Category Archives: Environment

Killing Solar Power in Ohio

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From the Plain Dealer…

Ohioans and their elected representatives have killed enough solar development to roughly power the state’s three largest cities in the three years since state lawmakers passed one of the nation’s most stringent restrictions on new solar development.

Those political efforts to block or preempt 2,000 megawatts of new energy coming online are the product of 2021 legislation that gave new power to project neighbors and local elected officials to stop development.

Many of these projects were killed by local Republican officials doing the bidding of the oil and gas industry. Just last week, developers behind a proposed 500-megawatt solar farm in Logan County withdrew their permit application, ending a $500 million development. Regulatory staff recommended the Ohio Power Siting Board reject the application, given opposition from local activists and Republican political power at the state and local level.

Enough power to power all three of Ohio’s biggest cities, with no carbon emissions. The Republican party is not a forward looking party. It is a party that holds Ohio (and the country) back. As they force America off the world stage they leave greater and greater openings for China to be a world leader.

Plain Dealer Stories (behind a paywall)
Solar development plunged in Ohio after new, restrictive state law
How NIMBYism and Republican politics killed a $500M solar farm in Ohio

Clean Drinking Water More Cheaply

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More Cheaply? Doesn’t sound right. Anyway, This new technology relies on a 3D printing method to make membranes for reverse osmosis desalinization plants. As long as it doesn’t create another problem with the used membranes (unlikely) any help in lowering desalinization cost would be very helpful.
Experts develop 3D-printed device that could reshape our drinking water: ‘This … is what makes our technology special’

The Great California Insurance War Has Begun

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Like in Florida, many insurance companies would like to end home owner’s coverage for some Californians. California is not Florida, there will be a fight.

Insurance commissioner issues moratorium on home policy cancellations in fire zones

In the end though, is it fair to ask insurance companies to take a perpetual loss? Or to ask the rest of America to subsidize the risk Californians take by living there?

This is Why Fighting Climate Change is Good Fiscal Policy

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I am always amazed by the lack of logic from those who deny climate change. I have watched friends change their stance from “I don’t believe climate change is occurring” to, “Well maybe, but we can’t be sure it is caused by humans” to the current, “Well China and India aren’t doing anything about it why should we?” This last comment has become popular as China overtook our country on EV (electric vehicle) and Solar Panel production. We now have a 100% tariff on Chinese EV’s because China can make a pretty good EV for about $12,000 U.S.! Can you imagine what a $12,000 car could do to the U.S. car market? Poor folks could almost afford a new car.

My point is that as we delay, the problem grows worse and we lose any ability to offset the cost of fixing it by providing the technology to do so. Soon we will be forced to buy that technology from China. So before Trump tries to abolish all climate research to avoid those pesky facts, please enjoy this latest report from the good people at USGS (United States Geologic Survey).

14 Million Americans May Sink Within 76 Years

BTW, That estimate is $1 trillion in damages by the end of the century, just for the southeastern coast.

Oh, and for those who wonder why I post so many Yahoo links it is because they have less advertising than the websites the stories come from.

The Hottest Day Ever Recorded

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was yesterday. Beating the previous record holder, the day before yesterday. How long will we keep electing fools who ignore the coming disaster? Hope you like higher food prices for a start.

Monday breaks the record for the hottest day ever on Earth

A movie opened last week called “Fly Me to the Moon”. It is a fictional tale set around the first American moon landing. It portrays a possibility of NASA faking the landing. I sincerely hope everyone associated with this garbage loses their careers. We already have 1 in 8 Americans who think we didn’t land on the moon, one of our country’s proudest achievements. Sadly, America’s once proud association with science and reason seems to have vanished.

Oxygen from the Ocean

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Okay, this could be a real game changer. People have been talking about mining manganese nodules (metal nodules made from a number of rare metals) from the bottom of the ocean floor since I was in elementary school. Just as the technology is being developed we discover this…

Oxygen discovery defies knowledge of the deep ocean

If this is true, mining these nodules could be another heavy straw on the camel’s back as far as the ocean is concerned. Our world ocean is already stressed to the breaking point.

So Important

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As we think about life, the future, and everything that bothers us, remember this…

In 1990, as Voyager 1 was leaving the solar system. NASA turned it around and took one last photo of the Earth. It was at the limit of Voyager’s camera’s ability. Earth is just one blue dot in a vast sea of darkness.