Friday Linkage 3/12/2021

Do you want to know the primary difference between today’s Democrats and Republicans?  Look at how the two signature legislative achievements of the past two presidents compare:

• 

Notice a difference?

Stay safe out there.

On to the links…

People Wasting Almost 1 Billion Tons of Food a Year, UN Report Reveals—This is an environmental, economic, and social disaster all rolled up into one pile of leftover food left to rot.  If you could do one thing in your household to combat a lot of ills it would be to waste no food.  It’s not always easy, but it will save you money in the long run.

Republicans’ New Favorite Study Trashes Biden’s Climate Plans – but Who’s Behind It?—I will tell you: oil and gas interests.  The Koch Industries footprints are probably all over the document as well.

Renewables = 20.6% of US Electricity in 2020—So, now the U.S. gets over 20% of its electricity from renewables.  Remember when the alarmists said it could never account for more than 5%?  Yeah, I do not hear anyone carping about that problem anymore.

Deb Haaland’s First Big Challenge at Interior: Homegrown Extremists—You just know that the clownish Bundy clan is itching for some more time on Fox News.  I just wish we were done with these fame whores.

Jeff Bezos will Spend $1 Billion a Year to Fight Climate Change—Is this what happens when you are one of the world’s richest people yet your philanthropic efforts get trounced by your ex-wife?

Oil and Gas Companies are Making Old Pipelines the Landowner’s Problem—Oil and gas companies will use every legal avenue to avoid paying for any remediation costs related to their abandoned infrastructure.  Just wait until a landowner finds out is really a bankrupt Exxon Pipeline Inc. that owns the pipeline rather than Exxon Mobil.

Energy Companies Have Left Colorado with Billions of Dollars in Oil and Gas Cleanup—How about a deal where there is not a single new well drilled until there is a cleanup plan administered by an entity other than an oil or gas company that is fully bonded?

Germany Plugin Electric Vehicle Share Hits 20.7% In Record February, Up 3x Year-On-Year—I am sure that having VW produce a mass market EV was a big deal for German market share.  Also, it is amazing what people will do when given the chance to buy a good EV at a reasonable price.

You’re Thinking About Home Heating Wrong—Somewhere someone should come up with a government rebate program that makes the installation of a heat pump HVAC system a no-brainer.  It would go a long way to breaking our reliance on fossil fuels.

A Story of Wood—Wood is one of the most amazing materials ever.  Full stop.

Why Does Everything Look the Same?—Maybe it is because we are just sheep.

Pablo Escobar’s Hippos Might be Filling an Ancient Ecological Niche—I will be honest, I never get tired of reading about the hippos left behind when Pablo Escobar was killed.  It is like reading about the animals near Chernobyl. 

Friday Linkage 3/5/2021

I do not know where the month of February went.  Maybe it was the more than weeklong period of sub-zero degrees Fahrenheit temperatures that we endured.  Maybe it was just the last throes of hitting the coronavirus wall.

It’s March.

I am watching the deep snow melt and waiting for the first day when I can get out on my bike without fear of hitting an ice patch.  I am hopeful that day is coming this weekend.

Stay safe out there.

On to the links…

How the Pandemic has Helped and Hurt Animals Around the World—I love the term “anthropause.”  We need to look back on the past year or so and wonder what it would be like to extend many of these impacts into the future.  Maybe the anthropause was a window into the future of human civilization.

America Didn’t Need Sports After All—I grew out of caring about professional sports a few years ago.  Maybe it was my father passing away that pushed me to give up caring.  Well, it looks like the pandemic showed the country that it just does not need sports like they thought.

Why Do Meatpacking Workers Face Such Gruesome Conditions?—First, America demands cheap meat.  Hell, we put bacon on everything because…shit, I do not know why people put bacon on donuts.  Also, meatpacking is a huge and consolidated industry that wields political power like you do not understand.

Deregulation Is Not The Central Culprit For Texas’ Electricity Crisis—There is not single culprit behind what happened in Texas because everyone involved failed.

Global Oil Companies Have Committed to ‘Net Zero’ Emissions. It’s a Sham—Yep.

How Exxon Is Being Forced To Accept The Reality Of Bad Fossil Fuel Investments—Exxon Mobil has always played a little fast and loose with its reserve accounting compared to its peers and now it is coming back to bite it in the ass.

Here’s Why This New Fracking Ban in the Northeast is a Big Deal—Maybe this is the beginning of a fight to reclaim our land and water from oil and gas companies.

Dying Oil Companies’ Parting Gift: Millions in Cleanup Costs—As more oil and gas companies go belly up during the energy transition of the coming decades get ready for a lot more bills like this to come due.  If there is one thing a revived CCC could work on it would be capping abandoned wells across the country.

What’s Really Driving Coal Power’s Demise?—Maybe, people just do not want to deal with the impacts of mining and burning coal?

Breakdowns, Shutdowns and Cost Overruns Plague Xcel’s Comanche 3 Coal-Fired Power Plant, Investigation Finds—This is one of the United States’ newest and most “advanced” coal power plants.  It is costing rate payers nearly 45% more than originally estimated.  It was also closed for most of 2020 and part of 2021.

Inside Biden’s Uphill Battle to Restore the EPA after Trump—It’s a slog, but it is worth the effort now that the racist cheese puff is spending his days down in Florida golfing with whatever toadies make it to Mar a Lago.

Electric Cars Need Way Less Raw Materials Than ICE Vehicles—EVs are just better.  My hope is that we can hold off on buying another vehicle long enough so that several forthcoming models are widely available.  Sorry, I just cannot buy a Tesla given some of the quality control issues and design flaws around non-California weather conditions.

A Looming Disaster: New Data Reveal Where Flood Damage Is An Existential Threat—Climate change is here and with it comes flooding.

Friday Linkage 2/26/2021

Here is what you get with Republicans in total control of your government.

Restrictions to early voting. Never mind that Iowa had record turnout, no fraud, and Republicans still retained control of state government.  It’s like they have a handbook that says the response to everything is to make it harder to vote.

Restrictions on the eligibility for Medicaid and food stamps.  Republicans love to pick on people who depend on Medicaid and food stamps because, by definition, these are poor people who do not have values that align with their donors.

The Republicans in Iowa also seem to be unaware that the Constitution’s free speech protections apply to the government making restrictions on speech, not what a private company deems acceptable.  Never mind, they are just trying to curry favor with the Trumplican wing of their party.

Remember, these are the things Republicans are worried about when there is a pandemic still ongoing, problems with water quality in Iowa, concerns over the growth in animal feedlot operations, and a hundred other issues.  This is what Republican leadership looks like at the state level in 2021.  At least Pat Grassley is keeping jeans off the floor of the Iowa House of Representatives.

On to the links…

What Does An Ecological Civilization Look Like?—This is the kind of thought provoking question that we need to be asking ourselves.

How The Kilowatt-Hour Itself Is Complicit In Our Wasteful Energy System—The single best line in the article: “What might social and temporal rhythms be like if energy systems did not mimic the ‘always on’ template of the present. What if there was greater seasonal variation in patterns of work and leisure, and what if daily lives were organized around variations in energy supply?”

This $9 Billion Plan Could Bring Biden’s Conservation Corps to Life—It’s an old idea, but it is a great idea.  Put people to work helping to heal our lands.

Put Unemployed Miners and Drillers Back to Work in Restoration—A reborn CCC should take this up as idea #1.

Texas Freeze Led to Release of Tons of Air Pollutants as Refineries Shut—The big freeze is the gift that keeps on giving.  The voters of Texas have a choice over the next few election cycles while the memory of this tragedy is fresh.  What has total Republican control of Texas’ statewide government gotten you since 1994?

US Coal Capacity Factor Dropped From 67.1% In 2010 To 47.5% In 2019—These are “wonky” numbers that are hard to explain.  Essentially, it means that what coal fired power plants remain are being used less and less.  That is good news.

Coal Projected To Exit US Electricity By 2033. Trump Might Have Killed It.—Everything the man touches turns to shit.  It turns out coal was no different.

Alberta Reverses Direction on Coal Development and Reinstates 1976 Policy, For Now—Coal mining is very unpopular and it is not likely to face an easier road ahead anytime soon.

India May Have Already Passed Peak Coal—We can hope.

Biden’s Other Nuclear Option—Is nuclear the bridge fuel to a carbon-free future?  I do not know.

Xcel Celebrates Milestone as Utility is Now Halfway to 100% Carbon Free Electricity—Look at the graph:

From 2019 to 2020 carbon free electricity grew from 41% of the total power mix to 47% of the total power mix.  In one year!

Xcel Plans to Double its Renewable Energy Generation by 2030. It’ll Cost Consumers $8 Billion to Do It.—Just $8 billion?  Sign me up.

Why Fleet Electrification Could Be a Game Changer for Electric Vehicles—Fleets of medium and heavy duty trucks are the lynch pin of an electrified future.  These fleets account for an outsize share of carbon emissions—relative to their absolute numbers when compared to passenger vehicles—and are used in such a way that electrification makes total sense.  Tesla may get a lot of love for its cars, but the first automaker to crack this nut is the real winner.

One-Third of Farmland in the U.S. Corn Belt Has Lost Its Topsoil—This is what happens when you farm corn and soybeans year after year with no consideration for erosion or water quality.

How to Stop Runaway Deforestation? Look at Indonesia.—Before we can begin reforestation we need to stop high rates of deforestation.

A Trip Down the Ohio River Reveals the Oil and Gas Industry’s Next Big Move—Plastic is just big oil in solid form.

Five Surprising Benefits of Shopping Less Often—If there is one thing I do not miss about pre-pandemic life it has to be shopping.  It just went away and life is better because of it.

Friday Linkage 1/15/2020

Our long national nightmare is almost over.  By Wednesday afternoon the orange menace will have retired to Florida or wherever there is someone willing to stroke his fragile ego after having ended the worst presidential administration in the history of the United States.  And you thought it could not get much worse than eight years of George W. Bush.

My dearest wish is that the incoming Biden administration reminds the American people what it is like to have competent people in charge of government who are looking out for the welfare of all people.  What a concept!

Stay safe out there.

On to the links…

US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fell 10% in 2020 as COVID Curbed Travel—If one good thing comes out of 2020 it has to be that we can see a path forward to a lower carbon lifestyle.  Maybe no one needs to fly to Nashville for a three day weekend bachelorette blowout.  Maybe flying cross country for an hour long business meeting is a waste of time, resources, and money.

PlayStation 5 Launch gets More Coverage ‘than 10 Humanitarian Crises Combined’—This is just pathetic.  Our priorities as a civilization are just screwed up.  A Kardashian probably gets more coverage for an off hand tweet about underwear than the entire humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Sponsors of the Pre-Attack Rally Have Taken Down Their Websites. Don’t Forget Who They Were.—We know who these people are.  We must not forget who these people are.

Trump Officials Removed from White House after Faking Approval for Papers which Downplay Climate Crisis—With just over a week to go until the end it did not seem possible that the Trump administration could pull any more shit.  Yet, they were like, “Hold my beer…”

India Sees $55 Billion Investment in Clean Coal Over Next Decade—Just when you think the world is making some progress India comes along to throw a giant wrench into the works.

New Wind Projects Power Local Budgets in Wyoming—Wyoming is hooked on oil gas, and coal revenue.  The state depends on it to fund a lifestyle that would not be possible otherwise.

NuScale Small Modular Nuclear Reactor Moves Another Step Forward—Does it seem like nuclear power makes the smallest steps forward?  While wind turbines are getting massive and solar is getting super cheap, nuclear power is signing agreements to review and design.

German EV Market Reaches Escape Velocity — Record 27% Share In December—Now that Volkswagen is pushing out lots of ID.3s and soon-to-be ID.4s there are going to be a lot more EVs on German roads.

Citizen Science is Booming During the Pandemic—Amateurs can make a difference.

Electric Fireplaces — Safe, Cozy, Clean Flames—One of the things we are considering doing this year is replacing a natural gas fireplace with an electric model.  The future is electric.

Once You Know what Happens to Food You Leave Outdoors, You’ll Stop Doing It—Keep that banana peel for your compost bin.

Want Advice on How to “Unfuck the Planet”? There’s a New Source for That.—Maybe the new motto should be, “Unfuck the planet.”  Simple and to the point.

Friday Linkage 7/17/2020

What in the ever living hell is going on with Ivanka Trump?  The living, breathing, and talking manifestation of white privilege has really been out in front of her skis this week.  As if cursing the world with Jared Kushner as an advisor to the President of the United States was not enough, the apple of Donnie Two Scoop’s eye has decided to lead a White House effort to help people “find something new.”

Man, I am so glad that following her husband conquering coronavirus and solving Middle East peace that the other half of their dynamic duo has now erased unemployment in the United States with three simple words.

I hope she celebrates with a taco salad made with Goya beans.

Stay safe out there.

On to the links…

Fertility Rate: ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Global Crash in Children Being Born—These are some wild numbers.

Biden Outlines $2 Trillion Climate Plan—It’s a plan, which is so much better than the current White House resident’s mode of thinking that goes something like, “Mmmmmm, Kentucky Fried Chicken…Twitter….Fox News…just let Exxon drill wherever…”

Fast-Growing Mini-Forests Spring up in Europe to Aid Climate—I love the idea of planting mini forests everywhere that we can.  There are so many little pieces of land that could host a Miyawaki forest.

Colossal Six Months for Offshore Wind Support Renewable Energy Investment in First Half of 2020—Here comes the offshore wind boom.  Even with coronavirus there is a demand for offshore wind development.

Only Three Coal-Fired Power Plants in Colorado are Set to Operate Past 2030 after Craig Station Shutdown Date is Unveiled—One by one the coal power plants will close and be replaces by renewables.  Then we will come for the natural gas plants.

Is Renewable Natural Gas a Serious Alternative to ‘Electrify Everything’?—The long answer is no, but if so-called renewable natural gas helps us get off the fracked stuff then I am all in favor.

Europe’s Shift to Electric Cars Picks up Speed Despite, or Because of, Recession—Or it is because electric cars are the future.

Japanese Firm Develops Battery That’s 90% Cheaper Than Lithium-Ion—Generally, I take battery developments with about a shaker of salt.  This stuff is hard and it takes a long time to go from the lab to the bottom of a car.  However, 90% is a big number.

Facebook Used 86 Percent Renewable Energy in 2019—Too bad a lot of that energy was used to spread Trump’s lies and connect people with high school memories that were best left unearthed.

Amazon has Eliminated Single-Use Plastic at its Indian Fulfillment Centers—If you can do it in India, do it everywhere else.

Johnnie Walker Maker Creates Plastic-Free Paper-Based Spirits Bottle—It’s a step I guess, but didn’t the world already have a solution in returnables?

Wasteful, Damaging and Outmoded: Is It Time to Stop Building Skyscrapers?—The answer is yes, but the problem is that people with a lot of money will demand the sky high views to go with the sky high prices.

Ways to Keep Buildings Cool with Improved Super White Paints—Buildings across the American southwest could use a simple solution like this to reduce cooling costs.

Meet Free Market Wizards and ‘Prosperity Gospel’ Guys Who got Bailouts—You must understand that the world free market promoters live in is a little different than the tales they spin.  The government is not there to help people in general, it is there to help their cronies in particular.

Burger King is Selling a Burger Made from Cows on Low-Methane Diet—There was a time when I think I had seen it all.  Now,  major fast food chain is promoting a beef patty that was made from vows that fart less.

Friday Linkage 8/30/2019

It is my belief that the last couple of weeks represent the turning point in the Donald Trump era of American politics.  Between proclaiming himself to be the “chosen one,” blatantly violating the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution by promoting his janky resort as a host site for a future G7 summit, and in general being an incoherent gas bag this is where the vast majority of the American public realizes that our time in the dark valley is near an end.

Perhaps it is the same across the globe as Brazilians realize their current leader is a corrupt profiteer, as Italians wake up from their decades long dysfunction to recognize the threat posed by nationalists, and as the United Kingdom comes to grips with the political calculus of Boris Johnson’s coup via the Queen.

Nothing is complete nor can anything be taken for granted, but within the next eighteen months I believe that we can put down this ugly episode like the diseased dog that is has become.

On to the links…

We Now Have the Technology to Create a Grid of Cheap Fully Renewable Electricity—These are opinions being written for sites like Forbes, Marketwatch, and CNBC.  This is hardly the opinion of green eyed dreamers anymore.  The reality is that the future is possible and it is incumbent upon us to demand that it happen soon.

Hawaiian Electric Companies Issue Largest Clean Energy Procurement to Date; Aim to End Coal Use, Replace Oil—Hawaii, due to its remote island location, is the United States’ energy lab for the future.  When Hawaii goes 100% renewable it will provide the blueprint for the rest of the country and, by extension, the rest of the world.

Energy Lobbyists Changed Politicians’ Official Letters Supporting Gas Project—To get to the ideal future we are going to have to deal with the fact that legislators and regulators literally have fossil fuel lobbyists write the opinions on projects.  This is not politics.  This is corruption.

EPA Plans to Abandon Regulations on Methane Emissions, Reports Say—Industry is breaking with the Trump administration on this and other proposals because they realized that the backlash that is coming is going to be brutal.  It will be even more so due to the Trump administration’s brazen gutting of anything that even looks like it might be beneficial to the environment.  What incentive does a Democratic lead government have to help an industry that was so in bed with Trump?  None.  Furthermore, the logic the Trump administration is using to gut these regulations works in reverse so the change will be quick, fierce, and dramatic when change comes to the White House.

These Are the Cities That Should Be Worried the Most About Climate Change Disaster—Is it any surprise that Florida is at risk and not prepared?

Can Solar Panels Handle the Heat of a Warming World?—It is a valid question, but does it really matter in a world where we need to stop burning fossil fuels?

The $30 Billion Exodus: Foreign Oil Firms Bail on Canada—The “smart” money in the investment community is turning against oil and gas investments that are seen as vulnerable in a world where there is an emerging political consensus to keep the dirtiest fossil fuels in the ground.

Coal Sector Outlook Drops from ‘Stable’ to ‘Negative’: Moody’s—Despite the Trump administration’s best efforts, which is really about the same as your kid putting all his toys under the bed when he “cleans” his room, coal is seen as a loser by people who actually have to put their money where their mouth is.

Australian Thermal Coal Exporters Warned of Falling Demand from India—India was the great hope of the Australian coal industry, but a softening global economy will reduce demand.

Offshore Oil and Gas Rigs Leak More Greenhouse Gas than Expected—The story about fossil fuel emissions is much more complex than just what is released when these fuels are burned to produce energy.  At every stage of production and consumption there is a contribution to the emissions of potent greenhouse gases.

The Surprisingly Great Idea in Bernie Sanders’s Green New Deal: Electric School Buses—Why is this not a standalone idea for all potential Democratic presidential candidates?  The benefits are well established and this could serve as a seed for a wider adoption of electric commercial vehicles.

‘World’s First’ Solar-Powered Rail Line Opens in the UK—I actually believe that there is a short line railroad in Australia that beat the Brits to the punch, but who is counting amongst friends?

This New York Agency Cut Its Energy Usage By 40%, & So Can You—Now, imagine a world where we took the initiative to reduce our energy usage by 40%.  It’s not hard and the tools exist.   All that is lacking is will.

How Copenhagen Plans to Reach Carbon-Neutral Status in Just Six Years—I applaud just about everything that happens in Copenhagen, but what I really want to know more about is this place:

Betting the Farm on Drought—As a group, farmers may lean toward conservative politics and not be great believers in the science behind climate change.  However, the reality on the ground is forcing farmers across the world to figure out what adaptions must be made in a changing climate.

Getting Coral To Reproduce—Is there going to be a time when the default question about music to get animals into the mood does not involve the smooth baritone of the late Barry White?

Friday Linkage 3/15/2019

It’s Spring Break week…well, it will be.  This will be the last Friday Linkage until the end of the month so please try and make do without.  I promise I will be back.

On to the links…

The First Green Terawatt Was the Hardest—Consider that the first “green” terawatt of power came at the highest average cost.  The next terawatt or more will come at a price orders of magnitude lower because the highest price is today’s.  The prediction is that the next terawatt will be installed by 2023 at half the cost of the first.  So, a little more than a fourth the amount of time at half the cost.  That is change that I can believe in.

Trump’s Monument Review Was A Big Old Sham—Are we surprised that the process was really about allowing oil, gas, and uranium extraction interests get access to sealed off lands? No one else matters in this criminal administration.

Trump’s Climate Policies Face 6 Big Legal Battles this Year—Here is the thing I wonder about.  If Trump loses his bid for reelection in 2020, what happens to all of this stuff in January 2017 when a Democrat walks into the White House and reverses every executive action that the man took over four years?

Five Things a Democratic President Could Do By Declaring a National Emergency Over Climate Change—I would just love to watch Mitch McConnell clutch his pearls and cry about how decorum is gone from U.S. politics even though no one is more to blame for the degradation of politics in this country than he.

Republicans are the Real Threat to Hamburgers, not Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—Are Republicans really this stupid?  No matter how genuine the policy proposal, Republicans—goaded by Fox News—will turn the discussion into an argument about something that is not even germane to the discussion.  It is the ultimate “hey, look, a squirrel” kind of distraction to keep people from talking about real change.

Trump said to Again Seek Deep Cuts in Renewable Energy Funding—Trump’s 2020 budget is dead on arrival in Congress.  It is now about the negotiations between the House and Senate as to what the budget will look like.

Cost of Adding New Wind, Solar Energy Continues to Fall in Minnesota—It’s not just cheap, but it is getting cheaper to build out renewables versus continue to operate coal plants.

Harnessing the Sun in Coal Country—Naming the two solar farms Hatfield and McCoy is a little hokey, but I love the juxtaposition of old mountain top removal coal mines being transitioned to solar photovoltaic farms.

Norway’s $1tn Wealth Fund to Divest from Oil and Gas Exploration—This is a little “pot calling the kettle black” as the wealth fund is driven by profits from North Sea oil and gas.  However, it is a positive step forward.

Renewables Generated a Record 65 Percent of Germany’s Electricity Last Week—Say what you will, but that is an impressive number.

Tiny Costa Rica Has a Green New Deal, Too. It Matters for the Whole Planet.—I want to know why the United States is getting beat to the punch by a small country like Costa Rica?  Why can’t we think big when it comes to addressing the problem presented by climate change?

Coal Power Stations Disrupt Rainfall—As if we needed another reason to stop burning coal.

Scientists Capture Bacteria That Eat Pollution and Breathe Electricity—This sounds like something out of a comic book that gets repurposed by a super villain to defeat our intrepid heroes.

America’s Light Bulb Revolution—LEDs are amazing.  How anyone—looking at you Republicans—can be against using less electricity for lighting is beyond me.  Oh wait, Fox and Friends does not like LED lightbulbs because, uh, socialism?

The Backyard Mechanic Who is Taking on Tesla—Trust me, Tesla is painted in a bad light here for refusing to sell this guy repair parts but this is not different from a lot of other car companies.  You might be able to buy parts for more mainstream cars, but the prices are crazy compared to what the replacement parts actually cost.  Just spend some time with Porsche enthusiasts looking at repair parts online.

Why India is a World Leader in Waste Paper—As our trash gets sent around the world, it is important to think about the market forces that drive a country to literally buy something that we consider garbage of little to no value.

Friday Linkage 1/25/2019

The partial government shutdown is about to enter its sixth week.  It is already the longest such shutdown in the history of the United States.  It is also case study #1 of what happens when you elect people to run the government who have a professed hatred of the government providing any services whatsoever.

In some ways I feel that this shutdown is the fever dream of people like Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan.  Without a functioning government they can go on Fox News and tell everyone that America soldiers on.  Just wait until Sean Hannity starts a special on how the shutdown is proof positive that the federal government is unnecessary.

On to the links…

Why We Won’t Quit the Climate Fight—We will not quit in a fit of despair because to quit would be to admit defeat.  And defeat in this case is not an option.

Could a Green New Deal Save Civilization?—I believe that the idea of the Green New Deal has the possibility to be a Trojan horse for so many progressive ideas.  Clean energy, modernized mass transit, smart development, etc.

New Proposal Aims To Make Legacy FDR Works Project The Flagship Of A Green New Deal—The thing about the Green New Deal that excites me the most is that we can begin to execute many of the proposed ideas without a single new government agency or program.  Heck, some of it is still in place since the last New Deal.

72% of Americans are ‘Very Worried’ about Climate Change—People are worried.  People want solutions.

Idaho’s New Governor: ‘Climate change is real’—The worm has turned on climate change.  You cannot be a reasonable, notice I said reasonable, politician in the United States and not recognize the impact of climate change.

Why There’s No Bringing Coal Back—Here is another reason why coal is not coming back: Donald Trump.  The industry hitched its wagon to the man who will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history.

The Trump Administration Keeps Taking Care of Big Oil—The Trump administration is making sure that Big Oil is taken care of at all times.

Zinke Leaves Unfinished Business at the Interior Department—The best that we can hope for is that in less than two years we can begin to unwind the damage done to the United States.  This sums up the course of action: “Many of the actions taken by the administration have been done through secretarial orders, internal memos and staffing decisions, many of which can be reversed on day one of a new administration.”

The Invisible Energy Bonanza: Creating Wealth Out Of Nothing—If we really wanted to we could save a proverbial buttload of baseload power just by focusing on not using so god damned much energy.  It is not rocket science.

Colorado Mandates Electric Vehicle Sales, State Dealers Association Angry—Do you know why the dealers are angry?  No service on electric vehicles.  No oil changes at regular intervals.  No fuel filters, air filters, spark plugs, timing belts, etc. to change.  No water pump to replace art 100K miles for the low, low price of $1K.  It’s pretty much rotate the tires, check the wiper blades, and send you on your way with an EV.

Of New Power Generation, How Much Is On The Roof? Quarterly Update — 2018 Q3—There are so many roofs without solar panels.  So much room to grow.

San Diego Has Vast Solar Parking Lot Potential—What locale in the U.S. does not have a lot of solar parking lot potential?  Boston, ok.  New York City, ok.  Just about everyone else.

Renewables In Britain To Overtake Fossil Fuels By 2020—Remember when renewables were only capable of providing a sliver of power generation according to the experts?  Remember when the ceiling was probably ten percent of total power generation according to the experts?

74% Of India’s New Power Capacity Addition In 2018 Was Renewables—It would be better if it were 100%, but I will take it.

US Coal Retirements In 2019 To Hit At Least 6 Gigawatts—This has to be a kick in the gonads for Trump and his coal baron cabinet.

10 Ways Beer Drinking Will Change in 2019—This is the year that I think we will see some major closures in the craft beer space.  My prediction is that one or two of the mid-tier brewers will close or consolidate this year because growth has not kept pace with expansion.

A Bit of Meat, a Lot of Veg – the Flexitarian Diet to Feed 10bn—It is not like this idea is very new.

How To Make Sure Your Recycling Gets Recycled—You would not believe the stuff I see in my neighborhood recycling bins every Thursday.  Resin chairs, check.  All manner of oversized items, check.  This is why recycling does not work in the United States.

Friday Linkage 11/16/2018

California is on fire.  Venice is under water.  Glaciers in South America have retreated.  Famine in Yemen is accelerating.  It seems like this week has brought out the apocalyptic news.

On to the links…

The Zinke Effect: How the US Interior Department became a Tool of Big Business—Ryan Zinke is the robber baron that we deserve.

Interior Department Whistleblower: Ryan Zinke Hollowed Out the Agency—Rebuilding the federal government after the tragedy of the Trump administration is going to be a long, hard road.  This is what you get when you elect people to run government who happen to claim to hate government.  It is also what you get when you elect a serial philanderer who cannot stay out of bankruptcy court.

Trump Campaign Paid Millions to Trump Businesses During Midterms—This is what grift looks like in an era when there is no accountability.  Imagine if Barack Obama had paid himself for the use of a plane he owned from campaign funds?  Mitch McConnell would still be crowing about it and clutching his pearls.

In New Mexico, Public Lands Turned an Election Blue—It turns out that people like the idea of public lands being available for use by the public and not just a land trust for the use of fossil fuel interests.  Republicans will never understand this fact because it runs counter to their deeply held beliefs that oil and gas companies can do no wrong.

Why Nevada Upped its Renewable Energy Standards (and Arizona didn’t)—It was really a mixed bag for climate change related policies on the ballot during the midterm election.  Some states came through while others just toed the line.  Arizona has always struck me as the Florida of the west.  The state will act against its own self-interest time and time again in some misguided defense of “principles.”

Scotland’s Wind Turbines Generated ‘98% of Electricity Demand’ Last Month—It was not really 98% of electricity in a linear fashion all month.  Sometimes it was “only” ~65% of electricity demand while other times it was well over 200% of electricity demand.  Remember when people opposed to renewables said that the maximum would only ever amount to 5% or so of total demand?

Global Coal Use May have Peaked in 2014, Says Latest IEA World Energy Outlook—Despite what the orange despot in the White House says on the campaign trail, coal is not coming back.  Coal is not beautiful.  Coal is dead.

BNEF Confirms US Coal On Track For Record Capacity Decline—Every wind turbine and solar panel that we can deploy is another brick in the wall.

Big Oil’s Death by a Thousand Small Cuts—Every Tesla Model 3 or Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf represents demand destruction for oil that is not coming back.

10% Of New Vehicles Purchased in California Are EVs—If I am an oil company or a car company without an EV this trend would scare the living crap out of me.

Spain to Ban the Sale of All Gas-Powered Cars by 2040—The Spanish plan is part of a larger initiative to break free from fossil fuels in our lifetime.  Now, imagine you are an international auto exec watching an entire country ban the sale of gas cars.

The Wheels on These Buses Go Round and Round With Zero Emissions—If I am in Congress the first bill I propose—ok, maybe not the first—is a program to help subsidize the purchase of electric school buses across the country.  Along with electric city buses, garbage trucks, and delivery vehicles.

Electric Tuk-Tuks Power EV Revolution In India—Sometimes the best conversion from fossil fuels to EV is a low tech swap.  Replace hundreds of thousands of two stroke tuk tuks in India with EV versions and you have made a real dent in air pollution.

Heat-Rejecting Film could Reduce Air Conditioning Costs—Anything that can reduce our demand for air conditioning, thus reducing our demand for the electricity to cool the air, is something worth pursuing.  Particularly, if the solutions do not require retrofitting buildings in expensive and labor intensive ways.

Impossible Foods Will Finally Sell Plant-Based Burger Meat in Grocery Stores—I have yet to try one of these burgers, but maybe if I can find a package in the grocery store I will take it home to compare with an actual ground beef burger.

Plot Twist! Elephants come up with a Foolproof Way to Survive Ivory Poachers—I have linked to similar stories in the past, but it really gives me a chance to post one of my favorite lines from blockbuster movies of the past:

Friday Linkage 8/24/2018

I came back from London to a world where “Truth isn’t truth.”  Maybe so, but felony convictions and guilty pleas are pretty much fact.

I thought that we had reached peak semantic games when Bill Clinton tried to debate what the meaning of the word is was under a given context, but Donald Trump and his minions have come along to upset the entire apple cart of human decency.

We now live in a country and, maybe, a world where a large segment of the population does not believe in objective truth unless supported by Sean Hannity and Alex Jones—who, by the way, tried to argue in a custody case that he was a “performance artist” and therefore his speech was “art.”  You get the idea.

On to the links…

Trump Administration Scraps Plan To Sell Land Cut From Utah Monument—It is all a grift.  Everything these criminals do is in support of the con to loot the American public of every last nickel and dime before the authorities finally start actually locking people up.

Ryan Zinke Would ‘Sell His Grandkids For Big Oil,’ Says Washington Governor—Jay Inslee forgot uranium mining and coal mining and mineral extraction…

Trump Administration Hit With 7 Major Environmental Setbacks In Court In Past Week—Granted, the impact of this administration will be felt for decades as Republicans in Congress have finally decided to fill long empty court seats because they like a white guy picking judges as opposed to a black guy.  If you think their reticence to confirm Obama’s nominees has anything to do with anything other than naked racism you are delusional.

Trump’s Attacks on Public Lands Could Help the Democrats in These States—Surprise, surprise…people in western states like public lands and understand when a politician is just shilling for the oil and gas industries.

Talk About “Losing Money” — US Shale Gas Will Crash … Hard—This is not a really bold prediction for anyone who has followed the boom and bust cycle of the U.S. oil industry for the past fifty or so years.  Remember Denver in the late 1980s?  No one really does because the crash turned the city into a ghost town.

New 9.8 Megawatt Solar Farm In Gallup, New Mexico, Will Save City $785,000 In First 8 Years—Keep pushing coal Donny Two Scoops.  Meanwhile, the rest of the world will move to cheaper and cleaner sources of energy.

Bitcoin’s Annual Carbon Footprint Is Equal to One Million Transatlantic Flights—I admittedly do not really understand bitcoin, but the carbon footprint is out of control.

The Conflict of Interest That Is Killing Recycling—It is the fox guarding the hen house.  Landfill operators and trash haulers want to pick up rubbish and dump it in a landfill.  That is where they make their money.  Recycling is just something that municipalities have burdened them with and they are failing to make the entire endeavor work.

New York’s Push to End Inequality Extends to Garbage—Environmental justice is social justice.  The story of garbage collection and transfer in New York City is the story of how rich people or, at the very least, not poor people have paid to have their trash sent to places where the residents did not have the money and/or clout to prevent the operation of transfer stations.

Report Finds Traces of a Controversial Herbicide in Cheerios and Quaker Oats—Who does not want a little Roundup in their breakfast cereal?  Seriously, we need to stop indiscriminately spraying chemicals on our land.  It is wrong.

Piles of Peer Reviewed Research Show How Bad Cooking with Gas is for Your Health—I have always been a fan of a smooth top electric range because of how easy the top is to clean, but now it looks like I was making a healthy choice as well.  I have always kind of wondered about the wisdom of having an open flame burning in my kitchen.

In Praise of the Dumb Box—I don’t know if calling it the dumb box is the right idea.  Simple.  Austere.  Nordic?  For every “starcitecht’s” whack ass vision in curves and angles there is a basic box doing yeoman’s work housing people.  We tend to actually like basic boxes because it provides us actual space to put our touch on things rather than living in a prefab module.

Norway Has A Radical Approach To Plastic Pollution, And It’s Working—On top of dealing with climate change, we need to deal with the scourge of plastic pollution.  Maybe the Norwegians have figured something out.

Indian Man has Planted a Tree Every Day for 40-Years and Now has a Thriving Forest Larger than Central Park—Maybe we should all just wake up tomorrow and plant a tree.  Turn off the news, put down the phone, and plant a tree.