Tag Archives: climate change

A Confederacy Of Dunces: America First Energy Conference Insist On Anti-American Energy Policy

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Sometimes, the dumb is so breathtaking it’s hard to put into words. Such was the America First Energy Conference, which Reuters reporter Collin Eaton dutifully reported on this week from New Orleans.

If Reuters doesn’t provide him some hazardous duty pay for locking himself in a room with these people for a day, then there is something seriously wrong with the system.

I’ll let Eaton’s lede stand on its own because, whoa boy, it sorta sums it all up:

Pumping carbon dioxide into the air makes the planet greener; the United Nations puts out fake science about climate change to control the global energy market; and wind and solar energy are simply “dumb”.

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Honestly, it’s amazing the attendees at this conference can dress themselves, let alone navigate New Orleans.

Based on Eaton’s reporting – and I must admit I’m not sure I could do what he did – 40 speakers took to the podium to bash renewable energy, pimp for coal and expound on any number of insane theories about how climate change is fake and pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere will actually lead to a greener planet, all the while dismissing actual scientific consensus that climate change is not only real but is having a deletrious effect on the United States and its people.

The worst part of the whole thing is that this gathering of cranks and crazies was attended by actual members of the Trump Administration, though they clammed up when asked by reporters whether they agreed with some of the nuttier theories at play.

And then there were the jokes. So many with the jokes. Here’s what one attendee had to say about wind and solar (and while I recognize this person is just testing out material for his second career as a stand-up comedian, I’m here to tell him, in true concern-troll fashion: Don’t quit your day job.):

“The deep state is real,” said Congressman Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican, addressing the conference. “They’re certainly anti-fossil fuel.”

Higgins joked about renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, saying there is probably a conference somewhere in the United States where people are talking about “how the future of the world’s engine will be provided by rainbow dust and unicorn milk.”

A member of the House of Representatives from your state, Louisiana. Seriously, what is wrong with you?

Eaton does an excellent job in his reporting of contrasting all the climate-change denial with the fact the Louisiana – New Orelans in particular – is investing like crazy in technology to combat climate change because, well, you know, Hurricane Katrina proved that New Orleans is going to bear the brunt of increasingly violent storms engendered by climate change. It’s certainly worth reading the whole thing, although I suggest hip waders and respirators, ’cause it gets deep in there.

Fortunately, the rest of the country recognizes this cranks and kooks for what they are and are bravely ignoring their attempts to march us back to the 19th Century. The Clean Energy Revolution, with solar in the vanguard, is moving forward apace – and it will manage to keep this planet alive and well even for those who attended this conference.

I’ll leave you with one last killer quotation from someone Eaton spoke to outside of the conference, which brought a little reality into an otherwise unreal piece:

“It’s a nice world they live in,” said Steve Cochran, campaign director of Restore the Mississippi River Delta, an environmental consortium involved in coastal restoration programs, referring to the attendees of the America First Energy Conference. “It’s not the world we live in.”

More:

At ‘America First Energy Conference’, solar power is dumb, climate change is fake

Panel Says We Will Win The Climate Change Battle (Their Mouths To Universe’s Ears)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: The Center for America Progress (CAP) held its IDEAS conference yesterday, and the most interesting discussion with Amy Harder with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, progressive activist Tom Steyer and Senior Vice President of Climate, Environmental Justice & Community Revitalization, Hip Hop Caucus Mustafa Ali.

  • Washington State has one of the most progressive solar policy structures in the United States, and Inslee says he believes that progress will continue in the form of the first carbon tax, which is on the ballot as an initiative in his state.
  • Steyer said – again – that he believes the only way climate change will be defeated is as part of broader coalition that wins elections and makes a strong pitch for community solar.
  • Ali made the critical point that the United States must fight climate change in a way that doesn’t just push it to underservered, low-income communities.

    • climate change

    SolarWakeup’s View:  At yesterday’s Center for American Progress (CAP) Ideas Conference, Axios reporter Amy Harder sat down with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, progressive activist Tom Steyer and Senior Vice President of Climate, Environmental Justice & Community Revitalization, Hip Hop Caucus Mustafa Ali, to discuss climate change. What ensued was a fascinating discussion that lasted about 10 minutes and I’m sure will be its own video at some point, like CAP did last year (right now it’s smack in the middle of an eight-hour video of the entire conference).

    Several interesting things did come out of the discussion, including:

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  • Inslee is either running for president in 2020 or at least broadening his national profile so he can be part of the next Democratic administration. Oh, and he touted Washington’s work on climate change, including a carbon “fee” that will be on the ballot in November, which he believes will pass overwhelmingly.
  • Steyer, who in case you haven’t been paying attention is backing two critical pro-solar initiatives in Michigan and Nevada, said he believes climate change can’t be a stand-alone issue and that it has to be part of a larger progressive agenda to bring a coalition of people to the polls in November.
  • Ali focused on the importance of making sure underserved and low-income communities aren’t left behind in the climate change battle, saying the overall benefits – cleaner air and water, for example – should also be tied to jobs in those communities (which allowed Inslee to pipe up and tout his own state’s solar plan which, he says, invests money specifically to address the problems Ali highlighted).

    • The whole discussion is interesting and worth your time. I did a nice thing for you and shared the link that starts at the beginning of the panel. So go watch it now (and listen especially to Ali – his points are important additions to the discussion and are critical to its success).

    More:

    CAP IDEAS Conference discussion of climate change:

    Republicans v. Democrats: Who’s Installing More Solar?

    By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

    What Happened:A recent study by an outfit called Priceonomics reports that Republicans in California have installed more solar than Democrats.

  • While the study found that Republicans in the state have installed solar at a 5 to 1 ratio may surprise some, the study itself has some methodological flaws that make it impossible to generalize its findings beyond California.
  • It also has a couple of “Well, duh” conclusions, too.

    • study

    SolarWakeup’s View:  When you’re deciding what conclusions you can draw from any given set of data, one of the first questions you should ask yourself is: “Is this data generalizable?” If not, it may not invalidate the study – but you should be hesitant about making any grand claims about it, either.

    Such is the case with a study touted by Priceomomics, which reaches the conclusion that despite what you might think, Republicans install more solar than Democrats. OMG if true, right (not really, but you’ve already gone this far on the journey with me, so let’s keep going)?

    Well, the truth, as it often is, is far more complex and complicated than the study would have you believe. While the data is interesting, here are some cautions:

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  • Are CALIFORNIA Republicans really representative of Republicans across the country at this point? Isn’t it fair to say they are their own brand, much like California Solar & Storage Association is no longer associated with the national lobbying group? If so, it might make sense that there’s more solar in this group than is applicable across the country.
  • Solar used to be the province of the well-to-do. While that’s certainly changed in the past five years, it makes sense that those with more money have solar while those with less money do not. (Wait until community solar really takes off over the next five years and then call me.)
  • The idea that solar is a Republican or Democratic issue is a bit silly in any case, given that around nine out of every 10 Americans say they support more solar development.

    • And then there’s this:

    Our analysis shows that households’ decision to go solar is not driven by political affiliation. Instead, people who live in areas that are sunny, dry, and less dense tend to install solar panels at higher rates. And in California, the country’s top state for solar, that means you’re more likely to see solar panels in Republican bastions than Democratic strongholds.

    Really? That’s your conclusion? That’s a lot of words to spend on a conclusion I could have told you without doing a lick of study. I mean….for reals.

    One out of one authors of this piece say go ahead and read the study, but don’t leave your skepticism at its mother’s house, especially if you’re trying to spot national solar trends.

    More:

    Are Republicans or Democrats More Likely to Go Solar?

    Americans Tell Gallup: Develop More Solar, Please

    @DrVox On Climate Policy: “Go As Hard And Fast As Possible, Forever And Ever. Amen.”

    By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

    What Happened: I’ll tell you all what: David Roberts, aka Dr. Vox, knows how to capture your attention. Last I saw him, he was claiming battery storage had a “dirty secret,” about which we, well…you might say we disagreed. But he’s back, and this time I agree with him.

  • The key takeaway: “So the only rule of climate policy that really matters is: go as hard and fast as possible, forever and ever. Amen.” (As a retired Catholic, I couldn’t resist adjusting the punctuation a bit.)
  • In today’s piece, Dr. Vox discusses how humanity can save itself from the scourge of climate change with a four-point plan, followed aggressively.
    • Vox

    What our world will look like not that long from now (in the grand scheme of things) if we don’t attack climate change aggressively, like yesterday.

    SolarWakeup’s View:  Hey, when Dr. Vox is right, he’s right.

    David Roberts, also known by his Twitter handle @drvox, penned an overview article today on three recent studies on climate change and discussed ways humanity might save Earth from actually becoming the burnt-out hellscape so many people already think it is.

    First, Roberts dispenses with the idea that we can simply wait for carbon extraction technologies – technologies that will manage to capture carbon from the air and bury it – to become a thing. Right now, those technologies aren’t even in the infant stages, and we simply can’t wait. Failure, as they say, is not an option.

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    Here are the four strategies Roberts, based on his reading of three different studies, believes can help save Earth from the human race:

  • Radically increase energy efficiency.
  • Radically increase renewable energy. (obviously my personal favorite)
  • Electrify everything.
  • Then maybe some minor carbon capture work.

    • The whole piece is a fascinating read, but I can’t emphasize enough the most important part of Roberts’ article, the phrase all of us climate warriors should have tatooed on the inside of our left arm:

    “So the only rule of climate policy that really matters is: go as hard and fast as possible, forever and ever. Amen.”

    Amen.

    More:

    What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like

    Nice Headline, Doctor – But That Doesn’t Make It True