Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Climate Wire reported last fall on a remarkable story about the way renewable energy not only saves the earth from the destructive climate emergency but can at the same time improve our lives and those of our children. Our hero is Michael Hester, who some years ago became the superintendent […]
10 Years after the Outbreak of the Syrian Revolution, the US is Still Prolonging the Agony
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On March 15, 2011, ten years ago this week, the first tiny demonstrations took place in Damascus in Syria. A larger protest, however, was staged in the town of Deraa south of the capital on March 18, from which most observers start the Syrian revolution. The first wave of protests, […]
Not Waiting on Biden: China breaks US Iran Blockade, moves to import nearly 1 mn b/d of Ayatolllah’s Oil
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – China is dramatically ramping up its imports of petroleum from Iran this spring, going from a daily average of 300,000 barrels per day during the past year to 856,000 bpd. So reports Felicity Bradstock of Oilprice.com. The Biden administration has dragged its feet on negotiating a return to the 2015 […]
As Solar, Wind costs Plummet, Coal, Gas vastly Over-priced in Bubble that could Burst worse than 2008
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new report by RethinkX, a think tank using the ideas of Tony Seba, who teaches Business at Stanford University, demonstrates that the value of fossil fuels and of the electric plants they fuel is vastly overstated by government agencies and financial analysts. Seba and his colleagues point out that […]
Celebrating our Declaration of Independence from Covid with Poetry of Omar Khayyam
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden on Thursday expressed the expectation that the vaccination of the US population will have proceeded to the extent by July 4 that we can look forward to small gatherings of friends and family then. The calculation is that when 70% of the population is inoculated, the virus will […]
Israel has Detained 13,000 Palestinian Children since 2000 and just took 5 more
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Since the year 2000, the Israeli military in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank has “detained, interrogated, prosecuted, and imprisoned approximately 13,000 Palestinian children,” according to Defense for Children International. Nowadays Israel typically prosecutes between 500 and 700 children annually in military courts. Even though they are civilians and children, they […]
At Last, the End of Austerity: Joe Biden’s Really, Really Big Covid Stimulus aims to Jumpstart America
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Joe Biden has redeemed the sins of the Obama administration, which did not enact a big enough stimulus truly to dig the U.S. economy out of the hole created by the 2008-09 economic crash. Barack Obama, a gentleman and a community builder, had believed that he could get some Republicans […]
By 2030, 60% of New Cars in China will be Electric, and by 2040 all New Cars in the World will be: USB Bank; Will Mideast Oil States Survive?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – 60 percent of new cars sold in China in 2030 will be electric, according to Switzerland’s UBS bank. And by 2040 the only new cars on the market globally will be electric, the bank predicts. So report Daniel Ren and Pearl Liu for the South China Morning Post. The forecast […]
Biden overturns Trump Policy, Pushes Massive 84-Turbine Offshore Wind Farm to power all southern Massachusetts
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is finished its environmental impact review of a wind farm in federal waters off Massachusetts. According to AP, the company that wants to install the turbines, Vineyard Wind, had withdrawn its application last summer for fear Trump would reject it. President Biden, however, […]