I am a big fan of retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens; here’s the post I wrote in gratitude for his service when he left the bench six years ago.
Fortunately for us all, Stevens lives on, enabling him to make important suggestions on the U.S. Constitution. (more…)
Frequent commenter MarcoPolo took some level of umbrage with my post in which I mentioned that the largest public university in the U.S. had divested itself from fossil fuels. His main point: damaging the oil companies’ profits would send the economy into a tailspin. (more…)
To anyone wishing to know why Andrew Jackson’s image should be removed from U.S. currency, I refer this note in today’s Writer’s Almanac: (more…)
A reader notes: The share price of oil companies has been more affected by the low price of oil due to oversupply than any “ethical” investor movement.
Yes, that’s been true thus far. But does the future always look like the past? This is a movement that’s growing to huge proportions, and it’s hard to imagine how greater supply of and less demand for oil stocks isn’t going to drive up their cost of capital.
How many times have you wondered about the scientific evidence behind the many competing claims that are made concerning climate change and other environmental issues? Now there is a team of fact-checkers whose job is to debunk claims and present the unvarnished truth.
How they go about their work is particularly interesting. I hope you’ll check it out.
It’s about time for me to re-offer a free service that I’ve been delivering happily for the last seven years: business plan evaluation.
Suppose you have an idea for a cleantech business—anything in renewable energy, electric transportation, smart-grid, energy storage, sustainable agriculture, or some other related field. Then suppose you want my opinion of the merits of your concept. (more…)
It’s the birthday of Rachel Carson, the person perhaps most responsible for creating the modern environmental movement, with the publication of her book “Silent Spring” in 1962. It’s a great reminder of how a single person can change the world for the better (or worse). Maybe it’s a good opportunity for all of us to ask ourselves what more we can contribute to forging a just and sustainable civilization.
A reader explains how the criminal case against ExxonMobil (for covering up the truth about fossil fuels and climate change) has no merit, partially on the basis that Exxon shareholders are happy right now.
Yes they are, but it’s not clear how long that is going to stay in place. Yesterday, the largest public university in the U.S. (U. of Massachusetts) divested itself of all fossil fuel holdings, following a string of dozens of large institutional investors–and divestiture is only one of many different forces that will soon come to exert enormous pressure on Exxon and its fellows.
Writing on government subsidies for cleantech, a reader notes: taxpayers get stuck with inefficient, inadequate and inappropriate technologies, which government agencies support for political and ideological reasons. This suppresses and discourages R&D for potentially superior technologies.
Let’s begin by admitting that there is some truth here. In fact, let’s look at two important sides of this issue: (more…)
Here’s some apocalyptic stuff for your Friday morning: an article from today’s New York Times entitled: Donald Trump’s Energy Plan: More Fossil Fuels and Fewer Rules, explaining his plans to add jobs in coal mines and cancel the Paris climate accord. (more…)
