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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

Energy-Related Public RelationsAs I’ve mentioned, I get several emails each day from a pro-nuclear energy group, and, the more I learn about what they’re doing, the more I deeply sympathize with their situation, which, to summarize, is dealing with public misunderstanding. How many people know that nuclear power is by far the safest large-scale resource, that thousands of times more people die every year from coal than have ever been killed by nuclear accidents? Who’s tracking with “advanced nuclear,” which will eliminate all the problems that existed with the plants design of the 1950s?

Of course, we people in renewables face very similar challenges. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Proud to Write for the Financial Prognosticator "The Hedge Connection"Over the last six months I wrote a number of articles for the Hedge Connection, a newsletter that goes out to many thousands of investors, especially family offices.  Considering that one of its most important domains is clean energy, I was happy to oblige when they invited me to contribute.

Understandably, they like to jazz up their weekly email with a quote from an economist who wrote something about a topic of current importance.
In today’s newsletter: “Every global recession since 1970 has been preceded by at least a doubling of the oil price, and every time the oil price has fallen by half and stayed down for six months or so, a major acceleration of global growth has followed.”  – Economist and journalist, Anatole Kaletsky (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Another Short Piece on Criminal Justice – Then I Promise I’ll Go Back To Renewable EnergyI just came home from my regular Friday evening visit to our local wine bar, where I was speaking with a friend who’s about my age (which means we were both teenagers in the early 1970s). He told me that he recalled that drinking and driving wasn’t a huge deal at the time, and that, unless you had done something horrible, there was very little chance that you would be arrested and that your life would take a radical turn for the worse simply because you were behind the wheel with a blood alcohol content of 0.0800001%. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

A Little Nuclear Energy Humor 

The pro-nuke group that has me on its email distribution list has some extremely intelligent and highly educated people, most of whom take this subject extremely seriously.  Occasionally I tell them to take a few deep breaths; all that rancor isn’t helping.

Maybe some of them took my advice.  Now, they’re talking about a mock campaign to show how silly all the anti-nuke sentiment is, and how most scientifically illiterate people gobble all this up. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Why the Law-Making Process in the U.S. So Slow to React to the Will of the PeopleIt’s common for readers outside the U.S. to wonder how it’s possible that this country is making so little progress on climate change mitigation, even though 2014 was the hottest year on record, and May, June, August, September, October and December were the hottest such months since records began to be kept in 1880.

It’s simply this: powerful interests, not the will of the people, control our law-making processes. Here’s a wonderful example that just happens to be in today’s news: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Are We Stewards Or Pillagers? Here’s a very solid insight from Greg Krumm:

…We have progressed as humans in the basic chores of humans such as sewage control, trash pick-up, crop rotation and recycling…Our collective human intelligence should enforce the theory that we are stewards of the Earth as opposed to pillagers … By using human intelligence for protecting our home, climate control as a problem becomes more solvable.

Thanks, Greg. That’s a wonderful and well-expressed sentiment; I only wish it (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Environmental Consciousness and the Nature of HumankindMy wise and compassionate friend Cameron Atwood writes:

Woodrow Wilson (was concerned about extractive wealth) across our economy and the world economy as well (when he wrote) “…shrewd wits playing on the credulity of others, taking advantage of the weakness of others, trading in the necessities of others.”

Here’s a counter-argument, offered in good spirit. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

These days there are many things to take into account as you decide what type of house you would like to construct. If you would like to construct a house with a “green” philosophy then the following steps will help you do so:

Step 1: Consider the alternative for Green Housing Construction Ideas (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Environment Justice Is Just One of Many Different MaladiesI try to speak with my friend whom I quoted here on energy policy at least once a month, to try my best to keep up with his incredible insights about the world of the 21st Century.  He’s aware of my passion for environmental and energy issues, and he understands that my field of expertise is limited to that domain.  My friend agrees that our dwindling natural resources and the demise of the environment should rank high on the list of society’s difficulties, though, he argues, not necessarily at the top. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Electric Motors and GeneratorsA young reader hopes to replace wind turbines with an alternate source of energy.  He writes:  these generators are not very large to supply electricity to an ordinary home.  Now the other power source: an electric motor. (more…)

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