What a wonderful mark English broadcaster and natural historian Sir David Attenborough has made on the world.
What he says here is something all of us should keep in mind. Explaining to a grandchild that you knew the planet was on fire but did nothing to put it out would be a very humiliating experience.
Dan, let me explain.
In American society, as of the advent of Donald Trump, anything that has anything to do with science and the advancement or protection of humankind will be immediately rejected as a creation of the Radical Left.
This, of course, is not limited to vaccines and masks. Renewable energy, electric transportation, better education, justice for wealthy white people, universal healthcare–literally anything that moves the American people forward or protects them from danger creates its own enemy–almost instantaneously.
How long does it take for hundreds of completely fabricated lies to be generated, that are then circulated around the Internet in the blink of an eye?
Progressive/science-based ideas need to be rejected, truth be damned.
I hope readers will feast their eyes on the breakthrough in healthcare just in from the Land Down Under. Pure genius.
2020 was the first year in which renewable power generation (excluding hydro) surpassed nuclear power generation.
Now, proponents of renewables, and I’m certainly one, may find that a heartening statistic. But it’s not.
Considering the growth in demand for energy, it’s going to be very difficult, probably impossible, for low carbon energy sources to ramp up fast enough without nuclear. Most clean energy advocates denounce nuclear as dangerous, but this is simply incorrect; nuclear has had fewer fatalities than any other energy source, and it’s getting better and safer every year.
“Advanced nuclear,” whether than means thorium as a feedstock, or some sort of fusion, will obsolete renewables overnight when it becomes available.
Of course, we’ve been hearing about “advanced nuclear” since I was a little boy in the early 1960s. Today we’re told that it’s about 30 years away. That’s what I heard when I was learning fractions and decimals.
And here’s a coincidence: this article on nuclear fusion just published today.
In the interim, let’s keep developing solar, wind, and anything else that makes sense. The price of energy from renewable resources is falling like a stone, and let’s drive it even lower.
Today is the 100th birthday of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. According to the Writer’s Almanac, the show was the first sci-fi series to depict a generally peaceful future, and that came from Roddenberry’s fundamental optimism about the human race. “It speaks to some basic human needs,” he said in 1991, “that there is a tomorrow — it’s not all going to be over in a big flash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans. No, ancient astronauts did not build the pyramids — human beings built them because they’re clever and they work hard. And Star Trek is about those things.”
Until fairly recently, it certainly did appear that the human race was improving. Recently, however, we see the trend to world fascism, and the rejection of science, which, given the pandemic and climate change, may prove catastrophic.
If one wants to argue that humankind is bettering itself at this point, think of how Donald Trump would have been regarded as a presidential candidate in 1991. Hmmmm. How to choose? We have George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ross Perot, and a vulgar conman. Trump would have been considered a bad joke.
The Rocky Mountain Institute, now called RMI, was founded in 1982, dedicated to research, publication, consulting, and lecturing in the general field of sustainability. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting its co-founder, chairman and chief scientist Amory Lovins at multiple conferences. What a fantastic contribution he’s made over the years. (more…)
Nobel Laureate economist Paul Krugman seems to believe that renewable energy has won the day, or is at least well on its way. Yes, the price of electricity per kilowatt-hour has become quite attractive in certain locations, but, from here, it looks like we have huge challenges in front of us: (more…)
The meme here is from author and humanitarian Kurt Vonnegut, whose career spanned 50 years. Lots of political satire, courageous in pointing out the lies and absurdities that are so deeply embedded in our culture.
It’s good to see that American society is catching on to the fact that Christopher Columbus was anything but a hero.
China has been on a path of slow growth for thousands of years, and at this point, it’s clear that they are in the process of taking over the world without firing a single shot. They have an enormous military, but no interest whatsoever in using it.
They must have been delighted to see what happened here in the U.S. in 2016 when, with Putin’s help, we elected a criminal conman, who took us to within a gnat’s behind of losing our democracy, and made hash out of our reputation on the world stage.
The point however, is that they really don’t care how long it takes to achieve global domination, as long as they’re headed in that direction.
As the United States continues to move to the right politically, no, make that squirt to the right, a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion is under increasing pressure. At the left is a conversation between Fox News’ Chris Wallace and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on the subject.
FWIW, this is precisely how I feel personally.
Buttigieg would make a great president, IMO. Hope he gets the chance.
