Thin Film Solar Panels Are Here
There are a lot of ways you can throw the blame after the horrible death of a comprehensive climate change and clean energy bill, and the seeming death of a national Renewable Energy Standard (RES).
You can blame:
According to a just released poll by Rasmussen published at Enviroknow, it appears that Republican voters have now moved left, tipping the nation’s majority against off-shore oil drilling. Pre-disaster, only 31% of Republicans were concerned or somewhat concerned, so along with the 70% of Democrats who were concerned it was a wash. But now that 50% of Republicans say that they are very or somewhat concerned, the nation’s tipping point is reached. (Democrats concern has grown to 84%.)
As of two months into this disaster, more than half of all Americans are now against drilling for off-shore oil.
But this month, Republican Senators plan to (once more) filibuster legislation to end our dependence on dirty energy.
Investors quickly dumped stocks across the fossil energy industry within minutes of Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement that there could be criminal charges filed against BP, holding it accountable for the Gulf catastrophe. BP and Halliburton, already declining since the Gulf accident, lost almost 15 percent on the news, and Anadarko Petroleum, a part owner of the exploded oil rig, tumbled nearly 20 percent, as the stock market factored in that oil companies might have to pay out huge amounts in criminal fines for pollution.
Other fossil energy companies that were part of the dive after the announcement by Holder included Massey – the other fossil energy company now facing likely criminal prosecution for its negligence in it’s recent mining disaster – which dropped another 10% down to $30.17.
Judging from this sudden sector-wide drop, investors don’t apparently already factor in that the fossil energy business is dangerous and dirty, and that polluters might be held criminally liable, which suggests just why the fossil energy industry puts so much money into climate science disinformation, and the purchase of Senators to prevent carbon legislation.
This graph is a picture of the true value of fossil energy in a future carbon-constrained world.
Republicans opposed to clean energy in the US (who knows why?) have repeatedly put forward the idea (and claimed it was absolutely true) that a climate change and clean energy bill would cost the US jobs.
A new non-partisan report out by the Peterson Institute for International Economics finds that the American Power Act would actually result in an increase in jobs, hundreds of thousands of them per year (on average) from 2011 to 2020.
Pig manure is one step away from a transformation of metamorphic proportions. The lowly waste product, notorious for its impact on the environment and on human olfactory nerves, is on the verge of becoming an important alternative to petroleum now that scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a process for converting raw pig manure to crude oil. With further development, the process may even yield biodiesel.
If successful commercially, the process would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from pig farms and many other types of livestock operations. In particular, it could help protect drinking water supplies in livestock farming areas.
It’s a little hard to wrap your head around this one, but global oil giant Chevron (yes, that Chevron) has just announced plans to install a solar power system at the Kern River oil field in California. This ain’t no small potatoes, either. All together, Kern River is the fifth largest oil field in the U.S. and Chevron’s solar array will consist of 7, 700 solar panels, according to Reuters. The system is designed to generate 740 kilowatts of electricity to run Chevron’s oil pumps and pipelines at the field.
The Kern River solar array is just one piece of a $2 billion investment Chevron plans for solar and alternative energy. That’s a tidy little chunk of the oil company’s change, which seems to indicate that the company sees the writing on the wall for fossil fuels. Not that oil will disappear, just that the potential returns from solar power and other alternative energy in the retail market are starting to look mighty attractive. Once again, follow the money…
As a short sequel to “Climate Skeptics’ Leading Scientist Funded by Dirty Energy“, this is a brief look at the close connection between Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (ok, not Kingpin, but close) and Fox News, one of the leading media outlets in the world regularly promoting climate denier and anti-clean energy “news” and information.
Prince Alwaleed is the world’s 5th richest man and has decided to put a large chunk of money into this US media company.
If you are gardening, you have to pay attention to the plants you want to grow, but you also have to pay some attention to the weeds. We seem to be at the beginning of a true clean energy revolution, but even as we admire the nutritious, delicious-looking clean energy crops sprouting up, we have to spend a little time keeping an eye on the weeds.
Climate change and the breakthrough of clean energy technologies are linked, since climate change is a major factor spurring clean energy development and growth.
And one of the leading ways dirty energy titans of the past (and present) who do not want to lose their business or their income try to keep clean energy from growing is through continual attempts to undermine the scientific findings of some of the world’s greatest scientists.
Well, it is no surprise to find out that one of the climate skeptics’ leading scientists — probably the “independent” scientist most often used by the media to present the climate change deniers’ arguments — makes quite a bit of money working for dirty energy companies. But it took a little investigative research (not by me, I have to admit) to uncover this carefully guarded information.