Simon Court
604 posts
@SimonCourtACT
ACT Under-Sec for RM reform and Infrastructure. Portfolios-Energy-Resources-Climate Authorised by C. Purves, 27 Gillies Avenue, Auckland.
Blasting a giant rocket off for a joyride around the Moon right now just seems like an excessive use of fuel and money at a time that the world faces an oil crisis that's fast turning into a global cost of living crisis.
“A gallon of jet fuel contains 34 kilowatt-hours of energy in a package weighing six pounds. A lithium-ion battery storing the same energy weighs 250 pounds. That density gap is why every military on earth runs on liquid hydrocarbons, why every container ship crossing the Pacific burns bunker fuel, why every combine harvester in Iowa runs on diesel, and why every 747 landing at Heathrow runs on kerosene. The fact that nobody wages war over solar panels is evidence of their limitations not superiority.” —@Shellenberger open.substack.com/pub/public/p/2…
Nearly a month into the conflict w/ the Islamic Republic, what war-fighting strategies have come to define the US and Israeli mission, and what are the implications for how Iran responds for the road ahead? I joined @ArunodayM on @BBCWorld last night to unpack this.
It's fitting that 🇳🇿New Zealand's national bird is the kiwi: Because like the kiwi bird which was isolated with no predators, it lost the ability to fly and became easy prey when threats arrived. New Zealand imbibed the luxury belief that geography equals security, that "international order" is a given, and that someone else (the US or Australia) would always come to the rescue. Then when Chinese naval task forces started conducting live-fire drills near its waters and aggressively militarizing islands nearby, it finally woke up. Today New Zealand's army is small, while their navy barely has any fighting vessels left; their air force has NO fighter force whatsoever. This situation was really supercharged under the former PM Jacinda Ardern. Not only did New Zealand cuck itself by with pacifist posturing, it also indulged in her favorite ideological program, implanting DEI in every domain, and adopting the "Maori ways of knowing" in science curricula (lmao). Then Adern abandoned the country, took her family, and went to Australia (LMAO). Now, New Zealand has to build its armed forces practically from scratch. New Zealand is learning, late, that in a contested world, hard power still matters and predators don't respect flightless birds. This is the consequence of electing people drunk on idealism. Now, the NZ government is pledging billions to recruit personnel, buy helicopters, drones, anti-tank missiles, and boost spending toward 2% of GDP. It's a necessary correction, but rebuilding combat capability from near-scratch will take decades
If we start running out of fuel, shall we just make Ford Rangers illegal?
Dependence on oil and gas has always meant we are at the mercy of volatility caused by oil wars and geopolitics. In past oil price shocks, countries had little choice but to absorb the pain. Now we have a way out: Homegrown renewable energy has never been cheaper, more accessible, or more scalable. Solar panels and wind turbines cannot be blockaded or weaponised. There are no price spikes for sunlight and no embargoes on the wind. The fastest path to peace, lower living costs, energy security, economic, and national security is clear: Speed up the shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. It’s also essential if we are to avert the climate crisis. #MakeOilHistory
