Blackouts

The state of a nation's energy sector is often a reflection of the nation itself. Venezuela's situation has become dire, as many technicians have abandoned ship. Electrical outages have not only disrupted what remains of the economy, but actually caused water shortages as well. Much is made of the starvation common of social collapses and now seen in Venezuela, but even deadlier are the disease epidemics that follow famine and deteriorating living conditions. The inability of the 3rd-world socialist utopia to keep the lights on and the pumps running will be the leading cause of outbreaks of diseases like dysentery.

The Japanese Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was built to withstand earthquakes and tsunamis, but not to the extent of the 9.1 magnitude Tohoku event. When the plant went down with the on-site backup generators flooded, the spent-fuel holding tanks began to overheat. The problem was fairly straightforward: they needed a temporary solution to add water to the tanks until electrical service could be restored. They attempted to ship in portable generators, but the plugs weren't compatible. In the end, they failed to maintain the situation, leading to fires in three of the reactor buildings and core meltdowns. Their failure largely reflects the culture obsessed with conformity and face-saving. The electrical company routinely failed to communicate the reality of the situation to Tokyo authorities, and was unable to cope with a disaster that fell outside of expected scenarios. The bigger tragedy was that the resource-starved country shut down most of its remaining nuclear reactors, and imports $38 billion in coal per year. The Japanese are one of the highest IQ and most conscientious societies on Earth, but certain aspects of their culture make nuclear power a threat to themselves and their Pacific Ocean neighbors.

In the US, electricity has historically been plentiful and stable. In modern times, over-regulation has led to higher prices and the stifling of innovation. Nuclear power is not particularly competitive on price, thanks to heavy regulation, and a number of coal-fired stations were shuttered by the Obama administration. And yet, when de-regulation was permitted, corporate vampires like Enron immediately engaged in abusing the markets to generate crises and extort high prices from desperate customers. It highlighted the plight of the American citizen, trapped between a government behemoth on one side and rapacious corporate racketeers on the other.

As reviewed in Greenouts, several Australian states now suffer routine rolling blackouts, thanks to environmentalism. They are establishing a pattern that will soon become common throughout the western world: widespread mental instability gives rise to electrical instability. Germany, currently dismantling all coal and nuclear plants, will likely be the next to falter. In the US, New Mexico has passed a law mandating it become a zero-carbon electricity consumer, joining Hawaii, California, and D.C. in making such pledges. Is it a coincidence that those places also happen to be 4 of the 5 majority-minority states of the union? Remember, the electrical grid is a reflection of the people. California spent over a billion dollars repairing the 819 MW Oroville dam after its 2017 crisis, which may be tested by floods as early as next week. The sanctuary state, where illegal aliens can freely shoot white women, will get to experience for themselves why the 3rd world is not renown for its public infrastructure.

Of all the examples of electrical grids failing in once-industrial nations, none are as glaring as that of South Africa, where blackouts have become pervasive enough to cause water shortages in its major city. One major incident occurred when a supplier provided rocks instead of coal. When the automatic alarms sounded, none of the control room staffers could be found. This all is typical in a country where companies are forced to hire large numbers of blacks who often sleep on the job or fail to show up at all, and crime is so rampant that it is actually halting major infrastructure projects. They will discover the hard way why Zimbabwe's electrical production history looks like this and agricultural output looks like this. In three decades, South Africa has degraded from a nuclear-armed modern country, to one that tries to burn rocks for electricity.