Changing Regard for the U.S. Presidency
Pictured here is a popular meme one sees on Facebook. And it happens to play out in my life, where a friend comments: (more…)
Tagged with: Trump
The Wrath of Climate Change Will Be Imbalanced
What will happen to our economic fortunes in the Western Hemisphere as it warms over the coming decades? It depends on exactly where we live. (more…)
Tagged with: Wrath of Climate Change
Inciting Violence as a Response to the Politics of the Day
Those who may have been worried that our society was devolving into a nation of apathetic slugs can certainly lay aside those concerns at this point. Join 5.6 million of your other fellow Americans, and check out the ad below from the National Rifle Association. Does any of this sound like sitting around and passively watching the events of the day?
As you watch the commercial, I hope you’ll ask yourself a handful of questions: (more…)
The U.S. Has Role Models for Sustainability and Civility All Over the Globe
My dear friend (and very first marketing consulting client, back in 1985) Terry Ribb writes that she takes heart in the progress that Sweden has made in committing to renewables. I thought I would publish the conversation that she and I are having. (Note that she, as always, has a much more positive attitude about all this than I do.)
Terry: Here’s another gem for you. (more…)
The Validity of Natural Gas as an Energy Resource
In a newsletter, Bill McKibben notes that we need to:
1) Stop new fossil fuel infrastructure. If you’re serious about Paris, that means realizing we’re already overshooting the temperature targets we set there – there’s literally no more room in the carbon budget for more pipelines, more frack fields, more coal ports. If France’s new president can put an end to exploration for oil and gas, so can our leaders. (more…)
How Close Are We To Harnessing Nuclear Fusion?
Here’s an article that states that nuclear fusion is “on the horizon.” Hmmm. Hasn’t it been on the horizon for as long as any of us can remember? (more…)
Tagged with: Harnessing Nuclear Fusion
How Important is “Vehicle-to-Grid” in the EV Adoption Curve?
There is no doubt that electric transportation will make terrific headway over the coming couple of decades. Here, Forbes suggests that one-quarter of the cars on the road in 2040 will be EVs. Fair enough. But the author goes on to suggest that the opportunities that this will create for V2G (vehicle to grid, enabling the grid to absorb peak power from idle EVs) represents the “tipping point for renewable energy.” (more…)
Tagged with: affordable batteries at utility-scale, demand response, electric transportation, enabling the grid to absorb peak power from idle EVs, ensemble of renewable energy coming on line, high voltage transmission, integration of different types of renewables with different availability profiles, one-quarter of the cars on the road in 2040 will be EVs, storage associated with EVs, tipping point for renewable energy, V2G, vehicle-to-grid
In Renewables, China Picks Up the Baton that the U.S. Dropped
As pictured here, the Chinese province of Qinghai used only wind, solar and hydroelectric power to supply its population of 5.8 million for seven consecutive days. (more…)
The Healing of the Chesapeake Offers Insight Into an Important Social Phenomenon
Whether or not they’re keeping track of the results, most Americans have heard of the initiative aimed at restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay–reducing the levels of pollution and building back the ecosystems. (more…)
Consumerism and Sustainability
Frequent commenter MarcoPolo responds to my suggestion that unbridled consumerism is unsustainable, and that it’s particularly atrocious that so much of it is focused on items that serve little if any practical value. He writes: (more…)
