Frequent commenter John Roche writes: Regarding bottlenecks associated with the adoption of solar, many groups have said that infrastructure and power lines are issues, namely getting new power lines in and expanding old ones–and that it could take years. Bottlenecks will reduce the return on investment on solar which might reduce its installation. (more…)
If you like articles that lampoon selfish people, you can’t go wrong with this.
Another fairly obvious way of looking at this subject: the rich and powerful people on this planet, i.e., those who have the capacity to do something about the impending catastrophe associated with climate change, are fiddling while Rome’s burning. It’s both absurd and nauseating at the same time.
Another cruel irony: the oil companies love all this melting ice; it reduces the cost of extracting crude.
According to the Writer’s Almanac, it’s the birthday of the man who said, “America did not invent human rights. In a very real way, human rights invented America.” That’s Jimmy Carter, born in Plains, Georgia (1924).
This is both so correct and so incorrect at the same time. The U.S. actually is built on the principles of justice and equal opportunity as outlined in our Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, not to mention more recent but no less important legislation like the Civil Rights Act. And Lord knows we do a better job at this than most other countries around the world. (more…)
Apparently, some readers freak out at the concept of an ideology’s driving climate change mitigation and other actions to promote environmental sustainability. One writes: (Someone) starts with an hypothesis formulated from an ideological/political/philosophic agenda….. Unfortunately, this sort of debate has greatly reduced the effectiveness of environmental credibility and awareness.
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It doesn’t take a genius to realize that significant savings can be made if we turn to free, renewable sources of energy to heat water, rather than use devices powered by electricity. Needless to say, in order to start utilizing solar power for this purpose you need to make the initial investment, but all calculations show that such an investment pays off relatively quickly. Apart from being most cost-effective, this method is also much more eco-conscious. (more…)
America’s Southwest is running out of water. Reservoirs are drying up, and our population continues to grow. Our cities, our high-value agriculture, our environment and our future all depend on water resources we don’t have. One abundant resource the Southwest does have is sun. What if we could create a climate-proof watershed by using the Southwest’s plentiful sunshine to create new, fresh water? Using solar osmosis, we can. (more…)
Here’s one that speaks for itself; it’s the cover of a current edition of a literary magazine in Mexico.
No need to learn Spanish to get this one.
Here’s the legendary physicist/climate scientist Joe Romm delivering a talk whose title is the headline of this post, and here are a few quotes from the talk, along with my comments.
“Climate change will have as much impact on you and your family over the next 25 years as the Internet had over the past 25 years.” (more…)
If you’re in charge of managing the monthly household budget, there’s probably one expense that really bugs you every billing cycle. The utility bill is a huge aggravation because it’s never quite the same but it always seems to be higher than expected. (more…)
I thought readers might be amused by this flier I created for my tutoring service. I just started with a new kid at the local high school yesterday (Algebra II and English). I really enjoy helping young people do well in life, and I offer huge discounts to low-income families so that everyone can afford me.
The pic here was taken in 1977, the same year I took on my first students; I worked with undergraduates in calculus and physics for the princely sum of $9/hour.
The old cliche’, of course, is that the teacher learns more than the student, and there is a great deal of truth to that.
