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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

One of the My Pillow Guy’s banks closed his account the other day, citing “reputational risks.” This, of course, is a simple continuation of the trend towards marginalizing Trump from our society.

Organizations and the people within them who wish to be taken seriously can no longer stand behind asinine positions like the Big Lie.

An IBMer who pulls into his company’s parking lot with a “Trump Won!” bumper sticker on his car is making a serious career blunder.

As the noose continues to tighten around Trump’s neck, look for this phenomenon to grow in intensity.  Already, symbols of Trump support say, “A pathological liar in the White House is OK with me, as long as he stands for my hateful values.”

Soon, those symbols will say, “A proven traitor in the White House …..”  This isn’t going to fly anywhere outside of an ever-shrinking set of Trump rallies.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

In response to the cartoon here, someone wrote, “He won’t plead the fifth.  Remember this:  “You see the mob takes the Fifth,” he said during one rally in Iowa. “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”

In the first place, he changes his position to suit whatever present-time crisis he’s facing, with no regard for consistency whatsoever.  Has he released his tax returns?

Secondly, it seems that he’s incapable of telling the truth.  I’m not sure there is a single example of his providing a direct and completely truthful answer to a specific question, if in so doing he damaged himself.

No wonder God has His popcorn ready.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Energy Storage

solar panels

A reader who is skeptical of the value of renewable energy writes:

No wind?  No electricity.  No sun?  No electricity.

True. Both solar and wind are variable energy resources, which introduces a problem for grid-operators who are trying to integrate as much of both as possible without making the grid unstable. (more…)
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Why is it that this dog has more skepticism about the world around him (or at least appears to) than more than half of Republicans? The percentage of extremely gullible GOP voters who still believe the Big Lie, that Biden stole the 2020 presidential election, continues to linger at somewhere between a half and two-thirds.

This article in The New York Times attempts to provide an answer.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I grant that it’s not completely fair to look to Norway as an exemplar of what the United States should be doing re: taxation/wealth distribution, social services, and environmental responsibility.  The Norwegians have a small, homogeneous population, abundant clean energy resources, an extremely small military, and no borders with  countries full of poor, desperate people.

Having said that, imagine what American society would look like after a few years of the policies identified in the meme here:

• Largely decarbonized energy and transportation sectors

• A quantum improvement in education and a corresponding enhancement in race relations

• Few if any anti-vaxxers, climate deniers, and believers in QAnon and the Big Lie

When I was young, back before hitch-hiking ceased to be part of the world’s culture, I used to pick up people constantly, and I often relied on the goodness of other people to get me where I was going.  Someone told me that in Norway, every year, all citizens get a packet of coupons.  When someone picks you up as a hitch-hiker, you give the driver a coupon, which he can later redeem for some sort of prize.  The concept, obviously, was to minimize the number of cars on the roads while building up national camaraderie.

I’m sure this practice is no longer in place, but it’s illustrative of the harmonious “vibe” the country strives to achieve.

Think of how nice it would be living in a land of human decency, without all the hate and ignorance–a land where policies are made based on what’s best for the nation’s people.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business
Regarding the cost of renewable energy, a reader notes:
First mistake?  Not calculating the ENTIRE life time cost of wind farms, solar farms and so on. It costs more, MUCH more to produce energy from so-called “renewable” sources, than it does from coal, or natural gas. If it wasn’t (sic) for the infusions of funds from government revenues, you would NEVER profit from this business. How about you guys quit sucking at the government trough, and learn to stand up on your OWN financial feet.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

This year is the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Limits to Growth (LTG), a report on the exponential economic and population growth with a finite supply of resources, by Donella H. Meadows et. al.

People long before them understood that infinite growth on a planet of finite size was impossible.  In particular, around 1800, British philosopher and economist Thomas Malthus theorized that food production will not be able to keep up with growth in the human population, resulting in disease, famine, war, and calamity.

Yet it is LTG that brought it all home with computer simulations for the first time.

The question is what our civilization has done with this concept over the last half century, and the answer is precious little.

Two and one-quarter centuries after Malthus, it appears that the production of food will not be our downfall.  Currently it looks like the increase in the consumption of energy is far more likely to cause massive destruction to human societies all around the globe, via global warming / climate change.

Some look to space migration as the ultimate solution, i.e., eliminating the condition that our living area is finite.  That may be, but part of every one of us wonders if it’s a good idea to take this s***show on the road.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

“Grown-ups” have always had issues with the culture of young people.  Adults in ancient Athens thought that Western Civilization was doomed because they deemed the youth of the day to be lazy, decadent, and uninterested in learning.

I remember quite clearly showing up for my piano lesson a few days after the Beatles’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show the previous Sunday evening.  My teacher echoed Mr. Jones’ viewpoint, and was mortified to learn that I (age 8) had watched the performance along with so many million others.

She was concerned that the purity of the world’s musical tastes were in the process of being destroyed.

She was an uptight gray-haired woman, but she treated me with great kindness, always praising me for even the most minute bit of progress.

I’m just glad she didn’t live to see this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics
The popular Christian reverend John Pavlovitz writes:
It’s simply demoralizing sharing a country with people who think Donald Trump is someone worth emulating: to be surrounded by that kind of moral inversion every single day, to be continually encountering such cruelty.  It’s a source of profound and sustained grieving to believe that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and afforded opportunity—and to know how many simply do not share that belief.  I don’t hate these people but I am deeply saddened by them.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Question:  OK, Americans, if you had to do it on your own, how would you rank the 50 states in terms of education?  An old friend who went to college with me in Connecticut boasts that the state of our alma mater is #3.  Obviously, Massachusetts is #1, but who is #2?

Answer: Can be found at Clean Energy Answers.

Relevance: As you review the list, think of how this all breaks down in terms of support for Donald Trump. The states where support for the former president is strongest are those whose education is at the bottom: Oklahoma, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia. The top five most educated people, who despise Trump, live in Massachusetts, ??, Connecticut, Colorado, and Vermont.

 

 

 

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