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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Accepting the endorsement of a former president who’s facing 91 felony counts stemming from four indictments might carry some significant baggage.

Of course, this young man is in Montana, a state that Trump carried with 57% of the vote in 2020.  Keep in mind, however, that there are far redder states; Montana has a significant number of colleges and universities, and, though it’s generally rural and conservative, it’s nothing like Alabama, North Dakota, Arkansas and Oklahoma, that went for Trump by a factor of almost 2:1.

In any case, a more relevant consideration is this: what level of support does Trump have in the state now? Folks from rural states are generally honest and have a real tough time backing hardcore criminals.  Tim Sheehy might have made a career mistake here.

Let’s hope.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Here’s another in a series of articles from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI): 90 Percent of Euro Area Banks Are Out of Step with Paris Goals. How Can They Get on Track? An excerpt:

(An analysis) of 95 Euro area banks found that approximately 90 percent are misaligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Misalignment with climate pledges can expose financial institutions to significant risk as policy and market conditions increasingly reflect climate realities. For example, when carbon-intensive borrowers face carbon pricing, regulatory restrictions, or shifting consumer preferences, they can become less competitive against peers and more prone to default on loans.

We all wish banks would get on board with climate change mitigation and, at a minimum, refuse to lend trillions of dollars for fossil fuel projects around the world.  After all, this could have the effect of helping developing countries “leapfrog” over coal and natural gas power generation plants and move directly into nuclear and renewables.

Is this “misalignment” and its accompanying business risk going to be a factor?  Perhaps we should hold out hope.  It would be far better if taking action were done simply because it’s the right thing to do, but that doesn’t seem to be happening.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

I’m not privy to the strategic planning that goes on in the executive suite of the world’s oil giants, but it appears obvious:

a) Use price gouging to make as much profit as possible in the short-term.

b) Invest in lobbyists who are well-positioned to ensure that future profits streams are not interrupted by those who are trying to stem environmental collapse.

Rinse and repeat, meaning continue a) and b) above until the planet is largely uninhabitable.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

One of the many tragedies of Trumpism/MAGA is that so many of the icons of our society have been hijacked by hateful morons.  Yes, certainly a flag pin on the lapel is one of them, but what about the American flag itself?  Even the word “patriot” now means “Trump supporter.”

I know I’m joined by the majority when I say that I’m anxious to have all this stupidity behind us.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I don’t have a great deal to add here.

The danger that Trump represents to the safety and security of the United States is impossible to overstate.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

What RFK said here is true, but I think it might be useful to ask why certain people want to prevent our society from moving forward.

I would suggest that this is the notion of fear.  If you look at Trumpism as a whole, you have the fear that people of different skin colors, religions, sexual orientations, and countries of origins may be gaining at your expense.

Now, fear is not in and of itself, a bad thing.  Without it, our ancient ancestors wouldn’t have survived the legitimately dangerous situations that presented themselves.  They would have, for instance, been eaten by wild animals, thus removing their DNA from the gene pool.

Yet an unnecessarily high level of fear translates into the tribalism and racism we see all around us, and it opens us up to having our lowest, most reptilian emotions stirred up by would-be dictators like Trump. We need to recognize this for what it is.

This is why I tend to cut Trump supporters some level of slack; they are simply wired in such a way as to be particularly susceptible to messages that stimulate hate and fear.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

We’ve all come across the content of the meme here many times.  Why don’t we tax mega-churches where their pastors live in palaces and their parishioners live in trailer parks?

The answer is not that we want to subsidize churches, but, paradoxically, it’s the opposite; we want them as distantly separated from matters of state as possible.  There is a concept that came out of a Supreme Court case called “excessive entanglement (between church and state),” by forcing religious organizations to prepare, file, and legally defend their tax returns would result in enmeshing them with our secular government.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

There was a time not too long ago where this conversation would have been unnecessary, because it would have been inconceivable that a former U.S. president would encourage a nuclear-armed dictatorship to invade one (or more) of our allies.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Indeed, the world needs a wake-up call.

We all need to recognize that due to our continued use of fossil fuels as our principal energy source, coupled with the destruction of our rain forests to make room for the expansion of the beef industry, we are committing ourselves to the destruction of the only planet we call home.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The woman in the cartoon here is actually author Ursula K. Le Guin, winner of the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

She makes an interesting point.

At this point in history, most enlightened minds would like to see the United States move in the direction of the form of government found in most of the other developed countries, e.g., the “social democracies” Europe and Scandinavia.

This is a long way from Marxism, but it’s not completely deregulated capitalism either.  If you live in Denmark and want to get filthy rich, you’ll run into the same marginal tax rates that we had here in the U.S. from the 1930s through the 1970s: around 90%. It doesn’t mean that you can’t be an Elon Musk or a Jeff Bezos, but it does mean that you won’t be able to get there without paying your fair share of taxes.

It’s no coincidence that these folks are mentally and, in many cases, physically the healthiest people on Earth; they have achieved that position largely by virtue of their political philosophy, which may be summarized as follows: We live in a human society.  If it costs me a few extra Euros to eradicate homelessness, the death of relatively poor people with treatable diseases, and the ignorance of those without means to afford an education, that’s 100% OK with me.  

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