Category Archives: climate policy

Comment on “Federal policy can drive the solar industry… but still may fall short”

Yuri Hurwitz posted an opinion piece at PV Magazine USA of the title in this post’s subject line. While I noted his concerns, I thought they were misplaced. And I thought he missed some other concerns which were more important. … Continue reading

Posted in agrivoltaics, American Solar Energy Society, Berkeley Haas Energy, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, clean disruption, climate business, climate disruption, climate economics, climate emergency, climate finance, climate justice, climate policy, decentralized electric power generation, demand-side solutions, distributed generation, ecomodernism, economic disruption, ecopragmatism, electric vehicles, electrical energy engineering, energy transition, engineering, Hermann Scheer, investment in wind and solar energy, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Mark Jacobson, Michael Bloomberg, Michael Osborne, Our Children's Trust, photovoltaics, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, Talk Solar, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Biomes are too dynamic and intertwingled to be managed with simple political slogans: The case of Gnetum luofuense

Corners of the Environmentalist Establishment voice shrieks regarding what they call a biodiversity emergency, prompting even skilled journalists to claim the trend poses “as great a risk to humanity as climate change.” We went through the “insect apocalypse” fiasco, which … Continue reading

Posted in Aldo Leopold, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Anthropocene, Apis mellifera, bacteria, being carbon dioxide, Bill McKibben, biology, Botany One, climate disruption, climate emergency, climate policy, complex systems, control theory, Cult of Carbon, Daniel B Botkin, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, Gnetum luofuense, gymnosperms, Steven Vogel | 5 Comments

‘It begins with attitude’, and about an understated victory

Bill Nye’s Climate Meltdown, introducing Professor Mark Z Jacobson of Stanford University. And Climate Adam reviews a climate action breakthrough:

Posted in #youthvgov, Bill Nye, Bloomberg Green, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate activism, Climate Adam, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate education, climate emergency, climate mitigation, climate policy, ClimateAdam, ecomodernism, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, global blinding, global warming, global weirding, Mark Jacobson | 1 Comment

“… [W]e need to address the climate crisis at the pace and scale it demands.”

“Dear President Biden, “We, the undersigned businesses and investors with a major presence in the U.S., applaud your administration’s demonstrated commitment to address climate change head-on, and we stand in support of your efforts. “Millions of Americans are already feeling … Continue reading

Posted in being carbon dioxide, Bloomberg Green, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, climate emergency, climate hawk, climate policy, ecocapitalism, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, global weirding, investment in wind and solar energy, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, wind energy, wind power | Leave a comment

“The U.S. should lead the world on climate change”

This excerpt is from Bloomberg Opinion, written by its Editorial Board. I recommend the entire op-ed. Climate change is a global threat requiring global action, so it’s essential that the U.S. join, and preferably guide, worldwide cooperative efforts. Among Biden’s … Continue reading

Posted in alternatives to the Green New Deal, American Solar Energy Society, Amory Lovins, Arnold Schwarzennegger, Benji Backer, Bloomberg, Bloomberg Green, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, capitalism, Carbon Cycle, carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate hawk, climate justice, climate policy, climate science, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, ecocapitalism, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, electrical energy engineering, electricity markets, engineering, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, Hermann Scheer, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Joseph Schumpeter, Karl Ragabo, keep fossil fuels in ground, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, liberal climate deniers, local generation, making money, marginal energy sources, Mark Carney, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Mathematics and Climate Research Network, Michael Bloomberg, Michael Osborne, ocean warming, On being Carbon Dioxide, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, Stewart Brand, stranded assets, the green century, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Consumer, Employment, and Environmental Benefits of Electricity Transmission Expansion in the Eastern United States

If local towns and neighborhoods continue to oppose decentralized zero Carbon energy, whether solar ground mounts or utility scale solar farms or wind turbines, we’re going to need more transmission, much more transmission. Opponents to decentralized solar generation are either … Continue reading

Posted in alternatives to the Green New Deal, American Solar Energy Society, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, Carbon Cycle, carbon dioxide, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate policy, complex systems, Cult of Carbon, decentralized electric power generation, distributed generation, ecomodernism, electric vehicles, electrical energy engineering, electrical energy storage, electricity, electricity markets, energy storage, energy utilities, extended supply chains, global warming, greenhouse gases, IEEE, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, keep fossil fuels in ground, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, liberal climate deniers, local generation, mitigating climate disruption, On being Carbon Dioxide, photovoltaics, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, tragedy of the horizon, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Fossil fuels have no future

Posted in afforestation, alternatives to the Green New Deal, American Solar Energy Society, an ignorant American public, being carbon dioxide, Bloomberg Green, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, climate activism, climate disruption, climate mitigation, climate policy, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, global warming, Mark Jacobson, photovoltaics, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

… [T]oo detached from my natural origins to see the problem …

The proprietor of the false progress blog which I mentioned in an earlier blog post made a comment about another one of my posts. Actually, that’s not quite right in three respects. I don’t really know if it’s really the … Continue reading

Posted in afforestation, Amory Lovins, being carbon dioxide, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, carbon dioxide, clean disruption, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate policy, Cult of Carbon, decentralized electric power generation, degrowth, development as anti-ecology, ecocapitalism, ecological disruption, ecological services, ecology, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, extended producer responsibility, extended supply chains, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, Green New Deal, greenhouse gases, Hermann Scheer, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, lichens, luckwarmers, luckwarmism, Mark Jacobson, Mary C Wood, mosses, Nature's Trust, nuclear power, NuScale, ocean warming, On being Carbon Dioxide, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, supply chains, technology, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, Tony Seba, tragedy of the horizon, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment

What’s wrong with Massachusetts? Land wind turbines!

For groups of people who seriously embrace land wind turbines, there is no downside.

Posted in American Conservation Coalition, American Solar Energy Society, Ørsted, being carbon dioxide, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, Cape Wind, capitalism, CleanTechnica, climate activism, climate disruption, climate policy, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, distributed generation, ecocapitalism, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, education, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, global weirding, Green Tea Coalition, Hermann Scheer, Karl Ragabo, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, microgrids, mitigating climate disruption, On being Carbon Dioxide, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, Sonnen community, statistical ecology, Talk Solar, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, Tony Seba, tragedy of the horizon, unreason, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Net Zero Emissions

Note Massachusetts has a “net zero” plan in mind. 2050. So do lots of companies, municipalities, and countries. Let’s hope they act like it means something. That’s Climate Adam in the above, by the way. Support him.

Posted in American Association for the Advancement of Science, being carbon dioxide, bridge to somewhere, carbon dioxide, climate activism, Climate Adam, climate change, climate disruption, climate education, climate policy, climate science, ClimateAdam, ecocapitalism, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, global warming, zero carbon | Leave a comment

On the Nuclear option

Where does a state government turn when they have a strong mandate to remove fossil fuels from electricity generation, heating, cooling, and transportation? Suppose they proposed a cross-border hydropower purchase from Quebec? Suppose they planned to roll out land-based wind, … Continue reading

Posted in alternatives to the Green New Deal, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Solar Energy Society, an uncaring American public, atmosphere, Ørsted, Benji Backer, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, Cape Wind, carbon dioxide, CleanTechnica, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate mitigation, climate nightmares, climate policy, climate science, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, electricity, electricity markets, energy utilities, environment, Ernest Moniz, Falmouth, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, greenhouse gases, investment in wind and solar energy, New England, nuclear power, NuScale, ocean warming, On being Carbon Dioxide, photovoltaics, solar energy, stranded assets, technology, the green century, Tokarska and Zickfield, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Saul Griffith’s musings: Rather than secretary of energy, I’d prefer a bigger role. If efforts to curb climate change are only housed within DOE, we won’t succeed at the scale required. I’d like a job that doesn’t yet exist, analogous … Continue reading

Posted on by ecoquant | Leave a comment

Book: 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything

Professor Mark Z Jacobson‘s latest marvelous book, 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything, summarized in a great one hour interview.

Posted in #youthvgov, an uncaring American public, Ørsted, being carbon dioxide, Benji Backer, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate activism, climate business, climate economics, climate education, climate hawk, climate mitigation, climate policy, control theory, decentralized electric power generation, distributed generation, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, emergent organization, fossil fuel divestment, Green New Deal, grid defection, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, investments, Karl Ragabo, keep fossil fuels in ground, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, Mark Jacobson, Michael Osborne, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sankey diagram, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, stranded assets, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment

Codium fragile for Saturday, 21st November 2020

Great Web sites here, all about truly preserving Walpole for the long term, rather than in pursuit of myopic interests: http://walpolepreservationalliance.org http://walpole-preservation-alliance.org http://walpolepreservationalliance.net http://walpolepreservationalliance.com http://walpolepreservationalliance.co http://walpolepreservationalliance.info http://walpolepreservationalliance.earth How Norfolk County preserves forest. Choices. Walpole Preservation Alliance

Posted in #climatestrike, #sunrise, #youthvgov, agrivoltaics, American Solar Energy Society, an ignorant American public, an uncaring American public, anti-science, being carbon dioxide, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bollocks, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, Carbon Cycle, carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide sequestration, Carbon Tax, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate activism, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate justice, climate mitigation, climate nightmares, climate policy, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Cult of Carbon, decentralized electric power generation, development as anti-ecology, distributed generation, DNS, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, electricity markets, emissions, evidence, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, Green Tea Coalition, Greta Thunberg, Hermann Scheer, Humans have a lot to answer for, indigenous peoples, Internet, investment in wind and solar energy, Juliana v United States, keep fossil fuels in ground, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, luckwarmers, mitigating climate disruption, On being Carbon Dioxide, Our Children's Trust, Principles of Planetary Climate, public welfare, regulatory capture, risk, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, stranded assets, the green century, the right to be and act stupid, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, tragedy of the horizon, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wishful environmentalism, zero carbon | Tagged | Leave a comment

Dr Emily Shuckburgh, OBE : Where we are

Posted in Arctic amplification, being carbon dioxide, bridge to nowhere, children as political casualties, civilization, climate activism, climate change, climate denial, climate disruption, climate economics, climate grief, climate hawk, Climate Hope, climate mitigation, climate nightmares, climate policy, climate science, climate zombies, ClimateAdam, global blinding, global warming, global weirding, ice sheet dynamics, sea level rise | 1 Comment

How Norfolk County Massachusetts preserves forest

(Update, 12th August 2021) Of course, if solar photovoltaic arrays were proposed here instead, residents and abutters would come out to oppose them, including untruthfully claiming that photovoltaics leak Cadmium and other materials into soils. “Cutting down trees is detrimental … Continue reading

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, an ignorant American public, an uncaring American public, being carbon dioxide, bridge to nowhere, Carbon Tax, Carbon Worshipers, climate change, climate denial, climate disruption, climate nightmares, climate policy, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Cult of Carbon, global blinding, global warming, global weirding, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local self reliance, mitigating climate disruption, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, the right to be and act stupid, the tragedy of our present civilization, wind power, wishful environmentalism, zero carbon | 1 Comment

“Climate Hope” from Climate Adam

Rainmaker, a little faith for hire Rainmaker, the house is on fire Rainmaker, take everything you have Sometimes folks need to believe in something so bad, so bad, so bad They’ll hire a rainmaker Springsteen, 2020 (h/t Andrew Gottlieb, Association … Continue reading

Posted in #youthvgov, bridge to somewhere, climate activism, Climate Adam, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, climate education, climate grief, climate hawk, Climate Hope, climate mitigation, climate nightmares, climate policy, climate science, ClimateAdam, Debbie Dooley, distributed generation, Eaarth, ecocapitalism, Ecology Action, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, Emily Shuckburgh, global warming, Green Tea Coalition, Karl Ragabo, Mark Carney, Mark Jacobson, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, the green century, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Wake Up

Posted in #youthvgov, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, climate activism, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate grief, climate justice, climate mitigation, climate nightmares, climate policy, climate science, coastal communities, coastal investment risks, ecocapitalism, ecological disruption, ecological services, Ecology Action, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, ecopragmatist, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, Greta Thunberg, Humans have a lot to answer for, investment in wind and solar energy, James Hansen, John Holdren, Joseph Schumpeter, Juliana v United States, keep fossil fuels in ground, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, liberal climate deniers, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, Talk Solar, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Choices.

This is a retake of a presentation at the invitation of the Walpole Greens and made at their meeting of 9th November 2020. It is longer and more leisurely. I interleave some of the answers to questions that followed the … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, agriculture, agrivoltaics, agroecology, alternatives to the Green New Deal, American Solar Energy Society, argoecology, Ørsted, being carbon dioxide, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Botany, carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide sequestration, Clausius-Clapeyron equation, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate hawk, climate policy, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Conservation Action Coalition, Debbie Dooley, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, distributed generation, ecocapitalism, ecological services, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, ecopragmatist, electric vehicles, electrical energy storage, electricity, emissions, energy, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, environment, explosive methane, forests, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, fragmentation of ecosystems, gas pipeline leaks, global warming, Google Earth, Green Tea Coalition, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, investment in wind and solar energy, investments, Joseph Schumpeter, Karl Ragabo, Keeling curve, keep fossil fuels in ground, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, liberal climate deniers, local generation, local self reliance, meteorology, microgrids, mitigating climate disruption, natural gas, nuclear power, NuScale, ocean acidification, ocean warming, oceans, On being Carbon Dioxide, plankton, Principles of Planetary Climate, public utility commissions, RethinkX, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, Stewart Brand, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 5 Comments

“A Matter of Degrees”

“A Matter of Degrees” is a new climate change mitigation podcast, created and produced by Drs Katharine Wilkinson and Leah Stokes. The first episode, “Give up your climate guilt“, is auspicious. Check it out. Fair disclosure: I have been pretty … Continue reading

Posted in #sunrise, #youthvgov, Amory Lovins, being carbon dioxide, Carbon Cycle, climate activism, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate mitigation, climate policy, global warming, liberal climate deniers | Leave a comment

Peter Kane’s net positive energy, CO2-free custom built home

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, climate mitigation, climate policy, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, ecomodernism, energy storage, energy utilities, global warming, investment in wind and solar energy, keep fossil fuels in ground, Mark Jacobson, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, mitigating climate disruption, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Peter Kane, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, Talk Solar, technology, the green century, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Good news, and a beacon of progress, with hope for more to come

That’s Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet. Ørsted : “Love your home”

Posted in afforestation, agrivoltaics, Alphabet, argoecology, Ørsted, being carbon dioxide, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, carbon dioxide sequestration, climate change, climate disruption, climate education, climate mitigation, climate policy, ecocapitalism, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, electricity, emissions, engineering, fossil fuel divestment, Global Carbon Project, global warming, global weirding, Green New Deal, greenhouse gases, keep fossil fuels in ground, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Mark Jacobson, moral leadership, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, Sundar Pichai, sustainability, technology, the green century, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Great podcast: “Confronting uncertainty with Tamsin Edwards”

Dr Tamsin Edwards visits Professor David Spiegelhalter on his “Risky Talk” podcast. Dr Edwards is a climate scientist with the title Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography at Kings College, London. There’s much good talk about climate and its associated uncertainties, … Continue reading

Posted in alternatives to the Green New Deal, American Association for the Advancement of Science, climate change, climate denial, climate education, climate policy, climate science, David Spiegelhalter, dynamical systems, fluid dynamics, games of chance, global warming, global weirding, IPCC, model comparison, risk, Risky Talk, statistical models, statistical series | Leave a comment

A SimCity for the Climate

SimCity is/was a classic simulation game teaching basics of public policy, energy management, and environmental regulation. My kids played it a lot. Heck, I played it a lot. Now, Climate Interactive, Tom Fiddaman of Ventana Systems, Prof John Sterman of … Continue reading

Posted in Bloomberg, Bloomberg Green, climate activism, climate business, climate change, climate data, climate disruption, climate economics, climate education, Climate Interactive, climate models, climate policy, global warming, science | Leave a comment

Keep fossil fuels in the ground

Ah, wouldn’t it be lovely!? Is this the beginning of the Minsky Moment Mark Carney has feared? In short, that was because the trading markets had not priced in (a) the risks from climate change, and (b) the risks from … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, being carbon dioxide, catastrophe modeling, clean disruption, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate policy, Cult of Carbon, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, Mark Carney, Minsky moment | Leave a comment

Cloud brightening hits a salty snag

The proposal known as solar radiation management is complicated. It just got moreso. Released Wednesday: Fossum, K.N., Ovadnevaite, J., Ceburnis, D. et al. “Sea-spray regulates sulfate cloud droplet activation over oceans“, Climate and Atmospheric Science, 3(14): (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-020-0116-2 [open access] … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Meteorological Association, atmosphere, being carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide, chemistry, climate disruption, climate mitigation, climate nightmares, climate policy, cloud brightening, ecomodernism, emissions, geoengineering, global warming, Ken Caldeira, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, meteorological models, meteorology, mitigating climate disruption, NASA, National Center for Atmospheric Research, oceanography, Principles of Planetary Climate, Ray Pierrehumbert, risk, solar radiation management, sustainability, Wally Broecker, water vapor, wishful environmentalism, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Climate Adam on Greta Thunberg

Posted in #sunrise, #youthvgov, Bill Nye, bridge to somewhere, Climate Adam, climate change, climate disruption, climate mitigation, climate policy, ClimateAdam, forecasting, global warming, Greta Thunberg | Leave a comment

What you need to do

Yes, I know, this is from Orsted, a public company which, primarily, builds offshore wind farms. And, as a result, you out there (which is, frankly, an infinitesimal fraction of the world, because, basically, no one follows me), will critique … Continue reading

Posted in #climatestrike, American Solar Energy Society, an uncaring American public, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, clean disruption, climate disruption, climate policy, decentralized electric power generation, destructive economic development, distributed generation, ecological disruption, ecological services, ecomodernism, economics, ecopragmatism, electrical energy storage, emissions, exponential growth, extended producer responsibility, finance, Friedman, South Shore Recycling Cooperative | Leave a comment

Sir David King (1), climate: What’s it all about, and what it will mean

Note the citing of how talent migrated from the fossil fuel industry to offshore wind energy.

Posted in climate change, climate data, climate disruption, climate economics, climate justice, climate policy, global warming | Leave a comment

“The financial crash and the climate crisis” (The New Yorker Radio Hour)

A great podcast episode. Check out the thoughts of the late Professor Martin Weitzman as well, in “The man who got economists to take climate nightmares seriously“.

Posted in American Statistical Association, an uncaring American public, Anthropocene, being carbon dioxide, bifurcations, bridge to nowhere, Buckminster Fuller, Carbon Cycle, carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, catastrophe modeling, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate grief, climate justice, climate mitigation, climate nightmares, climate policy, climate zombies, coastal investment risks, flooding, floods, Florida, global warming, global weirding, home resale values, Hyper Anthropocene, objective reality, oceans, Robert Young, Scituate, shorelines, Sir David King, temporal myopia, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, unreason | Leave a comment