This is the Republican Party in 2022. The actual text of the Constitution does not matter. All that matters is finding a judge that agrees with your position and writing a ridiculous law that they will allow to go into effect. When a member of the Supreme Court writes an opinion striking down 50 years of precedence using legal reasoning from a judge who convicted women of witchcraft this ends up being a task that is much easier than you would imagine.
It will be interesting to see how the Supreme Court handles the inevitable legal challenge to Texas’ latest twisted logic.
On to the links…
We Need Optimism – but Disneyfied Climate Predictions are Just Dangerous—The future is scary and we need to be realistic about that fact.
Western US May Be Experiencing Its Worst Dry Spell in 12 Centuries—Yes, the drought in the Western U.S. really is that bad.
Hydropower is 53% of the Renewable Energy Supply in the West. Drought is Slowing Down Production.—The knock on effects of the aforementioned drought are just starting to be felt. Remember, advanced indigenous civilizations rapidly declined in the face of droughts in this very region. Who wants to put money on Phoenix surviving for the long haul?
America’s Love Affair With the Lawn is Getting Messy—Tear out as much of your lawn as legally allowed.
Pro-Trump Counties Continue to Suffer Far Higher COVID Death Tolls—Talk about self-inflicted wounds. These people will take medical advice from a Facebook post, but will not listen to an actual doctor telling them to get a vaccine.
What the Ukraine War Means for Western Lands—You can already hear the drumbeats of opening more lands to oil and gas drilling. Too bad oil and gas producers have no intention of rushing to bring new lands into production any time soon.
‘Flash Droughts’ are Midwest’s Next Big Climate Threat—Why does the term “flash drought” make me think of a cheesy SyFy movie like Sharknado?
The World Has No Choice but to Care About India’s Heat Wave—Somehow this is all starting to feel like the beginning to Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry of the Future.
The Air Conditioning Paradox—As the planet warms and deadly heat waves become more of a problem it is not as simple as turning on the air conditioning. The power requirements and refrigerant leaks from air conditioning systems will further drive increases in the very emissions that drive global warming.
Crypto Crash Probably Won’t Ease Crypto’s Massive Energy Suck—Exactly what problem is cryptocurrency trying to solve? I am beginning to wonder if this is all just a massive Ponzi scheme for tech bros.
The Race to Produce Sustainable Steel—Steel production is one of the hidden carbon monsters in our industrial economy. Reductions in the emission intensity of steel production will ripple through the economy.
How Does Forest Restoration Affect Water Cycles?—Trees and water are linked in ways we do not totally understand. The number that kind of blew my mind was that there is ~900 million hectares of land available to be reforested without encroaching on agricultural or urban landscapes. That is over 2 billion acres of land.
Let’s Save Forests to Fight Climate Change—As if this is a controversial idea anymore.
Record Number of Dams Removed from Europe’s Rivers in 2021—Removing useless and dangerous dams to free rivers is just a win from so many perspectives.
When Wheat Never Dies—Moving just a small percentage of our crop acreage to a perennial wheat crop could have major benefits. Imagine areas near waterways planted with kernza slowing down water and keeping soil in place with that long root system.
More than 3,000 Potentially Harmful Chemicals Found in Food Packaging—As if we needed another reason to avoid the highly processed packaged foods in the middle aisles of the grocery store.
Elon Musk Praises Chinese Workers for ‘burning the 3am oil’ – Here’s What that Really Looks Like—I get that people think Tesla is the future of automobiles, but every Tesla someone buys supports this no talent ass clown’s pocketbook. Elon Musk is one of the primary reasons I will never own a Tesla.