96 years ago today, Congress passed the Volstead Act, which provided for enforcement of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the sale of alcohol. As we all know, this was overturned in the early 1930s. Relevance? The U.S. Constitution, …
They’re Called “Amendments” for a Very Important Reason Read More »
Progress happens in small steps. Maybe you replaced an older appliance with an energy-efficient model. You dutifully buy CFL bulbs and now you’re venturing into LEDs. When it’s time for a new car, gas mileage is at the top of …
A reader casually notes: “(The German) Energiewende (energy change-in-direction) is proving to be an economic disaster.” This is false. It could be just a careless blunder, but it’s probably not; most often, when we hear this, it’s part of an extremely …
Magnificent Example of Disinformation in the Renewable Energy Space Read More »
A friend sent me this piece on the demise of Jeb Bush’s candidacy for president of the United States in 2016. I wrote back: That’s remarkable.
How is it possible to be a brilliant neurosurgeon and a thoroughgoing crackpot at the same time? I honestly don’t have a clue, but almost everything that comes out of Ben Carson’s mouth should alarm the living hell out of …
Do You Know What Ben Carson Believes? Holy Mackerel. Read More »
Here’s a presentation from the US Department of Energy on microgrids, which I offer mainly because it makes a point I bring up constantly: there was nothing wrong with the approach we took to energy in the 20th Century; the problems …
A reader on Quora.com asked the question in the title above and adds: I was just curious to know if we have the energy to support it and if not, what would need to happen in order to meet the …
I’m still in touch with a decent number of my friends from college, and my communication lines here are further strengthened by my service as “class secretary,” meaning that I collect and edit submissions from my classmates for the school’s …
Maintaining a Sense of Humor about Eco-Friendly Transportation Read More »
Here’s a question I was asked earlier today. If the average ocean depth is two miles, and 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, that means that there are tens of millions of cubic miles of water bobbing …
Here’s a vision of the house of the future that I wanted to share, largely to make this point: it’s 399 square feet. That’s only a little larger than the size of a prison cell for the top white collar criminals …
