What Compassion Looks Like
We often speculate as to what’s going to be required to redirect our civilization onto a sustainable track. Maybe it’s public funding of cleantech R&D. (more…)
American Education: What Went So Terribly Wrong?
There are probably at least a dozen different speculations that could be offered as to why American education is such a train-wreck. My personal belief is that, because our political system has a short-term view of success, our elected “leaders” refuse to invest in anything that doesn’t bring them immediate glory. (more…)
Life Provides Us All Certain Epiphanies
Phyllis Mueller, my business partner throughout the 1990s, was doggedly hard-working, and incredibly insightful. At one point she told me, “Everyone has brief moments of clarity in life that are clear messages that we’ve gone the wrong way, occasions in which we can see immediately that we need to get back on the right track.”
I would suggest this to the policeman in this picture: “Pardon me, but you seem to find yourself removing a nun in handcuffs who had come to protest peacefully the cruel treatment of children at the southern U.S. border. To me, that’s a pretty good indication that something’s gone wrong for you. You may want to use this moment of lucidity to make a new beginning.”
Tagged with: protest peacefully
Small Electric Vehicle: Reason to Be Suspicious
Here’s the small, all-electric Scoot. Not sure about this one. First, it’s not good to see contradictory language. In the same ad, it claims its range is:
“roughly 40 miles,” “a 125 mile journey,” and “cruising range approx. 100km (62 miles)” (more…)
Tagged with: Small Electric Vehicle
The Very Nerve! A Justice System That Actually Works
Living in the United States and being told that this is the “best country on Earth,” it’s easy to conclude that this is true, and that any instance of injustice, unfairness, insanity, etc. that exists here also lives elsewhere–in spades. (more…)
Tagged with: Justice System That Actually Works
Trains Provide Tiny Carbon Footprint on a Per Mile-Ton Basis
If it’s true that there are guy-things and girl-things, trains most certainly fit into the former category. But in addition to their mysterious appeal to the male instinct/libido/whatever-it-is, trains provide numerous other benefits to our society, mainly that they offer the best deal in terms of carbon footprint per mile-ton; it’s somewhere between a 5:1 to a 16:1 advantage vs. air travel, and about a 2:1 advantage over truck. (more…)
Tagged with: Carbon Footprint
Fraudulent Claims in Renewable Energy
For those who like to debunk fraudulent claims in renewable energy, here’s a thing of real beauty. It’s a device that uses solar energy to boil (thus purify) 5000 liters of water per day. (more…)
Tagged with: Fraudulent Claims in Renewable Energy
Failure to Fight Climate Change: A Crime Against Humanity?
A crime against humanity? Climate change denialism is part of Trump’s very brand. It’s an expression of who and what he is; it’s actually an important aspect of maintaining what remains of his political strength.
The Trump brand is an ultra-consistent set of positions that have fabulous appeal to a small group of the amoral rich, and a very large group of hateful, ignorant people who adore their leader’s:
• Overt racism
• Rejection of science
• Exploitation of the environment for profit
• Cruelty to the poor, Muslims, and LBGTQs
• Dismantling any aspect of the federal government that provides actual service to people who need it
• Support of the world’s tyrants
• Bullying those who criticize him or, especially, investigate his alleged criminal activity
• Threatening wars all over the globe
• Creating asinine economic positions like skyrocketing national debt and self-destructive trade wars
• Abuse of women
One could say that he is a “walking crime against humanity,” but to single out his failure to fight climate change is a strange position to take, IMO.
Tagged with: Exploitation of the environment for profit
Fostering the Transition To Clean Energy
According to a report recently published by the nonprofit think tank International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD):
• On a worldwide basis, coal, oil and gas get more than $370 billion per year in support.
• This compares with roughly $100 billion for renewables. (more…)
Tagged with: $100 billion subsidies for renewables, difference between climate-caused disaster and a runaway clean energy revolution, fossil fuels get more than $370 billion per year in support, G20 nations pledged to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, global transition to clean energy, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
Los Angeles Burb Says No to Natural Gas, Yes to Renewables and Energy Storage–Saves a Cool $125 Million
Southern California’s City of Glendale, just northeast of downtown Los Angeles, has scrapped plans for a $500 million 262 MW gas peaker plant in lieu of an array of clean energy alternatives that include battery energy storage that when implemented, this integrated solution will save ratepayers $125 million compared to the initial plan. (more…)
Tagged with: Renewables and Energy Storage
