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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

While Germany has a far-right party, the AfD, Alternative für Deutschland, which received 10.4% of the vote in 2021, there really is no equivalent to the low-brow MAGA movement in the United States.

Perhaps that’s because the average German is far better educated than most modern-day Americans, or because Germany underwent one of the world’s most humanitarianism catastrophes in the 1930s/40s, and the remembrance of it continues to affect its national ethos.

In any case, as shown at left, the vast majority of the German people understand that environmentalism is the only thing that can possibly save our home planet from ruin.   There is something to be said for that.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

As suggested at left, big money bets on science every single time.

As Aesop noted 2500 years ago, “A fool and his money are soon parted.”  And, since generally the wealthiest individuals and corporations are anything but fools, they can be counted on to make decisions based on reason/science.

The rank-and-file MAGA supporter, on the other hand, has very little money to lose, and so there is little downside to poor thinking.  These folks can be counted on to believe that climate change is a hoax, promulgated by dishonest scientists, the Hollywood elite, the anti-capitalist haters of America, etc.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

The answer is simple: There are issues that are far higher priorities than Trump’s lies and criminality.  More than half the voters in this country place extreme amounts of value on:

• The supremacy of white people.

• The rationing of healthcare.

• Ensuring that Central Americans cannot enter the United States.

• The rejection of science, especially that which pertains to the climate and pandemics.

• Making sure that diversity, equity, and inclusion, collectively known as “wokeism,” do not become a part of our culture

• Suppressing any technology that might threaten the fossil fuel industry.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

As we read the words at left, a kind of incredulity comes over us.  This couldn’t really happen, could it?

All this turns around the state of world capitalism.  As long as our socio-economic system is based on greed, and ignoring the needs of other people, the answer is an emphatic no.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

The United States, at 13.4 million barrels/day, is by far the largest supplier of crude in the world.   Saudi Arabia is second at 10.8 million barrels/day.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I don’t wish to be mean to these people, but there is something both funny and appropriate about this.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s an idea: If you don’t believe that the United States has border security, you could plan a trip with your daughter to the border and see what the ~64,000 federal employees are actually doing on a day-to-day basis (see below).

One of the benefits of the trip is that you will cease to be ignorant on the subject and stop making a fool out of yourself in front of literally billions of Internet users.

  • 63,843 men and women
  • 25,836 CBP officers
  • 2,668 CBP Agriculture Specialists
  • 19,357 Border Patrol agents
  • 569 Air interdiction agents (pilots)
  • 364 Marine interdiction agents
  • 363 Aviation enforcement agents
  • 1,104 Trade personnel
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

If one takes the meme here out of context, we’re doing pretty well.  The problem is that the rate at which species are going extinct is going through the roof, due to the intrusion of humankind into animal habitats, coupled with climate change.

The current rate of extinction is hundreds or thousands of times higher than the natural baseline rate. The natural baseline rate is about one species per million species per year. However, estimates of the current extinction rate vary widely: 

  • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Up to 8,700 species per year, or 24 species per day
  • U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity: Up to 150 species lost each day, which could be as much as 10% per decade

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

To some people, the meme at left implies that they can extend their lives by reading more.  Perhaps in a few rare cases, that may be true.

However, it’s far more likely that there is no direct causation, and that, although reading is a good idea and is likely to make you a more well-rounded, intellectually curious person, that the actual reason that readers live longer is some other factor.  Perhaps readers:

Tend to take better care of themselves, refraining from smoking and consuming alcohol in excess.

Are generally better educated than the average person and are therefore less likely to have jobs that put them in direct danger.

Are more affluent than average and are therefore able to afford medical treatment when needed.

In any case, it’s important to understand that correlation doesn’t imply causation.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

We don’t hate you, but we encourage you to learn more about this subject.

The United States is unlike many countries, in that it has no official language and makes no attempt to force immigrants to abandon the cultures, customs, religions, and languages of their homelands.  Thus, in many of our major cities that were the landing points for immigrants for a period of centuries, e.g., San Francisco and New York, it’s common to see Chinatown, Little Italy, and so forth.

Note that this stands in contrast to perfectly honorable countries like Denmark.  Want to move there?  No problem, but you have six months to learn the language and pass a citizenship test in Danish.

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