Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Margaux Otter at L’Obs reports that on Wednesday, the European Parliament voted to ban the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) automobiles by 2035, only thirteen years from now. It is an epochal vote that aims at completely re-configuring the automobile industry in the 27-member European Union, with its […]
Israel’s Crisis in Parliament is a Crisis for its Apartheid in the Palestinian West Bank
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday evening, the government of Naftali Bennett in Israel failed to pass a crucial law in parliament, according to the Israeli newspaper Arab 48. The failure, which strikes at the foundations of Bennett’s far right vision of an expanding Greater Israel that forever forestalls any Palestinian state, exposed the […]
Biden’s Green New Deal: 100 Gigawatts of New Solar, in Biggest Energy Program since FDR’s TVA
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden just launched a series of executive orders and other measures for solar energy that have the potential to be the biggest energy initiatives by any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, on whose watch the Hoover Dam and the Tennessee Valley Authority came into being. The Hoover Dam produces […]
It is now Cheaper to Switch from Coal directly to Wind and Solar than to Natural Gas
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Matthew Gray at Transition Zero writes that it is now cheaper in North America and Europe to switch from coal plants directly to wind, solar, battery renewable energy sources than it is to switch to methane (“natural”) gas. TZ figures transition costs in expenditure of carbon dioxide, and finds that […]
Chevy Bolt now Least Expensive EV in US Market, as Studies show they cut Carbon by ~70% over ICE Cars
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – General Motors has just slashed the cost of its struggling Bolt by over 18%! If you just go by the sticker price, the base 1LT (Luxury Touring) at $26,595 is now the least expensive electric car in the US market. The 2Lt comes in at $29, 795. So reports Pras […]
The last Time our Atmosphere had 421 ppm of Carbon Dioxide, Florida was under Water and Giant Camels and Rhinoceri roamed Indiana
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Friday that in May, carbon dioxide peaked at 421 parts per million, a level not seen since the Pliocene Climatic Optimum between 4.1 and 4.5 million years ago. Human civilization developed during a long period when carbon dioxide was between 270 […]
Biden Reverses himself on Saudi “Pariah,” needing Riyadh’s Oil to Punish Putin for Ukraine
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden ran on making Saudi Arabia a “pariah,” given that the CIA accused Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of authorizing the murder in 2018 of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Istanbul Saudi consulate. Biden and a bipartisan majority in the US Congress were also upset about […]
Ukraine War: Europe declares Independence of Russian Petroleum, Looks to Mass Transit, EVs to Achieve “Freedom” Goal
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – France 24, with AFP, reports that the 27-member European Union succeeded on Monday in agreeing to a sixth round of boycott measures against Russia. Most importantly, Europe pledged immediately to halt two-thirds of all European purchases of Russian petroleum, and to halt 90% of such imports by the end of […]
Will Japan be the Godzilla of Deep Sea Current Energy?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – If you were going to try to generate electricity from a deep water ocean current, you’d like it to be flowing in one direction and to be fast and steady. Most deep sea currents are unidirectional because of the earth’s rotation. and this tendency is reinforced where they flow through […]