On the menu today: California governor Gavin Newsom took a long look at his state’s energy needs and concluded that the state’s lone nuclear plant can’t shut down as scheduled in the coming years. Now, his fight with green members of his own state party is heating up faster than . . . well, the planet. Meanwhile, the Florida Democratic gubernatorial primary shook out the way it was expected to, and Florida Democrats had the good sense to reject that Grim Reaper guy. Also, the law holds Nancy Pelosi’s husband accountable.
Don’t Blink: Gavin Newsom Is Getting One Right out There
They keep telling us that California is America’s future. Then again, the dystopian future of Blade Runner was set in California, too.
This morning, the odd and consequential news is that Gavin Newsom — yes, that Gavin Newsom — is on the right side of a political issue, both ideologically and factually. The California governor contends that his state isn’t ready to give up nuclear power, and he’s getting into an increasingly heated fight with environmental activists over keeping the state’s sole nuclear plant open.
The state’s last nuclear-power plant, Diablo Canyon, is scheduled to shut down its two reactors in 2024 and 2025; those reactors currently produce about 9 percent of the state’s electrical energy. Earlier this month, Newsom proposed keeping the two units of the Diablo Canyon online until 2029 and exploring the option of extending the plant’s life through 2035. He’s proposing a $1.4 billion loan from the state’s general fund to Pacific Gas & Electric, the operator of the plant, to cover the cost of relicensing the plant.
Back in May, state energy officials warned that the state’s power grid and supply systems lacked “sufficient capacity to keep the lights on this summer and beyond if heatwaves, wildfires or other extreme events take their toll. . . . The officials forecast a potential shortfall of 1,700 megawatts this year, a number that could go as high as 5,000 MW if the grid is taxed by multiple challenges that reduce available power while sending demand soaring. Supply gaps along those lines could leave between 1 million and 4 million people without power.”
Green Democrats in the state legislature don’t like the idea of keeping the reactors running, and instead are talking up an “alternative” that promotes energy-efficient cooling and lighting and tax credits to the poor for setting up solar panels. If you doubt that California can shut off nearly one-tenth of the state’s electricity-generating capacity and make up for it with new light bulbs and tax credits for solar panels, you’re not alone. Newsom spokesman Anthony York said that the legislators’ proposal “feels like fantasy and fairy dust and reflects a lack of vision and a lack of understanding about the scope of the climate problem.”
You won’t find a bigger cheerleader for alternative energy than Newsom, and the state actually reached a brief point this year when all of the energy being used came from renewables. But Newsom, whatever his other flaws, recognizes that his state’s need for energy isn’t going to shrink in the coming years; a growing economy and population require plentiful energy supplies. California’s official count is that it is home to 39.1 million people; for all the talk of businesses leaving and frustrated residents moving to Austin, the state lost 117,552 residents last year. (It is fair to wonder whether the official figures count everyone; if attempts to cross the border are soaring, it is safe to assume that a healthy chunk of those illegal immigrants are ending up in California.)
The state’s official projections from 2020 foresaw California’s population surpassing 40 million sometime this year, 41 million by 2026, and 42 million by 2031. We can quibble with the precise numbers, but the gist is clear: All those people will need electricity, and renewables by themselves are extremely unlikely to be enough. Without reliable power sources, Silicon Valley will become a ghost town.
In a recent issue of the magazine, Kevin Williamson quoted pro-nuclear climate-change activist Mark Lynas:
‘People have to realize that nuclear is the only zero-carbon source we’ve got that works everywhere all the time. We all know that wind and solar are intermittent, that hydro you can only build in the mountains.’ Nuclear doesn’t have those disadvantages, and it offers one critical geopolitical advantage. ‘With nuclear, you can stockpile fuel so that you have energy security for years at a time, without worrying about Middle Eastern despots and Russian dictators.’
Way back in 2019, after a trip to Canada, I noted that, “The reality of governing increasingly requires the frequently-face-painted, one-time progressive heartthrob, newly reelected Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to disappoint his allies on the Left.” At the time, Trudeau was disappointing his fanbase on the left on climate policies, immigration, trade, and foreign policy: “Often — not always, but often — idealistic progressives get elected and step into office, get a look at the balance sheets and projected consequences of their policies . . . and then shriek in terror and hastily retreat.”
Newsom has a lot of flaws as a governor, but even he doesn’t want to look out his window and see skyscraper and apartment-building lights blinking on and off like Christmas lights because of rolling blackouts. The question for other Democrats is, “If even Gavin Newsom can recognize the necessity of nuclear power, what’s your excuse?”
Florida Democrats Reject the Worst Options
A couple of Nikki Fried fans on social media disputed yesterday’s Morning Jolt because it expressed great skepticism that Fried would triumph in the primary.
With 99 percent of the votes counted, Charlie Crist has defeated Fried, winning almost 60 percent to her 35.3 percent. Meanwhile, the Florida grim-reaper guy ran for the Democratic nomination for state attorney general, and he finished a distant second with 28 percent of the vote.
Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Fought the Law, and the Law Won
The husband of the speaker of the House is going to a prison work program to finish off the rest of his criminal sentence.
That’s not a bold prediction or an outraged demand or a vindictive right-wing fantasy. That’s just a fact:
Paul Pelosi, husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol and causing injury in a vehicle crash three months ago in Napa County.
Napa Superior Court Judge Joseph Solga sentenced Pelosi to five days in jail and serve three years of probation, prosecutors said. Pelosi has already served two days in Napa County Jail after his Nov. 28 arrest and earned two days of credit for good behavior while in custody, according to court records. The judge also ordered him to spend eight hours in a jail-work program.
The judge also ordered him to pay a $1,723 court fine, $4,927.53 in victim restitution for medical bills and lost wages and a $150 restitution fine.
We can think of cases in which we feel that powerful and well-connected individuals have escaped accountability and punishment for their crimes. Only one major banker went to prison for fraud in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Many of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients remain unknown. Hunter Biden has been under investigation for nearly two years, with no sign of charges being filed anytime soon.
But in this case, someone powerful and well-connected broke the law, and the law held him accountable. You don’t have to look far to find someone arguing that, “The elites always get away with everything!” Here, they didn’t. Yes, it took a while for charges to get filed. Yes, it took a while for the footage of the sobriety test to be released to the public. Unreliable “news” sites falsely reported that the charges had been dropped.
But in the end, Pelosi did face criminal charges, did face a judge, and did spend a little time in jail. The American system of justice is far from perfect, but it doesn’t always allow the elites to get away with anything.
ADDENDA: You should always be listening to The Editors podcast, but in the most recent episode, the always-eloquent Charlie Cooke lays out just how terrible Biden’s expected student-loan-forgiveness program is, and the clear-sighted Alexandra DeSanctis lays out why the abortion issue didn’t help Nikki Fried catch fire as many expected she would.
I feel like I’m forgetting something . . . ah, yes, that’s it: Go buy a copy of Gathering Five Storms!