Greta Thunberg is tilting at windmills.

Which, if you think about it, is pretty appropriate. After all, Greta has delusions of grandeur, and those of us in the less exalted classes are expected to follow her docilely as she battles imaginary demons. You are to be her Sancho Panza to her Don Quixote.

Saint Greta is no longer just fighting global warming and fossil fuels but has declared war on industrialized society itself. Capitalism, not trapped atmospheric heat, is her real target.

In line with her values, she is now protesting a wind farm in Norway because it endangers the traditional hunting grounds of the native Sami people. (Yes, Europe has its own indigenous races displaced by other groups, because human history is filled with such stories. We know about people oppressed by Europeans because, unlike in many cultures, we can read and write to record history.)

Coincidentally, I am told that I am of Sami descent, giving me status as an oppressed indigenous person. However, my desire to hunt reindeer is very low, so I think I will stick to what I know best, which is complaining about idiots with savior complexes. I have no intention of returning to my 1/8th genetic roots, freezing in the winter dark eating reindeer flesh.

Similarly, the largest association of American Indians on Thursday called for a moratorium on offshore industrial wind energy projects, which could make the North Atlantic Right Whale extincthttps://t.co/CIl1cXo8BZ

— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) March 1, 2023

Greta is having a grand ol’ time getting attention for her delusional behavior, although in this case her activism actually brings up a good point about which I will have more to say in a moment. But first, the story:

Dozens of activists, including Greta Thunberg of neighboring Sweden, blocked the entrance to Norway’s energy ministry in Oslo Monday to protest a wind farm they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer in Arctic Norway.

The activists, mainly teenagers, lay outside the ministry entrance holding Sami flags and a poster reading “Land Back.”

The protesters from organizations called Young Friends of The Earth Norway and the Norwegian Sami Association’s youth council NSR-Nuorat, said “the ongoing human rights violations” against Sami reindeer herders “must come to an end.” Several of the activists donned the Sami’s traditional bright-colored dress and put up a tent used by the Arctic people.

The controversy on this side of the pond, where the Native Americans are trying to stop a wind farm is much the same. Both are based upon the assertion that wind farms are not environmentally benign, having dramatic impacts on the environment in which they are placed.

And they have quite the point, actually. In order to generate any decent amount of power, the land use is enormous and the windmills create infrasonic waves that range from very unpleasant to downright unhealthy, depending upon with whom you speak. On this point, I am no expert, although it sounds plausible. I have never found standing under an enormous spinning wind turbine a pleasant experience, and I was not in a field of them when I tried it.

All this brings up an interesting point: if the placement of wind farms is harmful to indigenous people and their ways of life, why are we told that this isn’t the case for everybody else? Wind farms are good unless you happen to be of indigenous descent. Is that what I am learning?

The wind is supposed to be the super power-generator. Safe, environmentally friendly, and the future of electric generation. Along with solar panels, which could generate enough electricity to power an RV or something if you only cover half the surface of the Earth.

Haven’t figured out the math on that one, actually…

Is there some genetic difference between indigenous people and other human beings of which I am unaware, that makes windmills unbearable for their way of life but essential to mine? Pretty sure that isn’t the case.

Or, as seems more likely, are we being sold a bill of goods by politicians and activists who want to shovel wheelbarrows full of cash to their buddies, who recycle some back into their pockets? Are we building wind farms not for energy consumers, but for political cronies?

Hmm. Tough call on that one.

If only there were a way to generate electricity for billions of people without air or water pollution and on tiny amounts of land 🤷🏼‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/zJ8xvJpBco

— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) March 1, 2023

Green energy projects are more often than not money laundering schemes, not serious projects to provide the power that is the lifeblood of modern civilization. Proponents rely upon propaganda, ignorance, and the natural desire to appear virtuous in order to blackmail people into funding and living with this vile stuff.

Putting up with it is the height of irrationality, and in many cases is a display of cowardice. It may seem “mean” to tell a teenage high school dropout to pound sand as she protests and whines, but refusing to do so is genuinely cowardly.

If you are willing to sacrifice the good of humanity in order to spare the feelings of a spoiled brat, that makes you the baddie, not her. She is just a kid or was until a few months ago. It’s the adults encouraging and indulging Saint Greta who are the villains, not her. She hasn’t even finished high school yet, and adults put her on a pedestal for their own purposes.

They aren’t devoted to The Science™, but the grift.

The Sami and the Native Americans are right on this one. Massive wind farms really are a bad idea. The propaganda behind them is all fraudulent. Wind and solar may play some small role in generating electricity, but we could live without them just fine.

Of all places, Norway should rely upon its abundant supply of natural gas to ensure clean power, and if the country wants to go zero carbon then build a nuclear power plant or two.

And send Greta back to high school. She could benefit from a decent education.