Climate change -denial to doublespeak

The US Senate  is looking at a report that is meaningful per an article by Dharna Noor in The Guardian called “Big oil spent decades sowing doubt about fossil fuel dangers, experts testify.” The subtitle adds more concern: “US Senate hearing reviewed report showing sector’s shift from climate denial to ‘deception, disinformation and doublespeak.’”

The term “doublespeak” is of course borrowed from George Orwell’s “1984.” Here are the first few paragraphs:

”The fossil fuel industry spent decades sowing doubt about the dangers of burning oil and gas, experts and Democratic lawmakers testified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

The Senate budget committee held a hearing to review a report published on Tuesday with the House oversight and accountability committee that they said demonstrates the sector’s shift from explicit climate denial to a more sophisticated strategy of ‘deception, disinformation and doublespeak.’

‘Time and again, the biggest oil and gas corporations say one thing for the purposes of public consumption but do something completely different to protect their profits,’ Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee, testified. ‘Company officials will admit the terrifying reality of their business model behind closed doors but say something entirely different, false and soothing to the public.’

The findings build on years of investigative reporting and scholarly research showing that the sector was for decades aware of the dangers of the climate crisis, yet hid that from the public.

In the absence of decisive government action to curb planet-warming emissions, the impacts of the climate crisis have gotten worse, committee Democrats said. Several senators said the industry should have to pay damages for fueling the crisis.”

I have long believed this assertion as the industry makes far too much money and has put money in the pockets of legislators to just remain silent. After waning for a few years, the efforts to deceive have been stepped as renewable energy advancements continue. We hear the focus on all the hiccups and challenges, but the continuing increase in market share on electricity production of the renewable energy is still an undertold story.

So, is the story that shareholders have voted management at several fossil fuel companies like Exxon, Occidental Petroleum, eg. must report on what they are doing about climate change intervention. When I hear pushback that the activist shareholder groups are forcing this, I chuckle as the fossil fuel industry is the most subsidized industry in history. It is a key reason they can afford to sponsor so many climate change denial websites to overwhelm the far fewer peer reviewed scientific websites.

I fully recognize change cannot turn on a dime. But, we must be even more active in demonstrative climate change interventions. Renewable energy is just one large component. But, more trees, more mangrove buffers next to the ocean, more kelp farms, more moving traffic patterns, less meat eating, etc. must be part of the equation.

I must add that a key reason I left the Republican Party in 2008-ish is the party’s stance on climate change denial. That was 16 years ago. And, it continues today. I am reminded of the lyric from “Cabaret” which says it all “money makes the world go around, the world go around, the world go around.” Money can fund a lot of things – even denial.

A very energetic idea

In an article in Politico by David Ferris called “Big winner in Biden’s EV charging revolution: Gas stations,” an obvious trend is taking shape. Here are a few paragraphs:

“When Americans steer their electric vehicles off the highway and into shiny new charging stations — many paid for with federal tax dollars — they’re likely to find them in a curiously familiar place: the gas station.

More than half of the charging stations being built so far from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law are rising at truck stops and gasoline stations, according to data exclusively provided to E&E News by EVAdoption, an EV data consultancy. In essence, the law’s $7.5 billion pot for charging is reinforcing the very fossil-fuel infrastructure that the EV era would seem to consign to oblivion.

That raises the prospect that money intended to cut emissions could throw a lifeline to companies that traditionally have raised them. Even so, many experts say the two industries are a natural fit.

‘I’ve always kind of assumed that the combination of fueling station and convenience stop would dominate,’ said Loren McDonald, the founder of EVAdoption. ‘They’re safe. They’re well lit. They have bathrooms on site. They have restaurants and stores. They check a lot of the boxes.’”

This is an idea that makes total sense. Having consulted with convenience stores, they make most of their profit when petrol users come in the store for food and drinks. This is a key reason these stores are fast food franchise holders as well. Since, charging a battery takes more time than gassing up, this should be a win-win for consumers and store owners.

Norway leads the way

Per an article by Sam Wallotson in The Guardian called “How did Norway become the electric car superpower? Oil money, civil disobedience – and Morten from a-ha,” a surprising result is discussed. The subtitle has the punchline – “More than 90% of new cars sold in Norway are electric. And it all started with some pop stars driving around in a jerry-built Fiat Panda.” A few paragraphs tease out the story.

“I’m in Stavanger to find out how, in a world where transport contributes about 20% of CO₂ emissions, Norway came to lead the world in electric car take-up. In 2023, 82.4% of private vehicles sold in the country were electric. In January, the figure was 92.1%. The goal is to hit 100% by next year.

Why Stavanger? Because, as well as – irony alert! – being its oil capital, Norway’s third city, in the south-west of the country, has been pivotal in its road towards zero-emission transportation. They tried electric buses here in 1994. In 1998, the city was part of a European trial of electric vehicles (EVs) for goods distribution.”

I love this story because the Norwegians started back in the 1990s and just kept plugging away. It gets back to my favorite business book, “Built to Last,” where successful companies over time try things and keep doing the things that work. Norway started with electric buses and kept adding to the mix.

Cities in the US which are fully renewably energy powered built on previous efforts. They may have started with hydro power, added solar, then wind and eventually became 100% powered.

Norway should be commended for their focus and success.

Response to a MAGA question that Democrats have no policies

As an independent and former Republican of 25+ years and Democrat for about 5 years, here is my answer to your question. While not perfect, the Democrats have:

– passed the Affordable Care Act which is now
ingrained in America and working reasonably well. It should be noted Trump tried to kill it as his mission one. (It should be noted the Democrats pushed through Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in past years). Biden has actually increased subsidies and lengthen enrollment periods.

– recognized climate change is an existential threat and has been for years and has endeavored to do something about instead of firing climate change scientists, deleting research papers and taking the US out of the Paris CC Accord as Trump did on the same day Exxon shareholders voted to require management to annually report to them on climate change actions they were taking

– passed an infrastructure bill that will help invest in restoration and improvements – Trump spoke of this in 2016 campaign and should have focused on this first rather than trying to kill the ACA. He actually had votes to pass something. America’s infrastructure has been at significant risk for a decade or more per a bipartisan advocacy effort.

– passed a bill to address better gun governance although it was watered down to appease the gun lobby funded politicians. Polls say there are common sense changes that even gun owners support. Most gun owners do not belong to the NRA. Let’s do all of those and select others.

– tried to pass a Border Security bill in February which per the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board was largely the Republican template only to see Trump encourage Congress to not vote for it. Border security has been an issue for years and it saddened me to see a bipartisan senate bill around 2013 never get a vote in the House as Speaker John Boehner was told it was better politically not to try to solve the problem. And, for those who say build Trump’s wall, he agreed to a deal for $25 billion for his wall in trade for DACA before he reneged on it later in the day. Both parties need to do better to deal with immigration (which employers say they need) and border security. It is bipartisan failure. In short it is a political tennis match to blame the other side. Both sides need to stop this crap and do something rather than finger pointing for political gain.

My old Republican Party has not voted on a platform since 2016. By my count that was eight years ago as of this summer. To me, that by itself, speaks volumes. I left the GOP in 2008 long before Trump entered politics primarily due to their stance on climate change, unhealthy advocacy of guns and evangelical issues and a tendency to make things up. Both sides could be more truthful, but it is not a normal distribution with Republicans actually running the truth tellers out of office. Advocating people like Trump, DeSantis, Abbott, Jordan et al is not inviting trust from people like me especially with their embrace of autocratic tendencies. We need a good conservative voice in our country, but this is not it.

That is what this old fart thinks. Sorry if I offended anyone. All the best.

Keith Wilson, Independent

Recycling plastics has been a fool’s errand

An article by Dharna Noor in The Guardian called “‘They lied’:  plastics producers deceived public about recycling, report reveals” is an upsetting pronouncement. The subtitle says more – “Companies knew for decades recycling was not viable but promoted it regardless, Center for Climate Integrity study finds.” Here are select paragraphs:

“Plastic producers have known for more than 30 years that recycling is not an economically or technically feasible plastic waste management solution. That has not stopped them from promoting it, according to a new report.

‘The companies lied,’ said Richard Wiles, president of fossil-fuel accountability advocacy group the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), which published the report. ‘It’s time to hold them accountable for the damage they’ve caused.’…

…The industry has known for decades about these existential challenges, but obscured that information in its marketing campaigns, the report shows.

The research draws on previous investigations as well as newly revealed internal documents illustrating the extent of this decades-long campaign.

Industry insiders over the past several decades have variously referred to plastic recycling as ‘uneconomical’, said it ‘cannot be considered a permanent solid waste solution’, and said it ‘cannot go on indefinitely’  the revelations show.

The authors say the evidence demonstrates that oil and petrochemical companies, as well as their trade associations, may have broken laws designed to protect the public from misleading marketing and pollution.”

The gist is the public has been led to believe greater and cost effective success has been achieved in plastics recycling. At the same time, we have huge islands of plastics in our oceans that some of which have been ingested by sea creatures and, in turn, consumers.

We must seek and find truths to deal with this mountainous problem. We also need to have an advertised and concreted effort to greatly reduce the use of plastic. Less bottled water and other liquids is a huge given. Plus we need to move to other types of containers that can be reused, repurposed or easily recycled. This industry seems to have little concern to lying to consumers. We should not forget that key point.

A Tale of Five Cities (a repeat post from 2017)

I have written recently about progress on the renewable energy front. Here is a post from six years ago, that I found of interest then and now.

I am often bemused by folks that argue against renewable energy citing costs and jobs. Some say the industry is fledgling, but this does a disservice to the huge progress made over the last five years. Renewable energy jobs are growing at double digit rates per annum and the production costs continue to fall and are much closer to fossil fuel costs, and even cheaper when the present value of all costs (environmental degradation, extraction, transportation, maintenance, health care, litigation, et al) are factored in.

Yet, let’s set that aside and consider five cities in the US – Aspen CO, Burlington VT, Greensburg KS, Houston TX and Las Vegas NV. The first three cities are fully powered by renewable energy, where the last two have significant renewable energy portfolios.

Burlington was the first city to claim being 100% powered by renewable energy – solar, wind and hydro-electric. Per a November, 2016 Politico article, the electric utility has not had a rate increase in eight years for its 42,000 residents.

Greensburg came next, unfortunately they had to experience a tornado that leveled the town. As they rebuilt the town, they did so with a green mindset. So, using solar and the heavy wind across the plain states, helped electrify the town with renewable energy. Starting from scratch let them build for the future.

Aspen was the third city. I find this interesting as I read an article a few years back over the concern of climate change on the skiing industry. More often, climate change reporting focuses on the impact coastal cities. This city acted and has now pushed the envelope to 100% renewable energy.

Which brings me to Las Vegas. They got press stating they were 100% renewable energy powered, but that was somewhat of a misnomer. Yet, what they did do is still impactful. The 140 municipal buildings and facilities are now 100% powered by renewable energy. That is not the rest of the city, but it is a statement nonetheless.

Finally, let’s visit Houston, deep in the heart of oil rich Texas. Per The Guardian in an article this week, Houston is the leading city in the US in producing renewable energy through wind and solar power with 1.1 billion kWh. 89% of its electricity is renewable energy powered. They are in the top 30 in the EPA’s list of Green Partners leading six Texas cities on this list. As I mentioned recently, Texas gets just under 13% of its electricity from wind energy. (Note – in 2023, wind energy accounts for about 1/5 of Texas’ electricity).

These are powerful stores, pun intended. Please remember them and tell others. We are passed the tipping point on renewable energy and we should highlight those leading the way.

PS – Having been to Costa Rica for business (many US companies have call centers there due to its high literacy rate and bilingual citizens), I found the following of interest:

“In 2022 Costa Rica produced a whopping 98% of its electricity from renewable sources for over eight years in a row. In 2023 they will likely do the same. Costa Rica also holds the world record for most consecutive days using solely renewable energy – 300 in 2018! Breaking their own record of 299 days in 2015. Costa Rica uses a combination of hydro, geothermal, wind, biomass and solar power to get the job done. In some years they have even been able to export the excess power that they have generated to countries in Central America’s Regional Electricity Market – Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras and El Salvador.”

Bloomberg directs funds to energy transition

An article in Reuters caught my eye by Valerie Volcovici called “Michael Bloomberg pumps $500 million into bid to close all US coal plants.” Bloomberg, the creator of Bloomberg News and former Mayor of New York City, has been a long time advocate of advancing the causes to fight climate change. For a few years, he chaired a group of 750 or so global cities to share ideas to reduce emissions and energy use. A few paragraphs from the article provide the gist.

“Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Wednesday he will pump $500 million into the next phase of his energy transition campaign, aiming to shut down ‘every last’ coal plant in the United States and slash gas-fired capacity in half by 2030.

The $500 million infusion into his decade-long Beyond Carbon initiative aims to ‘finish the job on coal’ by working with state and local organizations to force the closure of the roughly 150 coal plants that have not yet retired, slash current gas generation in half and block the construction of new gas-fired plants.”

Bloomberg has written a book with Carl Pope, the retired executive director of the Sierra Club called “Climate of Hope.” Pope was very active in helping the states close older, high emitting coal plants for each new one that was built which operates more cleanly. Previously, the industry was not asked enough questions by regulators. Pope helped change that and the push back accomplished change.

Coal has been on the demise for years. The number of jobs has declined along with that. The first nail in the coffin was natural gas which is cheaper and burns cleaner but not cleanly. Renewables are now making a dent and should continue to do so. The cost of production of renewables has declined and when all costs are factored in (acquisition, environmental, maintenance, litigation, production, etc.) easily are cheaper than coal. The cost to manage coal ash continues beyond the life of the plant. US Solar and wind jobs now well exceed coal jobs by several multiples.

So, the acceleration of the efforts to diminish coal use is a huge positive. Bloomberg’s efforts should be applauded.

Two interesting renewable energy stories

Two renewable energy headlines grabbed my attention the past few days, not just because of the achievement, but because of the principals involved. First, Dharna Noor wrote an article in The Guardian called “A renewable energy battery plant will rise in US where a steel mill once stood.” The sub-headline reads “Communities hope good new jobs will come from Biden’s historic climate investment in cities like Weirton, West Virginia.”

The first two paragraphs give the gist. “A cutting-edge energy storage company is building its main manufacturing plant where a once-thriving West Virginia steel mill once stood in the city of Weirton. According to lawmakers, the much-lauded project was made possible by incentives from 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed by President Biden one year ago this Wednesday.

For supporters, it’s a sign that climate policies can also breathe life back into deindustrialized coal and steel communities with green jobs. The symbolism is compelling but how much those communities benefit will depend on a wide array of factors.”

Second, a story involving Trump appointee Louis DeJoy by Hailey Fuchs appeared in Politico called ”Louis DeJoy: From Trump villain to Biden’s clean energy buddy.” Its sub-headline reads “The postmaster general has struck up an unexpected partnership with the president’s green guru, John Podesta.”

A couple of paragraphs tell the story “It’s a remarkable change of script for one of the more memorable side characters of the Trump years. And it produced one of the most unlikely pairings in Washington D.C., something that the camps will privately acknowledge even as they’re loath to discuss it personally. Asked repeatedly about their good-natured relationship, both DeJoy and Podesta declined to comment. 

The pair’s partnership centers around an effort to introduce 66,000 electric vehicles to the USPS by 2028, itself part of a broader initiative to add 106,000 new vehicles to USPS’ fleet. The initiative was buoyed by $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, a funding solution floated by the Biden administration, according to a person close to DeJoy who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the discussions.”

These two stories are compelling in their own rights. Putting a battery factory in place of a shut down steel mill is a great repurposing of the site. It will benefit the environment aiding renewable energy and will help employ people.

The second story not only heads the US postal service down the right path environmental wise it will be cost effective. Yet, the USPS leader DeJoy working with the Biden administration is a great story in itself. The former president hired DeJoy to severely cut costs at the USPS and hobble efforts to harm the vote by mail process which typically favor Democrats. It was in keeping with Trump’s efforts to alter the election process.

This the kind of momentum the country and planet need, not like what is happening down in Florida where the governor is sanctioning the use of videos to deny climate change or naysaying actions by the former president. By itself, these comparative actions should tell voters which direction is needed.

Just when you think the Florida governor cannot sink any lower

Here is the headline and sub-headline from an article that appeared in Scientific American courtesy of E&E News’ Scott Waldman:

“DeSantis’s Florida Approves Climate-Denial Videos in Schools – Florida’s Department of Education has approved classroom use of videos that spout climate disinformation and distort climate science.”

To be clear, one of my primary reasons for leaving the Republican Party about fifteen years ago, is the party’s stance on climate change denial. Another primary reason was the GOP’s tendency to make things up. My thesis is if a party cannot address an existential threat to our planet, then how can I trust them to address other problems.

That was fifteen years ago. Fossil fuel funding caused many Republicans to look the other way. Yet, with the greater, but still less aggressive than needed, movement toward renewable energy, the fossil fuel industry has stepped up its efforts to disinform. The industry found a great advocate in the autocratic bent Florida governor.

Florida is a peninsula meaning it is surrounded on three sides by ocean water. It is a frequent target for hurricanes being a peninsula, but also due to its length and narrowness. Hurricanes usually run out of gas when over land a long time, but the shape of Florida keeps the hurricanes fueled by water. With global warming, the fuel for hurricanes is even greater. And, climate scientists have noted the rising sea levels make hurricanes worse as it is like dunking a basketball with an elevated court. It is easier.

So, call me crazy, but one would think the governor of Florida would take climate change very seriously. One thing is for certain – Florida’s property insurance industry is in a state of flux causing several insurers to pull out of the state because of the huge costs. Property owners are seeing significant premium increases as a result. And, the fossil fuel profits are likely not going to pay anyone’s premiums.

This latest effort of the governor is in keeping with his bent to disinform. White washing history is not good enough. He wants to white wash science. Sadly, he has a lot of funding behind him as the fossil fuel industry has been bankrolling various versions of denial and disinformation for over twenty-five years. Ironically, we use climate change rather than global warming because the industry wants us to as it less alarming.

So, my strong recommendation is as follows. Do not vote for anyone who is promoting climate change denial. We are already behind the eight ball because of the industry and its well-funded puppets like Ron DeSantis. Do not let anyone make this issue political saying only one side believes in climate change. That is disingenuous. Again, I left the GOP because of this and that was fifteen years ago.

Water – a huge crisis facing us (a needed repeat post)

The following is a repeat of an earlier post during an earlier president term that must be heard.

While Americans are distracted and consumed by the routine chaos out of the Trump White House, we are letting huge problems go unaddressed. One of the major problems is the current and growing global water crisis. For several years, the World Economic Forum has voted the global water crisis as the greatest risk facing our planet over the longer term, defined as ten years. But, this is not just a future problem, the city of Cape Town in South Africa is in severe water crisis and continues to ration pushing forward their Day Zero as long as they can

Per The Guardian in an article this week, the United Nations warns that water shortages “could affect 5 billion people by 2050 due to climate change, increased demand and polluted supplies, according to a UN report on the state of the world’s water. The comprehensive annual study warns of conflict and civilisational threats unless actions are taken to reduce the stress on rivers, lakes, aquifers, wetlands and reservoirs.

The World Water Development Report – released in drought-hit Brasília – says positive change is possible, particularly in the key agricultural sector, but only if there is a move towards nature-based solutions that rely more on soil and trees than steel and concrete.

‘For too long, the world has turned first to human-built, or ‘grey’, infrastructure to improve water management. In doing so, it has often brushed aside traditional and indigenous knowledge that embraces greener approaches,’ says Gilbert Houngbo, the chair of UN Water, in the preface of the 100-page assessment. ‘In the face of accelerated consumption, increasing environmental degradation and the multi-faceted impacts of climate change, we clearly need new ways of manage competing demands on our freshwater resources.’

Humans use about 4,600 cubic km of water every year, of which 70% goes to agriculture, 20% to industry and 10% to households, says the report, which was launched at the start of the triennial World Water Forum. Global demand has increased sixfold over the past 100 years and continues to grow at the rate of 1% each year.

This is already creating strains that will grow by 2050, when the world population is forecast to reach between 9.4 billion and 10.2 billion (up from 7.7 billion today), with two in every three people living in cities.

Demand for water is projected to rise fastest in developing countries. Meanwhile, climate change will put an added stress on supplies because it will make wet regions wetter and dry regions drier.

Drought and soil degradation are already the biggest risk of natural disaster, say the authors, and this trend is likely to worsen. ‘Droughts are arguably the greatest single threat from climate change,’ it notes. The challenge has been most apparent this year in Cape Town, where residents face severe restrictions as the result of a once-in-384-year drought. In Brasília, the host of the forum, close to 2m people have their taps turned off once in every five days due to a unusually protracted dry period.”

Here in the states, we exacerbate our drought and other water problems with bad piping and fracking, which waste or use huge amounts of water. But, with our vast agriculture, we need water to produce our and much of the world’s crops. We must manage it better. Two books are very illuminating. “Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization” by Steven Solomon is a terrific look back and ahead. He is the coiner of the phrase “water is the new oil.” The other book is called “Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman” by Miriam Horn that details the struggles of these professions and two others with climate change and its impact on water and other things they do.

Folks, this is a major problem. We must address it now before we all have our own Day Zeroes. Since this was written, we have had additional water usage concerns with the Colorado River and with a Mississippi County water system. If this is not enough to raise concern, one of the financial experts who forewarned us of the pending financial crisis, has a new concern – water – and has been investing in water rights.