Month: January 2025

Today’s show was my last at CNN. My closing message: It’s never a good time to bow down to a tyrant… don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to fear. Hold on to the truth… and hope.

— Jim Acosta (@jimacosta.bsky.social) 2025-01-28T18:07:30.523Z

Feel free to add your favorite respites and remedies in the comments.

It was one of the grimmest, meanest weeks in our nation’s history. Even though we have prepared and braced for the impact of Trump 2.0, I am still astounded by the cruelty and stupidity of the Executive Orders. I am angered and disgusted for all of the people who have been put into harms way. And I am livid with the impact on civil society – our rights as citizens to a transparent and functional government. It is a travesty.

I take comfort in knowing that the truth is still the truth. We still live on a planet of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. We can put our feet on the ground, together, and feel the sun and wind. Our bodies and our work together are still sacred. We are still real – even in the face of obliteration.

Please take care of yourself and your loved ones. We are going to do this together.

Sarah E. Myhre PhD on Linked In.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT CRASH OUT.Folks are relying on you to be overstimulated, overwhelmed, & overcome so you won't resist. Take breaks,Take a breath,Be intentional with how you spend your time.Be effective with how you spend your energy.Support each otherRest, live, & fight another day.

— Whitney Alese (@thereclaimed.bsky.social) 2025-01-28T00:40:15.449Z

Continue reading “Sanity Resources for a Critical Moment”

Still more shoes to drop?

Ohio clearly is one of the most corrupt states in the Union, with some of the most high profile examples being related to energy issues, and that corruption has bled over into adjoining Michigan, according to local officials I have interviewed.
In particular, they make the connection between Ohio groups and well known anti-clean energy activist Kevon Martis.

Martis, of “Kmart” as we affectionately know him, has had close connections to at least one of the indicted individuals, Sam Randazzo, who was found dead shortly before he was to testify, reportedly a suicide.

Continue reading “Ohio Arrests Continue in Giant Energy Racketeering Case”

CNBC report on impact of California fires.

There’s (maybe) enough resources, with Re-insurance, to handle the current demands. But upward pressure on home insurance rates has become a driver of stubborn inflation, unlikely to go away any time soon.

A perfectly normal thing for any American to say about a politician.

Marc Morano has been a durable, and reliably shameless voice of climate denial for decades. In the past he’s called for climate scientists to be “flogged”, and who knows? He might live to see it.
Unlike some, he’s never given ground to admit that climate change is even happening, or retreated to any kind of less radically bonkers position. With Marc you get an unvarnished glimpse into the quasi-religious core of science denial madness.

My interview with him at the Heartland Institute conference in 2012 remains an enduring classic.

Offshore wind will be held up by the Trump administration, but other clean energy sectors see continued growth.
In a preliminary briefing from a well informed clean industry source last week, I was told that there would not be a change in plans for solar or wind projects in their portfolio.

CNBC:

Renewable energy giants appear relatively sanguine about U.S. President Donald Trump’s anti-wind policies, describing the process of replacing fossil fuels with electrically powered products as “absolutely unstoppable.”

Trump, who promised a new “golden age” for America in his inaugural address on Monday, swiftly took aim at low-carbon energy initiatives. 

In a standalone executive order, which had been widely expected, the president temporarily suspended new or renewed leases for offshore and onshore wind projects and halted the leasing of wind power projects on the outer continental shelf. 

“We are not going to do the wind thing. Big ugly windmills, they ruin your neighborhood,” Trump told his supporters at the Capital One Area in Washington on Monday. He previously described wind turbines as an economic and environmental “disaster.”

The measures formed part of a much broader energy offensive designed to “unleash” already booming oil and gas production. This included declaring a national energy emergency, promoting fossil fuel drilling in Alaska and signing an executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the landmark Paris Agreement.

Continue reading “Clean Energy Firms Remain Upbeat”

Above, CBS report on the impact home power supplies can have during outages, which are becoming more frequent with extreme weather and aging grids.

So you may say, “I’d like to get a home battery, but the only one I’ve heard of is the Tesla power wall, and I don’t want to patronize that asshole Elon Musk.”
I’ve got you covered with a guide to Non-Tesla battery storage.

8M Solar:

Enphase:

Available in a range of sizes, including the Encharge 3/3T and Encharge 10/10T, the Enphase IQ Battery provides flexibility for different energy needs. Homeowners can opt for one or more units, depending on their storage requirements, and scale the system as needed. With a roundtrip efficiency of 89% and a 100% depth of discharge, the IQ Battery offers high performance, ensuring that a significant portion of the stored energy can be utilized for household consumption.

Made from lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), the IQ Battery is designed for safety, providing both power and peace of mind. Enphase supports this product with a robust 10-year warranty, ensuring that the battery will maintain at least 70% of its original capacity over the decade. Although the IQ Battery is currently available for pre-order, its estimated price ranges from $6,000 to $20,000, depending on the model selected, making it a considerable but potentially valuable investment in long-term energy independence

Continue reading “Home Batteries Will Enable Virtual Power Plants -But What to Buy?”

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D) Rhode Island questions EPA nominee Lee Zeldin.

Sierra Club:

Zeldin is a politician and military officer who grew up in New York’s Suffolk County. From 2015 to 2023, he represented New York’s First District (eastern Long Island) in Congress, where he sat on the House Foreign Affairs and Financial Services Committees. Before that, he served for four years in the New York state senate. In 2022, he ran for governor of New York against Democrat Kathy Hochul, a race that he lost by six points. 

Continue reading “Senator Whitehouse Questions EPA Nominee”

Short but important exchange with Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D) Nevada.

The other important player in implementing the administration’s energy policy will be Interior Secretary Doug Bergum, who will cruise to approval.

Both men spin the “all of the above” line, and tend to understate, or play dumb as to the pace of technological change in clean energy.

Bergum, the former Governor of North Dakota, has touted the wind generation in his state, but also calls for “balance”.
Senator Angus King challenged some of Bergum’s assumptions.
“You would agree that solar and wind plus batteries equals caseload.”

Below, Senator Bernie Sanders (D) Vermont, questions EPA designate Lee Zeldin.

Continue reading “Critical Energy Picks in Senate Testimony”

Poor sound on this video, but good information. From the UK but relevant everywhere.

Description:

Why is renewable generation not resulting in cheaper energy prices? This is one of the most common questions we hear from energy consumers. After all, the ‘fuel’ required to generate power from solar panels or wind turbines is free. The answer though is far more complex. So to explain the underlying rationale in clear and straightforward terms, we recorded a three-minute conversation between our Senior Costing and Risk Manager, Stephen Evans, and wholesale energy trader, Mark Ursell, from our Optimisation Desk at npower Business Solutions.

So, I produced a video critical of the new Secretary of Energy nominee, Chris Wright .

Wright had made his own video with a number of claims, including that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had, in Wright’s mind, supported the contention that extreme weather events are not getting worse. I ran that claim by one of the lead authors of that section of the IPCC report, Jim Kossin, and hilarity ensued.

Well, somebody must have watched the damn video.

Last Wednesday, a padded envelope shows up on my doorstep, and it’s a mailing from Mr. Wright’s company, Liberty Energy, a gas / fracking firm based in Colorado.

It’s a glossy coffee table book called “Bettering Human Lives”, well illustrated, coffee table quality, all about what great work Liberty is doing, freeing the poor people of the world from drudgery with the wonders of fossil fuels. An online version is here.

Continue reading “The View from Liberty Energy”