SEATTLE, April 23, 2025 -- The devastating consequences of efforts to eliminate fossil fuels in the Pacific Northwest within the next two decades are exposed in a new documentary called "What Does It Cost?" and released by Discovery Institute from filmmaker Ken Peterson and Hat Rock Capital LLC explores.
Lawmakers in Oregon and Washington State have passed ambitious legislation in recent years to combat climate change, aiming to produce 100% of electricity from zero- emission sources by 2040 and 2045, respectively. The documentary argues that these lawmakers have not considered the drastic price tag of these goals — $549.9 billion by 2050, and $1 trillion total.
"I was shocked by two things I learned while making this documentary," says writer and director Ken Peterson. "First, politicians and those supporting the new laws did not carefully determine what it would cost to comply with them. Second, the costs of trying to obey the laws will be crushing for our citizens."
The documentary draws heavily from a report by Jonathan Lesser and Mitch Rolling, published by Discovery Institute last fall. The report concluded that net zero energy policies implemented by Washington State and Oregon would result in crippling costs to residents with little to no effect on global climate change. Electricity rates will increase by 450%, with the electrical grid experiencing a demand it cannot meet. Yet the resulting decrease in world temperature would be only 0.003 ⁰C.
"This documentary demonstrates the importance of ensuring society has ample supplies of affordable and reliable energy resources," explains Lesser. "Without those, modern society cannot be sustained. As our analyses have demonstrated empirically, relying on intermittent wind and solar energy is impractical and ruinously expensive. Moreover, we do not face a choice between poverty and clean energy. Clean and reliable nuclear power can provide the needed energy without sacrificing the environment."
Mitch Rolling adds, "For most of my career in the energy industry, there has been a widely held belief that wind and solar are the cheapest sources of electricity. The truth, highlighted in this documentary, is that utilizing wind and solar is one of the most expensive and unreliable ways to operate an electric grid, and doing so will have devastating effects for families and businesses who all rely on electricity for their livelihoods."
Discovery Institute is a non-profit educational and research organization whose mission is to advance a culture of purpose, creativity, and innovation with programs in areas such as economics, education, technology, bioethics, and artificial intelligence.
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