Month: May 2019

Ignorance is Bliss for GOPer on Climate

From “I Heart Coal” to Solar Leader

For those that have been paying attention, the metamorphosis of big, coal- heavy midwest utilities over the last half decade has been head-spinning and jaw-dropping.
Example, Michigan’s largest utility has moved from a knuckle and foot-dragging troglodyte among utilities, to a leader in retiring coal plants, and adopting renewables, with a goal of no more coal and 80 percent carbon cuts as of 2040.

Not fast enough, yet, mind you – but pace of change in the last few years make it seem quite likely that the transformation will continue to pick up speed. Historically, when cities, countries, or companies set renewable energy goals for themselves, they meet with greater success, more quickly, and more cheaply, than anyone imagined…

Jeff Smith for Groundwork:

Patti Poppe (above) accepted her position as CEO of Consumers Energy in July 2016, and by February 2018 she had ushered through a corporate goal of stopping the burning of coal by 2040 and reducing carbon emissions by 80% in that same time. The initiative at a Top 20 utility earned headlines nationwide and positioned both Consumers Energy and Poppe as national leaders in the fight to slow global warming. 

Word is you used to have an “I heart coal” bumper sticker on your car. But then you led one of the nation’s largest utilities to a zero coal future. What drove that remarkable change?

Figure from Consumer Energy Integrated Resource plan, showing replacement of coal primarily with solar energy

Yes, that’s true. I was proud of our coal plants that powered Michigan. But when I came to understand the science of climate change, I knew we had to do something different. And we did a lot of homework to figure out what we had to do. There was a time in our company when there was a lot of denial about climate change. Many people here said climate change was alarmist and they didn’t believe it. And I can say that at first I did not do my homework either. 

What happened to bring about that change?

We did a forum where we brought in opposing viewpoints with supporting information. Because what you really see is that people on both sides do not really have a good scientific basis for what they think about this. When you ask people why they think climate change is real, they say, “Because I believe it.” And when you ask people who doubt climate change, they say, “Because it’s alarmist.” So we had people come in and I did my homework and I learned the science and it became clear that we could be part of the solution to reducing carbon emissions. It was a no-regrets move. And that is especially true if we can do it in a way that does not economically harm customers. Also, within the company, some people retired and new people came onto the team who had different points of view.

Continue reading “From “I Heart Coal” to Solar Leader”

Welcome to the Future

Still no jetpack or flying car, but all that dystopian shit, yeah, we got that.

The graph below is the one that specifically caught my eye.

Tom Randall via Twitter:

This @exxonmobile chart from 1982 predicted that in 2019 our atmospheric CO2 level would reach about 415 parts per million, raising the global temperature roughly 0.9 degrees C. 

Update: The world crossed the 415 ppm threshold this week and broke 0.9 degrees C in 2017 1/

Here’s another from @exxonmobile 1982. It showed how global warming would initially be almost indistinguishable from normal climate fluctuations. But by 2020 there could be no doubt—the old “normal” would be entirely left behind. Welcome to the future 2/ insideclimatenews.org/sites/default/…