You know it is summer when your weekends are so packed with activities and projects that you actually look forward to the start of a work week because it is so relaxing. Sometimes.
On to the links…
For-Profit Pipelines Are Growing And So Are Eminent Domain Battles—I believe that this needs to be a campaign issue for every candidate for office in the United States this year. Private, for-profit companies are using eminent domain to build pipelines. In Iowa the Iowa Utilities Board has given approval for a private, for-profit company to begin eminent domain hearings to build a pipeline on its preferred route. Notice that? It’s a preferred route, not the only possible route. Their rights to make money trump your rights as a private property owner.
These Maps Make A Pretty Powerful Argument For Fighting Climate Change—No one will care if poor people get inundated with sea water, but if some investment bankers and other rich people in Manhattan face tragedy the world will probably act.
Solar Will Replace Nearly All Retiring Coal in Texas—Think about this demand destruction. Every megawatt of coal gets replaced by solar, which needs no fuel to generate power for the next couple of decades. Coal’s death spiral continues.
UK Solar Eclipses Coal Power Over Month for First Time—That is right, in the somewhat less than sunny United Kingdom solar produced more electricity than coal in May. There are few countries as tied to the image of coal as the United Kingdom and the fuel is dying in that country.
A Not-so-Modest Climate Proposal: Why Not Just Buy Out the US Coal Industry?—At the rate the industry is going, you may not need to buy it out for much longer. It may not exist for much longer and we will still be stuck with the cleanup. Privatize the gains and socialize the losses.
Chile Has So Much Solar Energy It’s Giving It Away for Free—It seems perverse or too good to be true, but Chile’s solar sector has expanded so rapidly that the infrastructure and policies are not in place to effectively utilize the energy in the marketplace.
A Suburban Experiment Aims for Free Energy—How hard is this really? Design and place homes on lots so that they can take maximum advantage of solar resources, add extra insulation at the time of construction, actually put in mechanicals that are efficient, and—voila—you have an energy efficient home that might make enough electricity to offset its usage in a given day.
What I Learned Installing Solar Panels—This energy revolution does not require massive infrastructure. Rooftop solar PV is an energy revolution on a human scale.
‘Artificial Leaf’ Could Make Fuel from Air‘Artificial Leaf’ Could Make Fuel from Air—This is the holy grail, is it not? A piece of technology that mimics the process of nature to produce usable liquid fuel. Seems like it belongs in the same place as cold fusion.
Governor Sends ‘Threatening’ Letter To Environmental Donors—He does not get many votes for worst politician in America, but Maine Governor Paul LePage is something else.
Are Drought Truthers The New Climate Change Deniers?—Donald Trump is an idiot and he is running for president of the United States. Is this the last gasp of the radical right? Or is it the dawn of a new era of moron politicians taking us further down the road to ruin?
No Peace for Greenpeace—As environmental groups become more successful in blocking big dollar projects or threatening corporate “brands” this will become even more common. Don’t believe me? Read Green is the New Red.
Bicimaquinas: The Bike Machines of Guatemala—I thought my friends who hooked up a blender on an xtracycle were being radical, but it turns out that households in Guatemala beat them to it.
Why Your New Favorite Backyard Burger may Soon be Plant-Based—I have tried some of the Beyond Meat products and found them to be acceptable substitutes for animal based products. My daughter loves the chicken pieces we use in stir fry or noodle dishes. These burgers, however, may be the best thing yet.
My Green Misadventure 