Here’s an interesting article on the future of energy from Kansas City-based Fritz Maffry. I agree with every word, FWIW.
My associates and I take extreme exception to the KCPL (Kansas City Power and Light Company, an electric utility company serving the Kansas City metropolitan area) contention that the best way to curtail rate increases in the future is to increase scale. (more…)
2GreenEnergy super-supporter Gary Tulie sent me this incredible article on the falling cost of light over the millennia.
My first thought when I saw it was that I would skim through it, since the subject matter may seem fairly obvious. But I found it extremely worthwhile, not only for its helping us understand exactly how artificial lighting went from something too expensive to use to something too cheap to care about, but also for its economic analysis that shows the difficulty in measuring large-scale changes (like this one) on an apples-to-apples basis. Great stuff.
Though these folks seem to have an unnatural enmity towards renewable energy, they make many excellent points about the future of fossil fuels, outlined very nicely here.
A commenter from Australia raises an interesting issue, noting: Go ahead, protest vigorously, make as much raucous dissent as possible, but don’t be surprised when you find support for your opponents strengthening.
You bring up a good point about people with divergent opinions emboldening each other’s positions, and I don’t think there is any doubt that this phenomenon exists to some degree. (more…)
On yesterday’s post on global warming, frequent commenter MarcoPolo notes: “Climate change has been occurring since the creation of the planet.”
This is true, but irrelevant. Equating a phenomenon that’s occurred over 4.5 billion years to one that’s happened in the last century is meaningless; it’s an example of paralogizing (today’s word of the day on Dictionary.com) (more…)
As mentioned, Cameron Atwood sent a series of political memes he created, including the one below on climate disruption.
I wish there were a way to communicate this concept to everyone on Earth; it’s certainly one that I sneak in wherever I go to speak in public: the fact that there is some level of uncertainty about the timing and full effects of climate change is not a valid argument for ignoring it. (more…)
Cameron Atwood sent me 8 – 10 political memes he created, including the one below. Of the entire group, the one that meant the most to me appears below. Coincidentally another friend had made this precise point to me just yesterday: progressive values tend to expand under administrations that people of compassion find most repugnant, as there is a force to fight. (more…)
A “SWOT” analysis is a common tool in business; the acronym represents a survey of one’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. As one can imagine, an objective and comprehensive SWOT analysis is something potential investors demand to have in place before pulling the trigger on a deal. (more…)
It appears there are three basic groupings of Americans with respect to our new president. There are citizens who believe that Donald Trump:
• Is doing a wonderful job, has exercised solid judgement, has already taken actions that support their values, and is to be commended for following through on his promises.
• Support his presidency out of a feeling of duty to country, but view it cautiously (“give him a chance”).
• Has already shown that he’s declaring war on virtually everything decent that America stands for, and have vowed to resist him. (more…)
For those who haven’t seen the incredibly thought-provoking video below, I recommend it highly. Here are a few comments: (more…)
