CEO Column

I have written several articles over the past few months about the climate nonsense promoted by activists to convince the public that immediate action is required to prevent catastrophic damage to the planet. This month, I will review an article, written by Bjorn Lomborg, published in the Wall Street Journal on July 31, 2024. Mr. Lomborg is president of the Copenhagen Consensus and a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is an economist and not a scientist.

Environmentalists have declared: “The science of climate change is over.” As evidence that carbon emissions must be immediately reduced, the media bombards us daily with climate news about “today is the hottest day in recorded history” and “no storm has ever been as bad as Helene, except that Milton is coming next and will surely be worse because carbon emissions are higher.”

Two months ago, my friend and fellow PowerSouth employee, John Dean, provided an article for this space on peanut crops, long June days and the Dog Days of Summer. Reading John’s article brought back memories of my childhood and the endless pleasures of summertime.

Two months ago, I wrote an article on climate nonsense. I focused on silly solutions to climate change concerns like how we shouldn’t use hot water, on how climate change needs to be curbed to protect outdoor concerts, and on starvation protests meant to coerce governments to act on an individual’s personal beliefs.

Getting to know people and talking about their interests is one of the most enjoyable things in a job and in life itself. Through the years, I have gotten to know one of our employees very well and have enjoyed numerous talks about rural Alabama, farm life, and, our common passion, bird hunting.

I wash my clothes a couple of times a week. I use cold water, because I don’t wash large loads and, at times, put the whites and colors in together. My Mom told me using cold water helps to reduce fading. I recently read an article that says my washing routine is environmentally friendly because I am reducing the use of fossil fuels and cutting carbon emissions by at least 864 pounds per year. That is equivalent to planting 0.37 acres of forests, according to The American Cleaning Institute. I am climate friendly – finally.

Last month, I wrote about the growing problem of electric capacity shortages in the U.S. I referenced the extended blackouts in Texas and other parts of the Midwest with Winter Storm Yuri in 2021, as well as the rolling blackout across the TVA and Duke service areas resulting from extremely cold temperatures on Christmas Eve 2022. 

There is so much written about crises these days that we too often lose focus on what is truly a crisis. A crisis is defined as a condition of instability or danger that results in formerly successful coping mechanisms failing us and ineffective decisions and behaviors taking their place.   

I first wrote about the environmentalist movement to eliminate or reduce the consumption of meat in the name of climate change back in 2017. My first article was titled, Big Mike’s Bean House, and was centered around a study promoted at the time that advocated substituting beans for meat to reduce carbon emissions. My comments included the thought that Andalusia’s own Big Mike’s Steak House would not be nearly as successful serving beans instead of their signature steaks.

Watching Saturday morning television was one of my favorite things to do as a kid. The 1960s were the golden years for cartoons and most of them were shown on Saturday mornings. Now, kids can see cartoons anytime they wish with Cartoon Network, numerous on-demand streaming options or YouTube, but we could only see cartoons