Home › Blog › Page 649

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

From this:

Colorado Republican Party chairperson Kristi Burton Brown and other party leaders issued a statement Wednesday calling on secretary of state candidate Tina Peters to suspend her campaign for secretary of state after being indicted by a grand jury on 10 criminal charges related to election tampering.

Yes, it’s painful to have to end a political campaign at any time.  Losing in a tightly contested race in the last few moments is one of them.  But being asked to resign by members of your own party, because you’re only a step away from prison, must hurt like a b****.

Tears.

Tagged with:

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

After Michael Flynn agreed to testify before the January 6 Committee, he  surprised no one by refusing to answer the questions he was asked, invoking his right against self-incrimination as protected by the Fifth Amendment. (more…)

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Yes, there are issues where the two major U.S. political parties find themselves in bitter disagreement.

But can’t we agree that Americans should be on the side of a democracy when it is invaded by an authoritarian regime?

Hell no.

This would be funny if it weren’t so sickening.

Tagged with: ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business
A friend from the world of acting writes:
I am sincerely naive about stocks, international finance, etc. My life has been about art and human rights so please accept this in a truly non-political sense.
I don’t understand continuing subsidies to oil companies when profits seem to soar and execs get massive bonuses…especially when it seems tied to horrific human suffering. I’m open to sincere comments that can expand my understanding.

This is a point I’ve been making consistently over the 15 years I’ve been professionally associated with energy markets.  The fossil fuel industry is more than 100 years old, and it’s the wealthiest enterprise in human history. Oil, natural gas, and coal are what made the 20th Century what it was in terms of economic growth, but now it’s time to make the transition to energy resources that don’t have the issues like pollution, climate change, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, and, as you mentioned, war.

Subsidies are meant to bolster things that are good for society, and fossil fuels have long since ceased to be among them.

You mentioned a “non-political sense,” but there is no way to avoid the fact that the only force holding all this up is, in fact, politics.  Big Oil is doing everything in its considerable power to strong-arm Congress so as to remain embedded in our society, regardless of its ill-effects.

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

It’s a very good thing for Trump that, when he opens his mouth, his supporters expect exactly zero in terms of coherent thinking.

Yesterday he was asked about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, specifically, how he thought it would end. He replied, and I’m not making this up:

“Well, and I said this a long time ago, we are playing right into their hands with the green energy,” Trump began. “The windmills. They don’t work. They’re too expensive. They kill all the birds. They ruin your landscapes. Yet, the environmentalists love the windmills. I’ve been preaching this for years. The windmills. I had them way down. The windmills are the most expensive energy you can have, and they don’t work. They last a period of 10 years and by the time they start rusting and rotting all over the place nobody ever takes them down. They just go onto the next piece of prairie or land and destroy that. It’s incredible.”

It wasn’t that long ago that a presidential candidate who rambles like a madman would find his hopes dashed.  Here, it seems to function as an advantage.

The pic above features the interviewer.  The young man can’t manage to keep the smile off his face.  Clever fellow too; he didn’t forget the beer.

Tagged with: , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

This could be the smoking gun.

Note to self:

Craig, committing felonies, especially treason, is not your style.  But if you wake up one morning with a totally different personality, and decide you’re going to try to overthrow the United States government, do not, under any circumstances, send emails admitting that you know what you’re doing is illegal.

 

Tagged with:

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Regardless of how poorly Trump’s state of intelligence, emotional stability, and character are regarded by those Republicans who know him best, he’s still the #1 GOP candidate in the 2024 election.

Keep in mind that all these observations were made before the former president attempted to overthrow the U.S. government.

Tagged with:

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

EV World’s Bill Moore writes, ” It was inevitable, I suppose, but the Q-Anon crowd is now spreading the latest wacko conspiracy that the reason the Biden Administration is pushing for the shift to electric cars is so the government can OTA (over the air) disable vehicles of people they consider threats.”

The QAnon phenomenon is interesting, in that all these ideas hang together in one coherent mass.  If you believe, for instance, that the government planned the pandemic so as to control the population, why wouldn’t you believe they want to take charge of your cars?

Having said all this, and in all honesty, the capacity of police to disable a car would mean the end of high-speed chases and the carnage they produce.

Tagged with: , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I remember with great fondness the interview I conducted with economist Nate Hagens, Ph.D., as a key part of my second book (Is Renewable Really Doable?).  Nate had invited me to a day-long meeting of the Aspen Institute, and we spoke over lunch.

The whole session turned out to be a unique experience, as I’ve never in my entire life, before or since, been exposed to so much top-level thinking.  As I told him when I left during the closing wine and cheese, “Thanks so much for everything, Nate, but I need to catch a train, and besides, my brain hurts.”

I was delighted to receive an email from him yesterday, in which he introduced the video series he’s been working on.  Here’s a part of it that blew me away, “The Human Superorganism,” which explains the plight that human civilization finds itself in, in terms of economic theory.  I hope you’ll check it out.

 

 

 

 

Tagged with: , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

A reader sent me this pic of the RJ Reynolds’ (cigarette) mansion.  Nice place. I hope the family enjoyed it.

That’s because I’m sure they hope there’s not an afterlife during which people who caused the suffering of millions in their current lifetimes suffer similarly in the next.

Tagged with: