Page 16 - The Economist20171214

16 Leaders The Economist December 16th 2017
2 ity flows. The answer to that threat is microgrids—local sys- plants cause the early deaths of thousands of Americans each
tems which may mix renewables, batteries and diesel genera- year. It can also freeze. Nuclear is clean but expensive, and can
tion and can operate independently ofthe main grid. be knocked out by flooding. PJM, a north-eastern grid operator
The politics of the proposal are also suspect; it looks like a that could benefit from Mr Perry’s largesse, says his plan is a
boondoggle to coal bosses who backed President Donald bad idea. It thinks gas is reliable enough.
Trump’selection campaign (see page 26). Worse, itthreatens to Mr Perry has nonetheless raised an important issue. Coal
reverse decades of energy deregulation. In his antipathy to and nuclearstruggle to compete with cheaperalternatives. Yet
congressional tax credits for clean energy, Mr Perry wants the because wind and solar energy are intermittent, other sources
FERC, an agency whose main job is to preserve the integrity of of energy must pick up the slack. Rather than fighting subsidy
wholesale power markets, to distort them further by also sub- with subsidy, regulators should promote market-friendly
sidisingcoal and nuclearpower. mechanisms to ensure stability of supply. Already, producers
tender for contracts to supply the market. As flexibility be-
Baseload ofrubbish comesmore important, theycan bid to provide more ancillary
In the process, he gives short shrift to a fuel that has been one services, such as natural-gas plants that ramp up and down
of the greatest fruits of America’s free market in recent de- quickly, demand-response pricing to reduce peak consump-
cades—naturalgas.Thankstotheshalerevolution,lastyeargas tion, and battery storage. Auctions are also the best way to de-
eclipsed coal as the largest source of power generation in the cide which baseload plants stay in service. PJM’s capacity-per-
country. Natural gas is not perfect. It emits carbon dioxide and, formance payments reward producers for having power
because it is hard to store, its price can soar during emergen- available when needed, and impose a bigpenalty ifit is not.
cies—witnesssupplydisruptionsinEuropethisweekandshiv- America has never had so many options for making elec-
ering schoolchildren in China (see page 39). But no fuel is fail- tricity reliable, cheap and green. Throwing subsidies at the
safe. Coal is far dirtier: small particles from coal-fired power dirtiest fuel ofthe lot is not one ofthem. 7

Film remakes
Don’t take two

Sticking with winners is natural. Butitcan go awry
RIGINALITY is hardly the bannedbythe local preacher. Butthe reactionarycleric hasnot
Ohallmarkoftoday’s film in- reckoned on the invention ofwireless headphones, which en-
dustry. The biggestfilm of 2017 at able Ren to put on the best darned silent disco in the Midwest.
the American box office is a re- Executive Decision. Agroup ofterrorists hatch a plot to hi-
make of“Beauty and the Beast”; jackan airliner. But the flight is overbooked. When they refuse
it will be surpassed by “The Last to leave their carefully chosen seats, two of their number are
Jedi”, which opens this week beaten to a pulp by United flight attendants. The other terro-
and is the squillionth episode of rists stay on board but are too cowed to do anything.
the Star Wars saga. The ten highest-grossing films in Holly- Wall Street: Regulators Never Sleep. The hard-charging
wood this yearare all sequels orremakes. boss of a big American bank has plans to shovel credit at peo-
As the film industry struggles to reverse a decline in box-of- ple who are barely able to scrape together a living. But when
fice receipts (see page 59), it will keep returning to the comfort the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau comes calling, he
of the familiar. Franchises like Star Wars will steamroller on. quickly backs down. Chastened, he focuses instead on getting
Remakes are trickier. Well over 100 are thought to be in the through the Federal Reserve’s annual stress tests.
works, from “Private Benjamin” to “Fantastic Voyage”. Some Psycho. Marion Crane is searching for somewhere to stay
will get a 2018 twist: the mark in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, a and spots a place called the Bates Motel. Before going in, Mar-
1980s comedy about two con artists, is a tech billionaire. But ion decides to look up the motel on TripAdvisor and sees that
not all. The following projects are rumoured to be under way several guestshave warned aboutthe state ofthe showers. She
in Hollywood. They suggest that remakes have theirlimits. opts fora Marriott Courtyard instead.
Taxi Driver. A disturbed man called Travis is forced to be- Taken. A retired CIA agent’s daughter is kidnapped by sex
come an Uber driver after losing his job. As he becomes in- traffickers while sightseeing in Europe. He uses the “Find My
creasingly embittered about the world, his thoughts turn to vi- iPhone” app to trackthem down and then calls in the cops.
olence. But passengers notice his surly attitude and when his Brewster’s Millions. Monty Brewster has to spend $30m
driverratings fall below 4.6, he is deactivated from Uber. in 30 days, without accruing any assets, to inherit a fortune of
Sleepless in Seattle. Annie is drawn to the voice of Sam, a $300m. He putsall ofitinto bitcoin. With one dayleft, hisstake
widower, as he talks movingly on a podcast about whether he has spiralled to over $30bn. Fortunately, his bitcoin wallet is
can ever love another woman. On an impulse, she decides to hacked just before the deadline and his inheritance is secured.
write him a letter asking him to meet at the top of the Empire Some remakes can improve with an update: films about
State Building in New York. By the time the letter arrives, Sam surveillance, from “Rear Window” to “Enemy of the State”,
has downloaded Tinderand is much happierwith his lot. would mean even more today. But the rest of Hollywood will
Footloose. Ren, a new arrival in a sleepy rural town, is ap- need to come up with some original ideas to keep filmgoers
palled to find that dancing and rock music have both been flockingin. Play somethingnew, Sam. 7