The German mathematician and rationalist philosopher Gottfried Leibniz speculated that although this world is clearly not perfect, that it may be the “best of all possible worlds.” Under this theory, God created the very best world He could; any other …
Author: craigshields
Can We Predict the Fate of Humankind? No. Can We Affect It? Absolutely.
Frequent commenter Marco Polo writes in response to my post Humankind Possesses Superior Intelligence–But There’s a Catch: “The End is Nigh” has been a common catch cry among doomsday prophets throughout the ages. You’re correct that, throughout history, there have …
Can We Predict the Fate of Humankind? No. Can We Affect It? Absolutely. Read More »
We Tend To Overestimate Trump’s Power To Destroy
Michael Bloomberg often delivers a short address at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum – Wall St., an event I’ve attended several times over the years. Here’s an op-ed he wrote in the New York Times that invokes the same folksy, …
We Tend To Overestimate Trump’s Power To Destroy Read More »
Tagged with: Renewable Energy Finance Forum
Typos Sometimes Tell Us Something About the Author
I constantly find typos in stuff I’ve written, even after I’ve reread the piece three times, and sometimes, after my proofreader has gone over it. I’m totally embarrassed whenever I publish something with some glaring error in it, and so …
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Tagged with: Hillary Clinton
ExxonMobil–Climate Change Case Takes a Step in the Right Direction
It appears that the prosecution of ExxonMobil for defrauding investors by lying about climate change has taken a turn for the worse for the oil giant, as their attempts to have the case moved from New York to Texas have …
ExxonMobil–Climate Change Case Takes a Step in the Right Direction Read More »
Take a Cool Guess—The Fun Quiz on Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability. Today’s Topic: U.S. Renewable Energy Resources
Question: What clean energy resources is the largest contributor to the U.S. grid-mix. Hint: the correct answer just took the lead in 2016. Answer: Can be found at Clean Energy Answers. Relevance: Hydro will be back on top in 2017, though …
Humankind Possesses Superior Intelligence–But There’s a Catch
It’s the birthday of primatologist Jane Goodal, who pointed out, “Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans have been living for hundreds of thousands of years in their forest, living fantastic lives, never overpopulating, never destroying the forest. I would say that they have …
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Westinghouse Bankruptcy Shakes The Nuclear World – Forbes
My old friend from high school, Bruce Wilson, now a practitioner of LEED certified building construction, sent me this piece on the Westinghouse bankruptcy and what it means to the nuclear industry. I respond: I have to think the author is …
Westinghouse Bankruptcy Shakes The Nuclear World – Forbes Read More »
Unworkable Ideas in Energy and Electric Transportation
It seems like I do an awful lot of raining on others’ parades, but someone needs to sort out good ideas from bad ones. Here’s a great example of something that isn’t theoretically impossible, but is supremely impractical. There is …
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What If Trump Were Just Playing a Joke on Us?
It’s been five years since I interviewed my colleague Dr. Tom Konrad of AltEnergyStocks for my book Is Renewable Really Doable? Now I come to learn that he has even more talent than I actually suspected. Check out this satire …
