Lars Larson: Kotek makes us unprepared for coming snow, energy demands

By Lars Larson,
NW and national radio host,

On a morning when the weather puts a blanket of snow on the lawn, ain’t it nice to have your lights and heat working?

For those of you without power, and there are thousands, the liberal, elected elites of the Northwest will give you plenty of company soon.

They’ve decided to force citizens to electrify everything you own: space heat, water heat, and, of course, your car…which, for those of you without power this morning, may be a big, fat, battery brick in your driveway.

And good luck if you ran out of juice on the way home last night. Kinda tricky to bring a five-gallon can of kilowatts to your stranded battery buggy.

It’s an excellent metaphor for the future folks like Tina Kotek and Jay Inslee have in mind. New rules in both states effectively forbid natural gas in homes and businesses.

State experts forecast electric demand will jump 10% in the next decade, but supply will drop by more than 7. Just do the math.

Major coal plants have already shut down, nuclear and natural gas electric plants are already outlawed, and gasoline and diesel trucks and cars face a ban.

If you’re worried about Governor Kotek, don’t. She has a shiny new generator installed in her yard just a year ago that cranks enough amps to keep Mahonia Hall lit up like a Christmas tree.

That thing cost taxpayers a ridiculous 300 thousand dollars plus…and ironically enough, it runs on natural gas: the very stuff Kotek wants to ban you from using.