Yep, pretty much sums up the world we are living in nowadays:
On to the links…
A Virtual Solar Power Plant for L.A.? ‘It Will Happen’—The idea is to turn a conglomeration of batteries into a virtual power bank that charges in the middle of the day, when solar power is at peak generating capacity, and save the power for the late afternoon/early evening, when electricity demand spikes as people return home.
U.S. Wind Capacity Grew 8% in 2018—These are not crazy growth numbers, but 8% growth in a country led by Donald Trump has to be considered a success. Now imagine an environment with a rational president. Whoa!
Saudi Arabia To Build 6.2 Gigawatts Of Wind Capacity By 2028—Saudi Arabia is putting a lot of money into renewables.
DTE Energy Speeds up Closing of Coal-Fired Plants—This is why coal is dead. Less cost, fewer emissions…the headlines sort of write themselves.
“Innovation”: the Latest GOP Smokescreen on Climate Change Policies—How do I know Republicans are blowing smoke about climate change? Their lips are moving. Normally it is “national security” that is used as a blanket defense/reasoning for whatever draconian policy they want to institute.
An Easy, Cost-Effective Way to Address Climate Change? Massive Reforestation.—No shit. This should be point number one in any climate change mitigation plan. Why? It is so dead simple and the downside to planting a lot of trees is…what exactly?
Corn Pollution Kills Thousands of Americans a Year—So, we need to grow less corn.
As Mass Timber Takes Off, How Green Is This New Building Material?—This is where we get into trouble. Instead of asking if mass timber is better than other methods we end up trying to evaluate its “green” credentials in a vacuum.
Amazon Accused of Abandoning 100 Percent Renewable Energy Goal—Corporations will only be held accountable as long as customers keep them so. Otherwise, a decision will be made deep in a conference room somewhere that guts whatever environmental commitment has been made.
China wants to Ban Bitcoin Mining because it ‘Seriously Wasted Resources’—No truer paragraph has ever been written about Bitcoin:
In a typical Bitcoin mining operation, powerful banks of computers are dedicated to crunching out “blockchain” numbers that serve absolutely no purpose, but have value because people think they do.
Climate Change Could Make Duluth America’s Premier Destination—This is a little tongue in cheek, but the future is a scary place right now.
Forever Wild—If you have only skied major resorts tied to corporations like Vail Resorts it is likely that you have missed the spirit of skiing embodied by shaggier ski hills. If only we could all capture a little of this magic.
Baby Boomers Commit the ‘7 Deadly Sins’ of Retirement Planning—Baby boomers are the worst. Fight me. Subsequent generations are going to be stuck cleaning up the mess of a generation that accomplished so little relative to what they were given. Yet, we have to hear endless stories of their greatness.