January 20th was a good day.
QAnon conspiracy theories? Busted, again.
Protests at state capitols nationwide? A joke.
Keystone XL Pipeline? Dead.
Paris Climate Accords? The United States is back in the game.
Staying in the WHO? Fauci says it is true.
The Trump legacy? We’re working on it.
We all welcome back a little bit of sanity after four years of sheer craziness that became routine after a while, which is the scariest thing of all.
Stay safe out there.
On to the links…
The Path to States Going 100% Renewable—There is a reasonable path forward. The technology exists. The political will exists in many states. With just a little help from Washington D.C. we could be there sooner than we imagine.
A Federal Court Just Struck Down Trump’s Attempt to Make Power Plants even Dirtier—Now, we go back to the ideals of the Clean Power Plan and make it the law of the land.
Coal-Fired Power Plant in Southern Illinois a Major Obstacle to Biden’s Push for Carbon-Free electricity by 2035—How do we get this power plant shut down? The fact that a single power plant emits as much carbon dioxide as 2 million cars is just a wild and frightening statistic.
Florida Power & Light Puts an End to Coal-Fired Power Generation—If coal cannot win in Florida, it probably cannot win anywhere.
Regulator Finalizes Rule Forcing Banks to Serve Oil, Gun Companies—Remember, Republicans hate rules and regulations unless those rules and regulations force you to do something they support. Like, say, guns. Hopefully, this rule dies like so many other things with the Trump taint.
Slow Vaccine Rollouts Damage Energy Demand—File this under the law of unintended consequences. Perhaps, lower energy consumption is a new normal that the energy industry is going to have to come to grips with in the near future.
Denmark to Trial Green Hydrogen Production using Offshore Wind Turbines—This might be a way to make hydrogen a part of the future energy mix.
Minnesota’s Forests and Land Offer Big Opportunities to Cut Greenhouse Gases—Nature based climate solutions offer an immediate way to sequester carbon and buy us some time to figure out the rest of the equation. Plus, like I always tell people when it comes to reforestation, what’s the worst outcome? We end up with more trees?
More and More Homeowners are Renovating Existing Homes to Make them “Net Zero”—You do not need to build a new house to make it “net zero.” You can do it in the home you own today.
A ‘Forever Chemical’ Surprise Awaits Biden’s EPA—Ban these chemicals right now until we can figure out how to deal with the environmental and health impacts.
Trump Revokes Rule Barring Lobbying by Former Officials as he Leaves Office—Like everything Trump does there is the headline and then there is the reality. Lobbying ban? Not so much. Successful businessman? Not so much.