We lost 45 years to the fossil fuel billionaires and their GOP toadies, who’ve kept us dependent on fossil fuels to keep their profits high - but still they want more, more, more...
Well done! Centralized electricity sources owned by for profit corporations is a terrible system. Where we live in Tennessee our electric utility is an old fashioned co-operative that is member owned; it also provides our T-1 data and web line. Both for a very respectable and affordable cost. In Oregon and Portland residents look with envy at the same system across the border in Vancouver, Washington. It's a very doable citizen action approach: Go electric co-operative, and then work at as much local sourcing as possible for electric, water and garbage.
After all the lethally negative externalities that the carbon oligarchs have forced upon our planet, my gut says they should be forced to make restitution, get the corporate death penalty, and send their decision-makers to the hoosegow. However, since they still call the shots and employ millions of people, I suggest that we use a modified version of Jimmy Carter’s plan to get us off of foreign oil. Rather than just using the stick of threatening the fossil fuel industry with a windfall profits tax to help pay for the transition to green energy, our government needs to make them an offer that their stakeholders will not let them refuse. For instance, we (and every other country that helps subsidize them with over $5T annually) could replace the current subsidies with even more money than they already make, if they just keep “their” carbon in the ground. However, to get that bonus capital (that will attract more shareholder money) they need to transition their extractive and poisonous business models to collaborating with local businesses to build a multi-trillion-dollar, state-of-the-art renewable energy system for the world, and work to restore the livability of Earth’s air, land, and water. And the deal should be contingent upon them allocuting to their crimes against people and the environment, even if it means getting Ken Lay on Zoom from Paraguay.
We have fought a gas project for 15 years and just won. They went back to Canada where they frigin' belong. I used to end every one of my letters to the editor with: "It's insane to send fossil fuel from one end to the other of this tired, hot planet!"
Because I was on the front lines, I have kept track of many aspects. There is good news and REALLY good news. The good news is the banks have had it with loaning $'s for drilling. Part of that is because they are getting heat from the public and activists, but the truth is the boom is over. The REALLY good news is the technology experts and the inventors are going gangbusters (a literal term in this case) on every aspect of defeating the fossil fuel titans, and they are a green-energy juggernaut. Throw in some efficiency solutions and things will get much better.
Another innovation is that each of the wind, solar, wave and geo-thermal projects have the potential to work in conjunction with one another, especially wind and solar inland and wave and wind offshore. And, that is exactly how to localize your energy needs along with some of the new tech concerning energy storage. We are not talking traditional batteries any more. The ideas about solving the "intermittency problem" are stunningly simple and quite interesting to research.
Dead things are better left buried in the ground for Gaia to recycle properly. Alas, Earthlings are slow learners, so, of course, they are scrambling and squabbling over unearthly profits derived from a black goo that gets all over everything and is super hard to wash off. They always have to learn the hard way. Idiots! Besides, Mother Nature has already solved their stupid energy problem over 13 billion years ago using gravity, the real Overlord of the Universe.
How much more obvious could it be with Sol smiling down on the world every morning? It was a long strange trip, but here ya go, little fledging monkey beings: a whole star to call your own... for free! And, as luck and a little science would have it, you are in the exact right orbit, with a slight tilt and wobble added to make it fun and interesting. Ain’t socialism great? Now, please, take care of your fellow beings and the flora and fauna, and everything’ll be cool. 🌎🌞😎
Listening to radio news, just before Putin apotheosized oil once again, I heard two reports of BigFossil diversifying in a green direction. One was Peabody Energy doing some kind of "green" project at their headquarters, the other was Chevron buying, I think it was a wind company. I thought it might be a wink at writing on the wall. But Happy Days are Here Again. Since about all Russia has is oil and gas, it's tempting to wonder, was it part of Putin's calculations to demonstrate world dependancy? Talk about turning points! The rational route forward is more green and local, but human nature seems so geared to clutch the devil we know. How can the progressive side get Jen Psaki's truth out, that the Oil exploiters have strangled production to milk us peon suckers? How can we counter the Joe Biden stickers? The bad guys always seem so far out in front in messaging.
Well done! Centralized electricity sources owned by for profit corporations is a terrible system. Where we live in Tennessee our electric utility is an old fashioned co-operative that is member owned; it also provides our T-1 data and web line. Both for a very respectable and affordable cost. In Oregon and Portland residents look with envy at the same system across the border in Vancouver, Washington. It's a very doable citizen action approach: Go electric co-operative, and then work at as much local sourcing as possible for electric, water and garbage.
After all the lethally negative externalities that the carbon oligarchs have forced upon our planet, my gut says they should be forced to make restitution, get the corporate death penalty, and send their decision-makers to the hoosegow. However, since they still call the shots and employ millions of people, I suggest that we use a modified version of Jimmy Carter’s plan to get us off of foreign oil. Rather than just using the stick of threatening the fossil fuel industry with a windfall profits tax to help pay for the transition to green energy, our government needs to make them an offer that their stakeholders will not let them refuse. For instance, we (and every other country that helps subsidize them with over $5T annually) could replace the current subsidies with even more money than they already make, if they just keep “their” carbon in the ground. However, to get that bonus capital (that will attract more shareholder money) they need to transition their extractive and poisonous business models to collaborating with local businesses to build a multi-trillion-dollar, state-of-the-art renewable energy system for the world, and work to restore the livability of Earth’s air, land, and water. And the deal should be contingent upon them allocuting to their crimes against people and the environment, even if it means getting Ken Lay on Zoom from Paraguay.
This is the answer; Thom nailed it.
We have fought a gas project for 15 years and just won. They went back to Canada where they frigin' belong. I used to end every one of my letters to the editor with: "It's insane to send fossil fuel from one end to the other of this tired, hot planet!"
Because I was on the front lines, I have kept track of many aspects. There is good news and REALLY good news. The good news is the banks have had it with loaning $'s for drilling. Part of that is because they are getting heat from the public and activists, but the truth is the boom is over. The REALLY good news is the technology experts and the inventors are going gangbusters (a literal term in this case) on every aspect of defeating the fossil fuel titans, and they are a green-energy juggernaut. Throw in some efficiency solutions and things will get much better.
Another innovation is that each of the wind, solar, wave and geo-thermal projects have the potential to work in conjunction with one another, especially wind and solar inland and wave and wind offshore. And, that is exactly how to localize your energy needs along with some of the new tech concerning energy storage. We are not talking traditional batteries any more. The ideas about solving the "intermittency problem" are stunningly simple and quite interesting to research.
Dead things are better left buried in the ground for Gaia to recycle properly. Alas, Earthlings are slow learners, so, of course, they are scrambling and squabbling over unearthly profits derived from a black goo that gets all over everything and is super hard to wash off. They always have to learn the hard way. Idiots! Besides, Mother Nature has already solved their stupid energy problem over 13 billion years ago using gravity, the real Overlord of the Universe.
How much more obvious could it be with Sol smiling down on the world every morning? It was a long strange trip, but here ya go, little fledging monkey beings: a whole star to call your own... for free! And, as luck and a little science would have it, you are in the exact right orbit, with a slight tilt and wobble added to make it fun and interesting. Ain’t socialism great? Now, please, take care of your fellow beings and the flora and fauna, and everything’ll be cool. 🌎🌞😎
Listening to radio news, just before Putin apotheosized oil once again, I heard two reports of BigFossil diversifying in a green direction. One was Peabody Energy doing some kind of "green" project at their headquarters, the other was Chevron buying, I think it was a wind company. I thought it might be a wink at writing on the wall. But Happy Days are Here Again. Since about all Russia has is oil and gas, it's tempting to wonder, was it part of Putin's calculations to demonstrate world dependancy? Talk about turning points! The rational route forward is more green and local, but human nature seems so geared to clutch the devil we know. How can the progressive side get Jen Psaki's truth out, that the Oil exploiters have strangled production to milk us peon suckers? How can we counter the Joe Biden stickers? The bad guys always seem so far out in front in messaging.
Absolutely, this is the right path, not just for disaster resiliency, but for the health of the planet!