It’s childish to say that individual weather phenomena are the result of climate change; anyone with the brains of a turnip shudders when one of our store-bought senators offers a snowball as evidence that the Earth has not warmed.
Having said that, it’s hard not to notice the heat wave in India—especially insofar as it’s been so extreme (118 degrees F in places) and has been responsible for 500 deaths thus far. According to the report linked above: (more…)
Because I watch so little commercial television, I tend not to see advertisements—even the good ones, like this piece for Siemens and the success they’re having with wind energy in our (quite breezy) state of Iowa. Until now, Iowa was known primarily for corn; it’s by far the largest producer in the U.S. Iowa grows three times as much corn as Mexico; it is home to 92,300 corn farms on 30,700,000 acres, which translates to an average size of 333 acres.
My point: as you check out the ad, notice that the corn production is largely unobstructed by the presence of the wind turbines; that’s a nice feature, IMO.
Frequent commenter MarcoPolo placed a three-part note on my pieces on the Low Carbon Investment conference and this one on Amory Lovins, which I summarize as follows:
1) Amory Lovins isn’t really credible.
2) The study from Yale University suggesting that the common person is becoming increasingly aware of and concerned about climate change isn’t credible either.
3) There is no evidence that the big banks are investing heavily in renewable energy.
I respond: (more…)
A reader reports:
Finished “Renewable Energy—Following the Money” last night. Good read, though I didn’t find it quite as compelling as the first two. I only marked about six pages to come back to again later. I found the interview with Jerry Taylor most interesting. I share some of those ideas, though not all. (more…)
Whenever I encounter someone who believes that a huge penetration of variable energy resources (mainly solar and wind) can only come with the advent of cost-effective energy storage, I always recommend this presentation from energy innovator Amory Lovins. I’ve seen him perform this twice, and I find it quite compelling.
Here’s a piece of research from Yale University that corroborates my gut instinct: Americans are increasingly aware of and concerned about climate change.
But here’s something a bit scary that also rings true to me: Americans’ opinions on many matters (including climate change) are vastly divergent from the scientists whose life work is studying those subjects. This has always befuddled me; apparently, we feel qualified to fabricate our own viewpoints on important matters; we don’t have a problem with simply inventing stuff. Perhaps it’s a take-off on “Yankee ingenuity.”
One of the most important reasons to believe in a sustainable future is the approach that young people are taking vis-à-vis the environment. Those looking for a bit of insight into this should check out this video sponsored by 350.org, depicting the work that thousands of college students are doing to encourage their schools to divest themselves of their holdings in the fossil fuel industries. Right on, as I like to say.
It’s Memorial Day weekend here in the U.S., a time we Americans remember those who fought for our country. But because it’s a celebration, it has the unfortunate effect of glorifying war, rather than causing us to do what we can to make it cease.
If you’re looking for something fun to do for a few minutes, you might want to check out this footage of New York City from circa 1900. I especially like the woman frantically trying to keep her dress from being blown up by the wind. It was nice to see her laugh at her little predicament; it’s a reminder that people never really change. (more…)
The folks who argue that wind energy is a bad thing have a very tough challenge, considering all the fossil fuels being replaced and all the jobs (50,000 in the U.S. in 2013) that the industry provides. Somehow, however, none of this seems to deter them.
Strangely, the pro-nuclear people seem to be the most vocal about this. They understand the realities of climate change, but sadly, tend to view all forms of renewable energy, especially wind, as a competitive threat, which I suppose it is.
Here’s a response to another baseless attack on the wind industry; it’s short, yet terrifically powerful.
Btw, how would you like to be the guy on top of the nacelle in the picture? I sure wouldn’t.
Every now and then we being reminded of how our world temperature levels are rising and how, if not checked, will gradually lead to our demise. Scientists, environmentalists and law makers have made policies to try and curb the effects of the climate change. For those who are still not convinced of these effects, the following are highlights of how agriculture is being threatened by the rising temperatures. (more…)
