Young Americans
Reject Denial; the Politics of Solar; Halliburton’s Slap on the Wrist, more
By
Anders Hellum Alexander, in Global
Warming Is Real.com
GlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up
and comments on the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week:
- Young people in America believe in science: when polled 73 percent say that global warming deniers are “crazy, out of touch and ignorant”
- Solar energy is vulnerable to political attacks. Each state and local area has its own rules and laws that make solar possible. California has lead the charge for solar and also receives the most attacks, including a current round of attacks by lawmakers and conservative interests. Despite the attacks solar is winning the battle in a dozen states.
- Utilities hate solar - most utilities and their investors consider solar energy as a risk to their profit margins. Companies and investors respond in a big way when their bottom line is threatened. I just wonder if they will respond by trying to dominate the solar market or crush it.
- After the Deepwater Horizon blew up in the Gulf of Mexico blew up in 2010 the three companies operating the rig – BP, Transocean and Halliburton – scrambled to prove their innocence and limit their liability. In that scramble Halliburton destroyed documents that were not favorable to their position. The truth has come out and now Halliburton has to pay for their crime, just a little though: three years of probation and a maximum fine of $200,000. A tiny drop in the bucket for the ginormous corporation. Certainly not enough to stop them from what they do best – profiting off of the destruction of the only environment we have.
- Coal-fired power plants in Australia could be a thing of the past in Australia by 2040 if the current growth rate of the solar market doubles. Good luck Australia!
- What does a hot America in 2100 look like? NASA is helping us conceptualize the future of global warming.
- With the popularity of electric vehicles on the rise we need more charging stations. The growing pain of so many other industries, determining industry standards – in the case for charger standards – puts producers, designers, manufacturers – and consumers – at odds.
- Climate change deniers claim that global temperatures have not increased for 15 years. The fact is that we had a really hot year 15 years ago, but that does not negate the upward trend of global temperatures in the past 50 years. It is sad that articles like this one by Benjamin Zycher push this lie and call it news.
- China is trying to bring millions of people out of poverty and restore themselves as the superpower of the world. But, this is happening at the cost of their environment. If your economy is dependent on depleting the resources that provide the fuel for the economy then at some point you hit a breaking point.