From this piece in InsuranceBusinessMag.com:
Subsidiaries of both Talanx and Munich Re were named on Trans Mountain’s certificate of insurance – they are among 11 companies offering $508 million of liability insurance for the 12-month period up to August 31, 2020. However, emails suggest that Talanx actually pulled out of the project in 2019 (and it appears Munich Re has done the same). (more…)
Shouldn’t this be enough?
What else is required before the American people simply demand that he be removed?
There are lots of cool, win-win combinations of renewable energy and environmentally friendly uses of land. Here’s a short podcast on sheep and solar PV, explaining how ground-mounted solar can team up with the raising of sheep for the benefit of all.
The species of grasses are chosen for the deep roots, their attractive appearance, and their capacity to encourage bee populations which pollinate nearby vegetable farms or fruit orchards that happen to be nearby. The sheep enjoy the shade beneath the panels of hot summer days. Their droppings act as fertilizer for the grass growing around the panels, which they eat, eliminating the need for mowing.
Great thinking.
So begins this article in Forbes: As mask-wearing becomes a political flashpoint—despite coronavirus cases spiking to record levels across the country—new research from Goldman Sachs suggests a national mask mandate would slow the growth rate of new coronavirus infections and prevent a 5% GDP loss caused by additional lockdown measures.
Well, that’s interesting, isn’t it? Certainly makes sense and entire industry sectors are decimated by the ongoing and ever-exacerbating pandemic.
This reminds me of the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. It’s happening, but mainly because pure market economics is forcing it along. If the cost of operating coal plants weren’t skyrocketing and, at the same time, the cost of solar and wind plummeting, we’d have a business-as-usual approach to energy that would eventually bake this planet like a chicken.
Apparently, there are groups of Americans that have real trouble with adhering to the exhortations of our scientific community, specially to our epidemiologists and other public health experts when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s a conversation I just ran across:
Person A: (writing in all caps to underscore the vehemence of his position): ALL CALIFORNIANS SHOULD GO TO THE BEACH FOR THE JULY 4TH WEEKEND! HERD IMMUNITY IS HAPPENING. WEAR A MASK IF YOU WISH. (THOSE WITH) UNDERLYING CONDITIONS (SHOULD) STAY HOME. THE HOAX IS OVER!! MAKE THIS VIRAL!!
As shown here, ExxonMobil ostensibly wants to keep me up to date on the future of energy in my state, and suggests via the photograph, without the least bit of sincerity, that it may come in the form of algal fuels.
In truth, the future of energy in California is renewable energy and electric transportation, both phrases that are anathema to Exxon. Ironically, renewables and EVs will come into prominence only when we have successfully displaced Exxon by putting a price on carbon, most likely via the Carbon Fee and Dividend.
Holy cats! Those Republican Voters Against Trump mean biz, as my daughter likes to say.
Here’s an ex-Navy Seal, now an ER physician, who’s infuriated that Trump is betraying U.S. troops.
Here’s another one in the category: “would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.”
Actually, there are many adjectives that could be used to describe the curve on the right. Certainly, stupid works very well, but so do arrogant and selfish.
I’m reminded of the fellow who said, “Our society has thousands of doctors, nurses, epidemiologists, and public health experts, all telling us how dangerous COVID-19 is, and how everyone needs to behave according to strict guidelines. But then there’s a guy I went to high school with who barely passed science, and he says that it’s not dangerous at all. Damn, it’s so hard to know what to believe anymore.”
I would call the photo here deceptive. The manufacturer of the “Greenline 48 Fly,” as it’s called, represent their product as “environmental boating. Yet it has two diesel engines that deliver a combined 440 horsepower. In full sun, that solar array will deliver about 0.5 horsepower, so about 0.1% of what’s required.
Further to our conversation on police violence, particularly against people of color, here we have a case of aggravated battery.
Given that it took place in California, we turn to California Penal Code section 243(d), and learn that aggravated battery is battery with “serious bodily injury.” To prove you guilty of this offense, the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the following: 1) you touched the person of another; 2) you did so willfully; 3) you did so in a harmful or offensive manner; and 4) your target suffered serious bodily injury as a result. (more…)
