives to fix the coming electric grid crisis.

Mark Elmo Ellis is a freelance copywriter who lives with his wife and dog in the bluegrass on the fringes of Appalachia. He is also the content coordinator with the Convention of States Action for Kentucky.