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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I’m not sure the world today is qualitatively different than it was when I was a child in the early 1960s, at least in any way that would make me a different parent than my parents were for me.

The values instilled in me were those I tried to instill into my kids.  Get a good education.  Be honest and kind.  Work hard.  Be alert to the fact that, although there are many good and intelligent people in the world, there is also plenty of stupidity, oppression, and dishonesty.  My grandfather added this one on top: make this world a better place than it was when you came into it.

The only real change is a quantitative one: the world today features more convenience and better health, but it’s far more ignorant and immoral.  Can you imagine how far Donald Trump would have gotten in a presidential race, as recently as 10 years ago?

Regardless, none of this stuff, at least in my eyes, militates towards a different approach to parenting.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

From this:

Robert Swan (1956) is a British historian, explorer and activist, best known for being the first person to walk to both Poles. In 1986 he arrived to the South Pole and three years later, in 1989, he set up a new and successful expedition to reach the North Pole.

Swan is also known for his advocacy of renewable energy and his fight for the environment, especially of Antarctica. In fact, he is the founder of 2041, a company dedicated to the protection of this continent. In his numerous speeches, Swan warns of the dangers the Earth faces, like in this famous quote: “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

Apparently this sentiment was shared by Dr. Seuss, whose book The Lorax has touched off a firestorm of controversy due to its green messaging.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

There are several separate dynamics that are exerting pressure on the Republican Party in the United States right now, one of which is represented by the fellow shown here: the party has pushed itself so far to the right that an increasing number of people of decency and intelligence are deeply offended by it, ashamed to remain associated with it, and simply going away.

Obviously not all Republicans are racist goons, committing insurrection and killing Blacks and Asians.  The GOP’s problem is that all racist goons, committing insurrection and killing Blacks and Asians are Republicans. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

It looks like a significant number of these hateful morons are going down for sedition, and perhaps murder.

Although there was at least one phone call between the insurrectionists and the White House the day before the riot, the current evidence (at least that’s publicly available) doesn’t prove that Trump had any more involvement in fomenting the violence than we already knew from his speeches. He’s in huge legal jeopardy, but at this point it doesn’t look like this will be among the crimes with which he’s charged.

Oops! This just in.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

If you believe in voting with your wallet and your conscience, you’ll want to stay as far as possible from any Chevron gasoline station.  None of the Big Oil companies is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Exxon Mobil’s a close second for the winner of the “most bastardly corporation of the last 50 years” award, but Chevron gets my vote.

From Esquire: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

If this guy thinks Trump is unlikely to run for president in 2024 at this point, wait till he takes into consideration the effects of the extremely likely events that will occur between now and then:

• Vigorous prosecution of 300+ participants in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that even his own people (like Mitch McConnell) say Trump incited. The very best Trump can hope for here in terms of his image is that of a traitor to his own people; they’re going to prison while he plays golf.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Shown here is a bladeless wind turbine that generates electricity from the vibrations the wind sets off in it.  The company says it has plans to create a 140 meter turbine with a power capacity of 1 megawatt.

Let’s do some math, based on the (dubious) assumption that this device captures the same percentage of the kinetic energy in the wind as conventional turbines do (80+% of the theoretically available energy, or about 50% of the total). (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Here are a few words from philosopher, logician, and humanitarian Bertrand Russell.

Sadly, American culture has never reflected this point of view, and is aggressively moving even further in the other direction.  The nation was founded on a spirit of rugged individualism.  Life here has featured slavery and the mass slaughter of Native Americans.  More recently it’s been systemic racism, union busting, the exploitation of the environment, neoliberalism, and practices at the southern border that are gross violations of both domestic and international law.

Ask yourself why it is that the United States is the only country in the developed world that doesn’t offer its citizens universal healthcare.  It’s that, in our hearts, too many of us are indifferent to the suffering of others.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Yes, it could be said that Joe Biden has an unimposing style.  But hey, if you’re trying to rile up an audience full of right-wing extremists, I would think there are plenty of places to go: government hand-outs, tax hikes for billionaires, mask mandates, environmentalism, political correctness, gender equity, and some level of compassion at the southern border.

Don’t think it’s impossible that we’ll see renewed movement in the direction of universal healthcare, which will result in these people’s heads exploding.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

A great deal of the environmental damage that was done during the Trump administration is either already repaired or is in the process of becoming so.  Many of these issues took a mere stroke of the pen (or click of the mouse) to accomplish, e.g., restoring the EPA’s web pages covering climate change and the use of science in policy-making to online status. (more…)

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