Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran’s foreign minister, attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, has signed key membership papers to formalize its entry into the Eurasian security body led by China and Russia. Although Iran is now considered by the US State Department to be in what it calls the “Middle […]
How 3 Gigawatts of Battery Power Plus Solar Saved California from Electricity Blackouts during the Heat Dome this Month
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In August 2020, California consumers suffered through a severe heat wave, responding by blasting their air conditioners. California had put in so much solar that by then that 34% of the state’s power came from wind and solar, and another 13.9% came from hydro. Nuclear still provided around 10% of […]
House Oversight Committee wants to Know why Saudis gave Jared Kushner $2 billion
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The House Committee on Oversight and Reform, chaired by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), sent a sharp letter to Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner last June, wanting to know whether he illicitly profited from his government service as Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East to receive $2 billion from the […]
World’s largest Offshore Wind Farm Operational in UK, offering Lower Energy Prices, as Tories Scoff
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Danish wind energy company Orsted reported recently that its massive 1.3 gigawatt offshore wind farm, Hornsea 2, off the Yorkshire coast, has gone fully operational. It joins its sister project, Hornsea 1, which generates 1.2 gigawatts. A further, even bigger such facility, Hornsea 3, will have a nameplate capacity […]
Muslim Americans are Young, Patriotic and Bullish on this Country, and are not to Blame for 9/11
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Yesterday, America observed a commemoration of 21 years since the September 11, 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda on key US targets. In the past two decades, many persons in the U.S. were confused between far-right Muslim extremism of the al-Qaeda sort and everyday ordinary Muslims. As a result, the some 3.85 […]
Solar Power in US to grow by Factor of 3 by 2027 after IRA, Saving us from Climate Disasters and Lung Cancer (yes)
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Because of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), energy analysis firm Wood MacKenzie has increased its estimation of how much solar power the US is likely to install in the next five years by nearly 50%. Because of supply chain problems with solar panels, the firm does not expect the […]
The 15 Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The Dramatic Climate Emergency Tipping Points that are around the Corner
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In the Book of Revelation by John of Patmos, seven seals are described, and when the first four are broken, four horsemen emerge, Conquest, War, Famine and Death. It turns out that our latter-day apocalypse will be driven by 15 tipping points affecting the earth’s climate. The sooner humanity stops […]
Will Charles III be the first Eco-King? Vocal Proponent of Green Energy and Battler of Big Carbon takes the Throne
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The new king of England, despite being a booster of green energy and a foe of the climate emergency is not in a position to set government policy on climate issues. Unfortunately, that is the prerogative of new Prime Minister Liz Truss, a Tory close to Big Carbon who just […]
More Ukraine-Palestine Hypocrisy: US slams Russia for Deporting Residents from Occupied Territory, which Israel does all the Time
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Wednesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield castigated Russia for having deported large numbers of Ukrainians from the parts of Ukraine that the Russian military had occupied, referring to these as “filtration operations.” She said, “Of course, I need not remind this Council that the forcible transfer […]