Texas continues to lead the way in wind energy, but don’t tell anyone

Texas leads the way in wind energy, but for some reason this is not common knowledge, nor is broadcast. First, a few statistics from the US Energy Information Administration.

“Texas produces more electricity than any other state, generating nearly twice as much as second-place Florida. In 2021, Texas accounted for about 12% of the nation’s total electricity net generation.

The share of electricity generated from wind in Texas has shot up from zero to 24 percent between 2001 and 2023.

In 2021, Texas produced about 26% of all U.S. wind-powered electricity generation, leading the nation for the 16th year in a row. Wind power surpassed the state’s nuclear generation for the first time in 2014 and exceeded coal-fired generation for the first time in 2019.”

Just picking the numbers 24% and 26%, the oil rich state of Texas gets about 1/4 of its electricity from wind energy and it provides about 1/4 of the wind powered electricity in the country.

Why? Four main reasons.

1)Texas provided powerlines to rural areas starting back at the turn of the century to harness electricity from such sources to meet a renewable energy goal of 15%.

2)Texas wind energy developers pay an annual rent to ranchers and farmers to put wind mills on their property. The number I recall is $5,000 per annum per windmill. One ranchers said he gets $55,000 per year for his eleven windmills which is huge supplement to his income.

3)Per now-deceased oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, he said on “60 Minutes” about ten years ago that wind is the future of energy in the middle of America; natural gas is just buying us time. Iowa gets about 43% of its electricity from wind energy with several other states getting over 1/3 of theirs.

4)The production of wind energy has dropped in cost to be as cost-effective, if not moreso, than coal energy. Natural gas put the first nail in coal’s coffin, with wind and solar energy adding two more nails.

The reason I love this story is it surprises people. But, it also shows how an oil rich Texas planned ahead and now is seeing the dividends. It should be noted because of these four reasons, other utilities not based in Texas have wind farms in that state. Not only is wind renewable, it is not a zero-sum provider of electricity. My wind energy does not affect yours.

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Sunday morning rain coming down

It is a rainy Sunday reminding me of the Kris Kristofferson song lyric. While his song is more on lament, the metaphor is good. Here are few thoughts to kick around:

– it appears a debt ceiling agreement has been reached between the president and speaker, but still has to get passed. The frustration is the continual last minute chicken playing that goes on instead of serious bipartisan discussion with data. We are nowhere near solving our debt problem. The debt ceiling is to allow us to pay for borrowing we have already spent.

– the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been so fraudulent, his own party approved by a significant majority, his impeachment. With Representative George Santos being charged with a crime of fraud, even the US House has not censured Santos, so Texas Republicans at least acted to say enough is enough.

– apparently, the former president may have been even more fraudulent with the classified documents he removed from the White House. Adding to his other court convictions and pending charges for election meddling and maybe seditious actions around the insurrection, why this person is even being considered for president is beyond me.

– finally, you only get one time to make a first impression, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could ill-afford a poor roll out of his campaign given his other problems. He now needs to recover from a hole he is in. This is not unlike the ACA roll out which was botched through poor web-design that Obama should have made sure of beforehand given its importance. The ACA got better, but it had to overcome an unforced error.

As an old boss told me once, he is like a big umbrella to keep the s**t from raining down on us from the corporate bosses. We need our leaders to do their job with seriousness of purpose and get their umbrellas out. They could begin with not creating their own mess.

Playing chicken with the debt – letter to the editor

While we need to deal with our debt in a holistic fashion, playing chicken with the debt ceiling gives the illusion of good governance, but is rushed. For example, one of provisions of the Republican bill on the debt ceiling would increase the debt by $120 billion. From an article called “GOP’s cut to IRS funding in debt limit plan would backfire” by Brian Faler of Politico:

“Republicans’ proposal to rescind $71 billion in IRS funding pushed through by Democrats last year would cut projected tax receipts by $191 billion over the next decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates. The result: The government would find itself an additional $120 billion in the hole.”

This provision is designed to help aggressive taxpayers who benefit greatly from their efforts to mask income. So, it runs counter to the goal of reducing the debt while helping the wealthy.

Comments on US debt from Maya MacGuineas director of Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

Note, this is a repeat post from January. It has increased in relevance since that time. From the desk of Maya MacGuineas of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. I will offer no additional comment as it speaks for itself.

“Today, the Treasury Department announced that it has begun engaging in a set of accounting tools known as “extraordinary measures” to avoid breaching the nation’s $31.38 trillion statutory debt limit. Those measures are expected to delay that breach until at least early June and possibly later.

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

Without qualification, the debt limit must be increased or suspended, and it should be done so as quickly as possible. Ideally, we would return to the practice of lifting the debt ceiling without relying on extraordinary measures – which have become all too ordinary – and refrain from making the increase anything close to a last-minute showdown.

The debt ceiling is too important to turn into a game of chicken, and default should never be suggested by those with a fiduciary responsibility to govern the nation. Politicians who are rightly worried about the nation’s unsustainable borrowing path should take a hard stance against new borrowing and oppose legislation that would add to the debt while offering specific solutions to control the debt already on the books, rather than threatening not to pay the bills on borrowing that has already been incurred.

The debt ceiling does offer the opportunity for all lawmakers to pause, assess the fiscal situation of the nation, and take action as necessary. And it is necessary. The debt as a share of GDP is at near record levels. We are on track to begin adding $2 trillion per year to the debt by the end of the decade. Interest payments are the fastest growing part of the budget and are projected to start costing $1 trillion annually in only a few years. The Social Security and Medicare Hospital Insurance trust funds are headed toward insolvency. And last year alone, Congress and the President passed bipartisan legislation that added nearly $2 trillion to the projected national debt. This is an urgent problem that is not getting the attention it needs.

An ideal solution would be for Congress to lift the debt ceiling as soon as possible and at the same time put in place measures to improve our fiscal trajectory. This could include specific policies or processes such as a fiscal commission.

Attaching fiscal reforms to the debt limit was common practice in the past when both policies and processes to improve fiscal responsibility were included as part of a deal. More recently, in a jaw-dropping act of fiscal irresponsibility, politicians in both parties pivoted to support debt ceiling increases along with legislation that made the debt worse. Under President Trump, the debt ceiling was lifted three times with bipartisan support and included legislation that added in total a stunning $2.1 trillion in new borrowing to the debt.

Congress should return to the past model of a debt ceiling increase, legislation to improve the fiscal situation, and a broad based understanding that the debt ceiling must be increased in a calm and timely manner. We must not threaten default. The cost is simply too high.“

Monday morning you sure look fine – May, 2023

With all due respect to Fleetwood Mac, let me once again borrow these lyrics this Monday in May. Typing Monday in May reminds me of another song lyric by Three Dog Night, “I’ve got pieces of April, but it’s a morning in May.”

Now that I have provided two ear worms in one paragraph, let me throw out a few thoughts:

– the US debt ceiling increase has once again become a game of playing chicken; my strong advice to all concerned – GET IT DONE. Then, spend the needed time with data and look at both tax increases and spending cuts as both will be needed. I am not sure what frustrates me most, the playing chicken with the debt or the callous disregard for a thoughtful exercise to address the problem. Republicans have shown they only care about the debt when not in power and Democrats need to think through some spending cuts that can be made, along with tax increases that the GOP abhors.

– the environmental concerns we have caused are becoming more apparent as the detection of forever chemicals are cropping up in more places. I have often cited Dr. Sandra Steingraber, who is a biologist, ecologist and bladder cancer survivor. We humans do not consider enough the role the environment plays on our health often focusing only on hereditary concerns. When we do focus on them, we tend to consider the impact on a 50 year old man, when we should be considering the impact on children who are closer to the ground, mouth breathe more, place hands in their mouth more and whose lungs and brain are not fully developed. The exposure and impact is simply greater for a child than an adult.

– speaking of children, we owe it to them to crank up the efforts of dealing with climate change in an all hands on deck manner. There are several examples of action in motion that should be accelerated with funding. We must stop putting as much carbon in the air and start taking carbon out of the air. We also need to deal with the increase in methane that is escaping from vented natural gas sites and through the arctic ice as it melts. There are natural carbon eaters such as mangroves along the shore, large forests, offshore kelp farms, etc. that can be nurtured. Plus, they are investing more in renewable energy sources that take advantage of the natural elements to a region be they solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, etc. Progress has been made, but a lot more is needed, now.

These are only a few key things we need to discuss. I am tired of politicians who flitter from various sensational issues and causing problems rather than solving them. If hurting our children by not dealing with toxins, destroying our planet or leaving them with our debts is not sensational enough, I don’t know what it is.

Let me close with an example. Living in North Carolina, I have been aware of the push on the Department of Defense for decades to effectively deal with the toxic water at Camp Lejeune that was killing US Marines and their families. The base families finally got their attention when they served the ugly looking and odorous water to the leaders when they came to visit. It should not take that long to address these issues.

About that woke thing – per the wisdom of Reverend John Pavlovitz

From the wisdom of a progressive and practical minister named John Pavlovitz, his latest post called “My woke liberal agenda” is responding to be called woke and how dangerous that is. The entire post can be found below with the link. Picking up his response to several accusations by a critical blogger who said after earlier comments:

“You liberals and your agenda are the real danger here!” 

Reverend Pavlovitz then opined for us:

“Then it hit me.
I realized that I’d been found out.
My cover had been blown.
I’d have to come clean and cop to the charges.

I knew I needed to make a full confession to my social media prosecutor and to the watching world—so here it is,

My ‘Woke Liberal Agenda’ on gun violence:

Not normalizing the fact that tens of thousands of people are murdered each year in American schools, churches, supermarkets, and playgrounds—and calling out the professed Christians not worshiping the guns used to kill them.

Asking why, in their rabid and incessant defense of the 2nd Amendment, Conservative American gun lovers willfully overlook both the ‘well-regulated’ and ‘Militia’ portions.

Wondering why these same folks seem far less passionate about the 1st Amendment, when people like me suggest that their guns and their gunlust may actually be the gun problem we have here.

Asking why America has the highest gun homicide rate of any developed country—and suggesting that it has something to do with the NRA’s influence on the gun laws of this country, the number of guns in the system, and the cowboy culture created around them.

Forcing Republicans out of the bed they’re in with the NRA, because their continual expression of ‘thoughts and prayers’ when followed by complete inaction—may as well be bullets for the next mass shooting.

Mentally ill people and criminals not having access to handguns—and asking Republican leaders why they removed the barriers that made such things difficult and why they have continually defunded mental healthcare.

Respecting mass shooting victims enough to talk about them while the world actually gives a damn about them—and before they’re soon replaced the next day or the next week by more mass shooting victims we’re told that it’s ‘too soon’ for us to talk about.

And while we’re at it, here’s the rest of my woke Liberal Agenda:

Demanding that the actual history of America be taught to American children, including the parts white Conservative Christians find uncomfortable.

Insisting the LGBTQ human beings be given every right to govern their bodies, define their families, marry the person they love, and live free of the moral views of strangers.

Pushing back against Nazis, white supremacists, and racists—whether they’re marching in the streets or marching through Congress.

Ensuring that women and have autonomy over their own bodies and that their doctors get to advise them on their healthcare decisions, not Republican politicians.

Exposing a white Evangelical Church that passionately cultivates contempt for LGBTQ people, for Muslims, for non-Christians—and wants to escape culpability for the violence this visits upon them.

Contending that people fortunate enough to be born in America aren’t more inherently valuable or more deserving of liberty than those who were not born here.

Affirming that God is neither white, nor male, nor American, nor Christian—and that God doesn’t specifically bless America.

Demanding that no one have to choose between life-saving care or paying their mortgage.

Opposing any religious tradition that attempts to contest with musty doctrine, what Science has made clear about this world.

Insisting that the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the planet we’re sitting on be protected from degradation—not subjected to it by those of us fortunate enough to be here.

A diverse and equitable nation that makes room for more than just white American, Republican Christians who were lucky enough to be born here.

Yeah, you know—now that I see it all in black and white like this, I suppose it is dangerous: fewer guns, more barriers to having them, less money for gun lobbyists, Christian politicians and leaders who actually resemble Jesus—and equality for people despite their gender identity, sexual orientation, physical condition, religious tradition, pigmentation, or nation of origin.

I could see how someone could view that as a problem, how it could feel threatening.

Yes, I stand here accused of this subversive, dangerous, supposedly America-destroying woke Liberal Agenda.”

I will let us words stand without much comment. His opinion is one we should pay attention to, whether you or in full agreement or not. His best gift is to make us think and be aware of how that is or is not aligned with the teachings of that Jesus fellow.

https://johnpavlovitz.com/2023/05/18/my-woke-liberal-agenda/

Beavis and Butthead-like

People who follow this blog know I am not a fan of labels or name calling, as I view them as lazy arguments. The user wants you to accept their labeling without debate or further study. It is akin to weaponization of a term that can do the dirty work for the user.

I would prefer to define the actions rather than actor. So the focus should be on the lying not the liar, although it is very hard to separate them sometime. There are occasions where actions are so over-the-top that it is interesting to contrast them to characters who do the same over-the-top actions to illustrate the inappropriateness.

Earlier this month, the former president was found liable to the tune of $5 million for the sexual assault and defamation of E. Jean Carroll. While he is appealing the decision, his own deposition did not help his cause nor did his words on the Access Hollywood tapes where he is heard bragging of impunity as he groped women’s private parts. This tape was played for jurors in the trial.

Not included in the trial, but he also has bragged on the Howard Stern talk show of his wont to walk into Miss Universe and Miss USA dressing rooms to see the partially clothed girls. He noted with his sponsorship of the pageant, it was so easy for him to espy the partially clothed contestants. It should be noted there have been more than twenty allegations made against the former president by women and girls for sexual misconduct, including a few teen age pageant contestants. See Note below.

Earlier this week, Trump’s friend and advisory Rudy Giuliani has found more trouble with a lawsuit from a former aide who has charged him with sexual assault with a $10 million price-tag. While Giuliani has denied the claims, she is in possession of tapes and emails that do not sound very flattering to the former mayor. Apparently, he provided his password to her for to his email account which provided additional unflattering context.

Between the various recordings of these two men creepily admitting to what they are accused of, they remind me of the dialogue between the two creepy high school teens in a cartoon show called “Beavis and Butthead.” These two characters did not portray manhood in its finest light as they giggled about the many sexual references and not-so-subtle double entendres.

So, stopping short of calling these two fully grown men by these two names, it truly is hard to believe their claims of innocence when the words they use are Beavis and Butthead-like. The former president defended his words on the Access Hollywood tapes as “locker room talk,” but in the many locker rooms I have been as an athlete, I have not heard men speak of sexually assaulting women. If they did, it would not be very flattering toward them. What is interesting, though, is many of the allegations made by women and teen girls against Trump were made BEFORE the Access Hollywood tapes came out.

It should be noted that some of the claims made by a few of the Miss Teen USA pageant contestants used terms like “creepy” in defining the guy who came in their dressing room. If I close my eyes I can hear Beavis and Butthead giggling as they talked of walking in.

Note: Per an article in Buzz Feed:

“Four women who competed in the 1997 Miss Teen USA beauty pageant said Donald Trump walked into the dressing room while contestants — some as young as 15 — were changing.

‘I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, ‘Oh my god, there’s a man in here,’ ‘said Mariah Billado, the former Miss Vermont Teen USA.

Trump, she recalled, said something like, ‘Don’t worry, ladies, I’ve seen it all before.’

Three other women, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of getting engulfed in a media firestorm, also remembered Trump entering the dressing room while girls were changing. Two of them said the girls rushed to cover their bodies, with one calling it “shocking” and ‘creepy.’ The third said she was clothed and introduced herself to Trump.”

Note PolitiFacts would not rate the truth of this as several sources were anonymous. They did say in 2005 Trump bragged to Howard Stern on walking into dressing on Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants, but did not specifically reference Miss Teen USA in the Stern interview.

Interesting election result in my hometown in Florida

As noted in an Associated Press article called “Florida: blow to DeSantis as Democrat wins Jacksonville mayor’s race – Donna Deegan becomes city’s first female mayor by beating Daniel Davis, Republican backed by hard-right governor,” the following two paragraphs tell the story.

“In a major electoral upset on Tuesday, voters in Jacksonville elected their first female mayor, defeating a Republican backed by business leaders and endorsed by Ron DeSantis, the state governor and prospective presidential candidate.

Jacksonville is the most populous Florida city, with about 950,000 residents. Donna Deegan, a Democrat, earned 52% of the vote, beating Daniel Davis. About 217,000 people voted, a turnout of 33%.”

In the same browser feed it was noted that Governor DeSantis refused to acknowledge that Donald Trump lost the last election. Well someone better tell Fox News that as they are somehow missing over $1 billion after settling two defamation lawsuits, with one pending for another $2.7 billion. They also have those indicting emails that said several key Fox News personnel knew they were gaslighting their viewers perpetuating Trump’s Big Lie.

The story reminds me of a cheating husband with lipstick on his collar and a perfumed aroma who tells his wife to ignore the evidence as he really did not cheat on her. When a party requires the mainstream candidates to gaslight, then that is prime facie evidence that anything else they say should be take with large doses of salt. We need a conservative voice in this country, but one that obligates leaders to lie is not it.

Do not default on America’s debts

Note to Democrat and Republican leadership – DO NOT DEFAULT on America’s debts. That is beyond poor stewardship and borders on malfeasance. And, it certainly is not a conservative principle.

Find a way to get it done and then talk in greater detail about doing things to reduce the debt and deficit. You could start with listening to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Like the Simpson Bowles Deficit Reduction Committee, this group advocates both tax increases and spending cuts. Otherwise, the math simply will not work despite what politicians say.

Both parties have left something to be desired on dealing with our debt. Yet, it is the Republicans who have been the worse steward having increased debt by $2 trillion with a tax cut in 2018 when they led both chambers in Congress and the White House and unbalanced a surplus budget when the younger Bush took over for Bill Clinton again with a tax cut Bush’s Treasury Secretary said was unneeded.

The grandstanding needs to stop. Playing chicken with a very serious matter has to stop. Pretending to only care about the debt when not in charge has to stop. First pay our bills, then fix the problem with a holistic solution.

When will they ever learn?

Quoting the key line from Pete Seeger’s “Where have all the flowers gone?” made famous by Peter, Paul and Mary, “when will they ever learn?”

Seeing the former president bask in the glow of his CNN Town Hall, where he regurgitated a seemingly endless list of untruthful statements, I thought of this line as his base of fans lapped it up. When will they ever learn?

Lying routinely is not very becoming of a president. Repeating the lies as a mantra is even worse as some lies are making the record album skip as it wears out. When will they ever learn?

What makes all of this so farcical and sad is his lying is overt and relentless. He lies so much he does not where the truth stops and the lying begins. Even when the truth works in his favor, he has to dress it up more to assume credit.

One of the interesting byproducts of the Town Hall is while he will be appealing the verdict on his sexual assault liability of $5 million, E. Jean Carroll is considering suing him again for defamation with his Town Hall remarks. When will they ever learn?

In the next few months, Donald Trump will likely be indicted for election meddling in Georgia. With eight Trump enablers agreeing to deals with the prosecutor, a very strong case looks even stronger. He, of course, will denounce the indictment as politically motivated, even a witch-hunt, which is ironic as that is precisely what he did with his meddling.

And, my hope is he will be held accountable for his role in the insurrection on January 6, 2021 against Congress. Quite simply, that insurrection would not have happened if Donald Trump was not president.

While all of this is happening, Fox News will likely settle another defamation case with another voting system company. This would be the third settlement around gaslighting their audience perpetuating Trump’s Big Lie.

I have been saying for over two years that Donald Trump’s political career is over, but it will take awhile for his party to realize that. It is happening much more slowly than I hoped, but he does not have enough fingers to plug the holes in this dyke.

Quite simply, we are more divided as a county because a man-child with a shallow ego cannot admit he lost an election. As his niece Mary said, her uncle will burn it all down to avoid losing the election. His followers need to open their eyes and see the gas can and matches he is holding. When will they ever learn?