Book excerpt: Renewable energy - wind and solar - is a con game. The people we thought were the good guys - environmentalists - are up to their necks in dirty tricks. The billions of dollars spent on electricity every year are being used to enrich a gaggle of con men - politicians, environmentalists and the purveyors of renewable energy. Extensive lobbying and propaganda has convinced the public that it is a good idea to spend billions on dumb wind and solar energy. Dumb energy can't be counted on because it comes and goes with the wind and clouds. Dumb energy is subsidized, overtly and sneakily. Dumb energy is financed by taxes and bigger electric bills.We have been sold the idea that cheap energy can be extracted from sunshine and wind. Energy can be extracted, but it is not cheap. Wind and solar energy are not cheap and have to be backed up by traditional electric generating plants, greatly increasing the cost. The facts and figures are in this book, in an easily-understood format.Wind and solar are often sold as a way to reduce CO2 emissions and prevent climate change. But there are more effective and less expensive ways of reducing CO2 emissions than wind and solar.We all wish for miracles and want to believe in miracles. But wind and solar are dirty tricks, not miracles.