Here’s a popular Facebook “share” on climate science to which I commented, “Always nice to see science score a victory, but it sure is a shame that this is in any way remarkable.” And here’s the discussion that ensued:
People are born into bad habits, wasteful habits. They pile up their trash with things they don’t know how to use anymore and ship the bags off to be buried in the landfill. However, recycling has never been easier; most just need to collect their recyclables into the designated bin and wait for garbage collectors to haul them away. (more…)
Here’s a good demonstration of the power of marketing. Building-integrated PV has been around for decades, and now there are hundreds of different variations on the theme on display at the large shows like Solar Power International and Intersolar. Yet, until now, the subject has remained arcane. (more…)
The good news: Things are becoming very clear in Washington. Trump’s senior adviser Stephen K. Bannon has explained the rationale behind the cabinet picks, i.e., to destroy those government departments and any regulations that emanate from them. According to Bannon, one of the three most important goals the White House is working towards is the “deconstruction of the administrative state.” (This, of course, confirmed what was obvious to anyone paying even the tiniest bit of attention long before the announcement.) (more…)
A commenter notes: The U.S. Department of Energy and other government funding institutions have invested vast sums in failed projects.
This is true (depending on how one defines “vast”), but grossly misleading. Overall, 80% of all businesses fail within the first 18 months. Of DoE-funded projects, only 17% fail, and, as of three years ago, these projects had already attracted over $625 million in private funding.
Most of us here on the planet we call home are excited about NASA’s discovery of seven Earth-like planets, about 39 light-years from where you’re sitting right now. That seems almost close enough to reach out and touch. It appears quite possible that humankind, after gazing into the night sky and wondering about extraterrestrial life for the last 100,000 years or so, may find it fairly soon. (more…)
According to Writer’s Almanac, hosted and edited by Garrison Keillor, (February 22 was) the birthday of the first president of the United States, George Washington, born in the Colony of Virginia (1732)… Washington served as president for eight years. In his Farewell Address to the nation, he warned that his greatest fear for the new country was that forces would try to divide Americans and undermine the country’s principles. He argued that its citizens should come together to resist those people: “Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.” (more…)
I’ve been asked to head-up the marketing role in an international group that will further popularize the role that electric bicycles play in our rapidly advancing world of low-carbon transportation.
Getting this done effectively will require some research, thought, and planning, but it will hardly be tantamount to pushing a rope. The appeal of e-bikes, whether for urban commuting or for recreation, is obviously the first time one hits the accelerator and goes zooming up a hill. (more…)
A commenter notes about the green energy “boom,” The kind of reckless, overly optimistic, excessive spending that typifies a “boom” has largely dissipated, as new (sic) technologies mature.
No one ever knowing participates in “reckless, overly optimistic, excessive spending.” (more…)
Here’s a subject on which a great deal has been written over the last few months: how do we explain the fact that Trump’s actions that most U.S. voters deem as patently deceitful and un-American have caused such a relatively minor erosion in his support base? People have suggested that Trump supporters:
• tend to live on a diet of Fox News (that is almost never critical of the new president) (more…)
