The other day I ran a report showing that the world is leaving the carbon energy era faster than anyone predicted. That is very very good news,and what the Australians are proposing is so sensible it is amazing no one has done this study earlier. The sad news is that the United States is no longer leading the world in this, as this report about research done by the Australian National University illustrates. Instead the Republican Party is trying to dismantle public education in America, replacing it with politically partisan indoctrination. You would think that anyone with an IQ larger than their waist size would look at the world and notice that fascist authoritarian countries are not world leaders in anything but nastiness — China, which has recreated the Mandarin system, and that is different — being the one exception.
Citation: To read the formal research report upon which this article is based see the Australian National University study: Global Offshore Floating Solar Atlas
Credit: Songphol Thesakit / Getty
Although many people know about wind’s offshore potential, the energy-producing power of offshore solar could be just as impactful. A new study from scientists at the Australian National University created a global atlas of where such solar installations could be immensely beneficial—areas with calm weather and waters. By the study’s estimates, the area around Indonesia alone could produce 35,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) of solar energy a year, which more than the globe’s current annual energy production.
The world needs solar power, and it needs it as fast as possible.
Although society is already undergoing the greatest energy transfer in human history, more needs to be done to stave off the worst outcomes of climate change. Two of the biggest tools in our decarbonization toolbox are wind and solar power—but while offshore wind energy gets a lot of attention (and rightfully so), there is such a thing as offshore solar as well. And it could be a game changer for countries near the […]
Sharon Lerner, Health and Environment Staff Writer - ProPublica
Stephan:
Here is a major failure on the part of the Biden administration via the EPA. It is an appalling report. Is there anything you can do about the cancer causing fuel addition? Yes. NEVER buy gas or anything else from Chevron. Make the corporation a pariah.
The Chevron refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi Credit: Jonathan Bachman / Reuters
An EPA document shows that a new Chevron fuel ingredient has a lifetime cancer risk more than 1 million times higher than what the agency usually finds acceptable — even greater than another Chevron fuel’s sky-high risk disclosed earlier this year.
The Environmental Protection Agency approved a component of boat fuel made from discarded plastic that the agency’s own risk formula determined was so hazardous, everyone exposed to the substance continually over a lifetime would be expected to develop cancer. Current and former EPA scientists said that threat level is unheard of. It is a million times higher than what the agency usually considers acceptable for new chemicals and six times worse than the risk of lung cancer from a lifetime of smoking.
Federal law requires the EPA to conduct safety reviews before allowing new chemical products onto the market. If the agency finds that a substance causes unreasonable risk to health or the environment, the EPA is not allowed to approve it without first finding ways […]
Yet further evidence of the corruption of the christofascist cabal that dominates the Supreme Court thanks to criminal Trump and Mitch McConnell. And yet nothing is happening to correct this septic pond. Even the three women liberal justices are fed up with it.
“First he accepted lavish gifts from billionaires and failed to disclose them. Then he gave a buddy-buddy interview to one of the case’s anti-wealth tax lawyers. Enough.”
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is facing growing calls to recuse himself from a case that could hamstring Congress’ ability to enact a federal wealth tax, a policy that progressive lawmakers and economists say is needed to rein in out-of-control inequality.
Late last week, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter urging Chief Justice John Roberts to “take appropriate steps to ensure that Justice Alito will recuse himself” from Moore v. United States, which the Supreme Court recently agreed to take up.
The lawmakers’ demand was prompted by a friendly interview that Alito gave to The Wall Street Journal‘s opinion section, which in June allowed the right-wing justice to get out in front of a ProPublicastory on his luxury trip with billionaire hedge fund titan Paul […]
ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH , Staff Writer - The Hill
Stephan:
We have a large aging Boomer generation who in increasing numbers need healthcare and support. So what is happening? What do you think? The costs are going up like a rocket; this is the American illness profit system after all. Why, as a nation, we cannot seem to make wellbeing our social priority, I think, is a question that ought to be a prominent part of the 2024 elections.
Eldercare facility Credit: Getty / iStockphoto
Many Americans who serve as caregivers are consumed by the immense cost of tending to ailing or aging family members.
And as the baby boomer generation ages, more Americans are in for a rude awakening as to just how expensive caring for older adults has become.
The price of nursing home care increased by an average of 2.4 percent each year between 2012 and 2019, for a cumulative increase of 20.7 percent, according to data from the health research group Altarum Institute.
That stems from multiple sources, including personnel costs and the price of adhering to facility regulations, said Terry Fulmer, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation, a nonprofit that works to improve the lives of older adults.
But the cost of care has primarily shot up due to increased demand in adult day cares, assisted living facilities or nursing homes.
Jean Spera, 67, has been a full-time caretaker for her husband, John, since 2011, when his health started to rapidly deteriorate without any clear cause.
For years, she managed to take care of John in their Holliston, Mass., home without any outside help, even as he became more […]
Here is some very good news and, I think, the beginning of a positive trend. Young people are the ones who are going to live in the environment created by the stupidity, incompetence, corruption, and greed of present day politicians, particularly Republicans. As this article describes they are pushing back in the absence of pushback from their parents and grandparents. I think we are going to see more of this. Bravo youth.
Youth plaintiffs are greeted by supporters at Montana’s First Judicial District Court in June. Credit: William Campbell / Getty
A Montana judge handed a significant victory on Monday to more than a dozen young plaintiffs in the nation’s first constitutional climate trial, as extreme weather becomes more deadly and scientists warn the climate crisis is eroding our environment and natural resources.
In a case that could have legal reverberations for other climate litigation, District Court Judge Kathy Seeley ruled that Montana’s continued development of fossil fuels violates a clause in its state constitution that guarantees its citizens the right to a “clean and healthful environment.” Montana is one of several states that have explicit environmental guarantees written into their state constitutions.
While Seeley’s ruling won’t prevent mining or burning fossil fuels in the state, it will reverse a recently passed state law that prohibits state agencies from considering planet-warming pollution when permitting fossil fuel projects.
It is also a landmark win for young climate advocates who are turning more to the courts […]
