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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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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

It may not come as a surprise, but this woman has an arrest warrant out for her, related to her involvement in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building.

Somewhere, there’s a guy who considers this package attractive.

Hope I never have to meet him–not to mention her.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

When acts out of pure kindness happen, we tend to regard them as among the most profoundly beautiful things we’ve ever beheld.

If they were ever to happen by design, it would have been the devil’s work.

It’s so disappointing that American civilization can’t work this out a bit better.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics

Here’s a story that an old friend brought to my attention, that describes an idea that, if implemented, would cover canals (that are used for conveyance of water) with solar PV.  The thinking is that they would cool the panels, thus increasing their efficiency, while reducing evaporation and putting these areas to good use at the same time.

There are all manner of other pros and cons discussed in this short but fascinating piece.  For instance, the shadows thrown by the panels encourages the growth of certain desired forms of animal life, and retards the growth of certain plants that inhibit the flow of water towards its destination.

Hope you’ll check it out.

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