Jonathan Lesser

The following opinion piece, by Ann Donnelly originally published in The Columbian, reviews the findings of our report, “The Crippling Costs of Electrification and Net Zero Energy Policies in the Pacific Northwest.” Read the report here and watch the documentary here. Oregon’s and Washington’s legislatures have passed electrification mandates, with deadlines for net-zero emissions by 2040 in Oregon and 2030 in Washington, and for carbon-free emissions by 2040 in Oregon and 2045 in Washington. But what will these mandates cost? Until now, we haven’t known. We finally have an educated estimate, based on sound modeling, transparent methodology and reasonable assumptions. But the sponsors of the study are not those responsible for knowing the answer, such as state policymakers, Bonneville Power Read More ›

The following piece by Bill Peacock, originally published at Master Resource, references Senior Fellow Jonathan Lesser’s report, “The Crippling Costs of Electrification and Net Zero Energy Policies in the Pacific Northwest,” co-authored with Mitchell Rolling. You can read that report here. “The data make it clear that the only possible rationale for renewable energy—making significant reductions of CO2 emissions—cannot be achieved. The costs of attempting to do this are already imposing heavy costs on economies across the world.” By the 1800s, wind and solar were both mature and successful technologies. Yet as soon as Western society developed the wealth and technology to take advantage of fossil fuels, they were discarded—along with batteries for electric cars—with no place in the modern Read More ›

Jonathan Lesser appeared on Brandi Kruse’s [un]Divided podcast as her “Sundays with Subscribers” guest to discuss the devastating consequences of net-zero policies in the Pacific Northwest. A recent report authored by Lesser and Mitchell Rolling revealed that net-zero energy policies in Washington State and Oregon will produce staggering costs to individuals and businesses without providing any meaningful environmental benefits. You can watch a portion of the interview on the September 24th episode of [un]Divided below (starting at 19:45), or you can view the entire “Sundays with Subscribers” episode by subscribing to Brandi Kruse’s [un]Divided Patreon.