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Can Solar & Wind Fix Everything (e.g., Climate Change) with a battery break-through?

Cost of not acting on climate change: $44 trillion

Up to $44 trillion could be going up in smoke if the world does not act on climate change, according to the latest piece of research from U.S. banking giant Citigroup.

It's worth noting that fossil fuel companies fund climate studies too. In peer-reviewed climate studies by Exxon Mobil from 1977 to 2014, 83 percent acknowledged the reality of climate change, and that it is caused by humans.


TicToK Algorithm Mislead the public

A September 2022 investigation showed that TikTok searches pulled up videos containing misinformation... If a user entered the term “climate change,” for example, TikTok would automatically suggest searches for “climate change debunked” and “climate change doesn’t exist.”


Fox drops Tucker Carlson, but fake news lives on

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson had a few favorite punching bags, and climate change was one of them. For years, Carlson falsely told millions of viewers that “humans did not cause climate change” and “will never be able to control it.” In fact, there is overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is real and pollution created by human activities is the main cause.


Climate Misinformation: Communicating Climate Science in an Era of Misinformation

Those well-versed in climate policy recognize Merchants of Doubt as an eye-opening documentary that reveals numerous similarities between the notorious misinformation campaign of the tobacco industry and that which wreaks havoc upon climate communicators and activists in the 21st century. A quote from a tobacco executive illustrates as much: “Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the minds of the general public.

Fossil fuel proponents and bad state actors have relied on the tactful creation and dissemination of climate misinformation for approximately seventy years by catering to public values, belief systems, and lifestyle characteristics.

Renewable energy is delivering in Texas

Every single month, clean energy is powering our homes and businesses with emission free electricity while saving Texans almost $1 billion on their electricity bills. Every month. ... That eye-popping figure, the headline from a study released last month doesn’t even count all of the additional resources that are about to come online...
 

June 2023 ENSO update: El Niño is here


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Broken record: Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels jump again

Carbon dioxide levels measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory peaked at 424 parts per million in May, continuing a steady climb further into territory not seen for millions of years
Scientists at Scripps, which maintains an independent record, calculated a May monthly average of 423.78 ppm , also a 3.0 ppm increase over their May 2022 average.
 

Solar with Energy Storage now only $7/MWh more than Gas Combined Cycle


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Next year with low-cost Sodium batteries it could very well be under and the economics finally push fossil fuels into history as it has with coal.
Although with a price difference of $0.007/kWh, any proposal for a new fossil fuel project should be rejected.

The price of renewable + ESS is well under Peaker plants, so hopefully no more of them are built again; this type of energy generation is what causes incredibly high rates that are unfair to consumers.

There's also been a lot of progress on fusion in the last year, for example, Helion's non-traditional low-cost direct generation is going to build a 50 MW unit for Microsoft by 2028. Helion's estimated electricity production costs are $10/MWh and have the benefits of being safe, clean, a small footprint, and easily attainable low-cost fuel (deuterium).

I haven't seen much progress for nuclear, the small portable/inexpensive units that were being developed ran into snags and all seem to have had massive price hikes.
 
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Who on here has denied climate change?
If nothing else most ppl openly admit it is a natural process and most say influenced-made worse by ppl. The major debate seems to be over what can REALLY be done and to what Degree for a game change vs cost. A “Degree” - Pun intended since it was stated our best effort for climate change would only be ~1 degree.

The Skeptical Science website you linked to tells ppl to “dismiss politics unless it supports the climate change agenda”. I doubt that is possible.
“Again who on this forum is a climate change denier?”

The SKEPTICAL SCIENCE website you linked was not made up of scientist at its inception. It was made up of a cartoonist then other circled co-founders. Need to ask what are Dr. Cook credentials? “ He obtained his PhD at the University of Western Australia, studying the cognitive psychology of climate science denial‘’

holy crap so in a balanced educational system are there studies to counter this Dr Cook’s education? Again as he listed, “ He obtained his PhD at the University of Western Australia, studying the cognitive psychology of climate science denial” WTF would it be called….for an education in opposition?

I think you dismissed the ppl in the post from NASA based on their back grounds of not being climate scientist. Are any ppl on other side from your view considered climate scientist? You support this claimed - granted USA Non-Profit group as real - and as the reliable deal “Skeptical Science”. You linked to them at least several times. None of them on staff are real climate scientist at Skeptical Science. Yet again there was a dismissing statement about those NASA scientist and engineers. “Science is evolving and should always be challenged” according to groups of scientist.

What’s more there are websites like this and the comments section at this link is also revealing about Cook. Did he - Dr Cook really photoshop himself as a Nazi?

Do you play the “Cranky Uncle Game” as a phone app from Skeptical Science?

I’d say the game inventor has Uncle issues - does the proceeds from it fall under non-profit too. Are their proceeds or just tax deductible proceeds - donations. ????

If I were making a propaganda team would head it with a person - with a psychology Phd. Sound about right? From the CHILDISH game description - training aid on Apple Apps website.
””We all have a cranky uncle who thinks he knows better than the world's scientists. But how do vou make sense of his arguments and conspiracy theories? The way to understand our cranky uncle is to become a cranky uncle! If you're going to spot someone cheating at cards, first you have to learn how to cheat at cards
In this game, Cranky Uncle teaches you the rhetorical techniques and logical fallacies he uses to deny science. Climate change, evolution, vaccination, a round Earth - he's never met a science he wouldn't deny! The deeper you get into the game, the more resilient you become against misinformation””

I would put the NASA ppl up against their team at skeptical science any day even if you backed them up with these volunteers. Is this the peer group?

?
I do deny that if we spend trillions of dollars it will make a significant difference. 1 degree That is my opinion and belief based on everything have seen or read is wasteful. BESIDES We as a Country do not have the money. I have stated this over and over. We had to print the money that was used for Covid emergency ~$5 trillion dollars so all existing monies were devalued and diluted. Any new monies always dilute existing monies and cause inflation. That is why we had massive inflation following covid. I have always spent responsibly - all my life and stayed within my means….. my retirement savings have now been devalued greatly. My private retirement benefits that I paid so much into are also being threatened into non-existence. Social security for others is being threatened.
I find it interesting that ppl that want to spend all this Climate Change money and claim to know so much can not understand basic math for the simple economic impact from covid …… much less any more expenditures. If “WE” are broke then ”WE” are broke. Stop printing new money and devaluing the old money. Figure out how to get investment monies and pay dividends in return. The elite always make money no matter what. They control the game.

Are you shocked that common ppl are resisting and complaining that their saved and earned monies are being planned - stolen and destined to be used for climate changers. During covid the World Elite that never seem to get targeted are reported to have (stolen) earned $1.5 trillion dollars collectively as a small group. No doubt paid from the previous newly printed - made $5 trillion dollars handed out during covid. At some point a stick of chewing gum will cost $1 million dollars.

I have repeatedly stated: figure out how to make legit changes and ppl might be willing to invest. Just making up schemes to illegally take ppl’s monies is criminal. For those that don’t understand: If ppl want to live on Mars get a job, make money, pay to build your rocket ship, and fly away. These ppl need to go be with Elon Musk on your journey. Bye. End of story.
We really need to come up with a permanent separation - solution. Them moving to Mars sounds good to me. At this point I would even chip in some shekels to get a distant separation.….
 
Who on here has denied climate change?
You must have them on ignore. It's a good idea really.

The major debate seems to be over what can REALLY be done and to what Degree for a game change vs cost.
I agree. There are a lot of approaches and it's doubtful there's one that fits all.

...I think you dismissed the ppl in the post from NASA based on their back grounds of not being climate scientist.
I dismissed the lawyers and PR people. I made fun of the mathematician for his poor math and logic and the engineer for cheery picking data and stating wrong facts that were easily verifiable. But yes, they're also not climate scientists and there were no climate scientists there as far as I could tell.

... Are any ppl on other side from your view considered climate scientist?
What you're really getting to is the question about why is your reference any better than my reference?

But hopefully, it's obvious. Bad sites make up data and don't provide references to actual peer-reviewed published data. Good sites do. For example, Skeptical Science has excerpts and videos from real climate scientists and commentary. The responses are evolutionary and have grown as more information is ascertained and there is more feedback from scientists. I like that site because it is concise, cites scientific references, and is focused on countering misinformation.

A fact check on them says:
Rather than fully qualifying each claim, the site focuses on challenging it by citing counterexamples for why it is incorrect, and structuring the examples into a rebuttal of the original claim. The site primarily gains the content for these articles from peer reviewed scientific papers.[5] Many articles have been translated into other languages, and are split into up to three levels of technical depth.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeptical_Science#cite_note-Yale-3
The Skeptical Science home page also features blog posts by regular and guest contributors, which may be new rebuttals of a certain argument or simply the blogger's view on a relevant climate news item.[6] Like the rebuttals, the blog entries tend to hold a consistent tone that the scientific opinion on anthropogenic global warming is generally accurate.[7]

The fact check on the conference you mentioned was nowhere near so flattering:

International Conference on Climate Change

The International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC) is a conference series organized and sponsored by The Heartland Institute which aims to bring together those who "dispute that the science is settled on the causes, consequences, and policy implications of climate change. ref
Conference Sponsor: Heartland Institute
The Heartland Institute is an American conservative and libertarian public policy think tank known for its rejection of both the scientific consensus on climate change and the negative health impacts of smoking ref

I've never seen any data in error from the Skeptical Science site and no one has ever contested any of the facts on it so far in this thread. If you see something technical regarding global warming that you believe is wrong, by all means, let's discuss facts rather than innuendo.

Yet again there was a dismissing statement about those NASA scientist and engineers.
No, not dismissive. In #1,840 I reviewed at length documenting and timestamping where they said what, and then explained why it was correct or incorrect or provided a URL as to where it had already been debunked by others. If you believe I'm in error on any point, then please let us discuss that point rather than cast vague doubts.

I would put the NASA ppl up against their team at skeptical science any day even if you backed them up with these volunteers.
I would too.
But, it so happens the people at NASA agree that climate change is real and a lot of the data on the Skeptical Science page points back to NASA pages.

It's only the one ex-NASA guy paid to attend conferences put together by PR organizations paid to sow doubt with facts fairly easy to disprove that I don't credit.

I do deny that if we spend trillions of dollars it will make a significant difference.

A very wealthy man walks into a bar and sees a beautiful woman sitting at the bar. He walks up to her and asks her if he can buy her a drink. She accepts and he says to her, "I can't help but notice that you are exceptionally beautiful. I am an extremely wealthly man and was wondering if you would consider sleeping with me for one million dollars."
She thinks for a moment and replies: "Well, yes...I accept."

The man says, "Would you sleep with me for ten dollars?"
She says, "What do you think I am, a WHORE???"
He says, "We've already established that, NOW, we are negotiating the price!"

Take money totally out of the equation, all it does is confuse people as to what the right thing to do is.
Consider we add GHGs into the atmosphere faster than nature can remove them, that GHGs cause warming, that warming causes climate change.

Can't let go of the costs eh? What if I told you we could do it and save Trillions of Dollars? Well, I already have told you about it ...see #1,855 and #1,852.

...That is my opinion and belief based on everything have seen or read is wasteful. BESIDES We as a Country do not have the money.
We don't have money to go to war either, so what would we do if Russia invaded? Roll over because we can't afford it?

Fox and other outlets try to make the solutions sound scary and expensive so people feel helpless.
Let's take those trillions you keep talking about that. You know that's the estimate for the world to get to carbon zero by 2050.
So, if we spread it out over 27 years (assuming net-zero by 2050) across the world that comes to about $40/person/year.

And you know what, you were going to pay more than that anyway in terms of replacement and repair for existing facilities. That costs trillions too. The idea is mainly to replace existing fossil plants as they hit end-of-life with renewables. It is money we were always going to spend on fossil fuels, that is if you take what we were going to spend minus what we'd spend for renewables it's only a little more expensive today and a lot cheaper in a few years.

Even worse, you're already paying more than that just for the increase in weather-related incidents (see #1,840), and since we're not yet talking about bringing GHGs down (it's only about not adding anymore), those costs might be with us until people and cities have adapted to the "new" climate. Cities need to stop being reactive and spend to adapt to change.

What should scare us about those trillion of dollars is that they won't be spent wisely. But it's the government we're talking about. What could possibly go wrong? ; -)

It's not all gloom and doom by any means.
 
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An Article from 1912 suggests climate change could be a problem in the next century. ref

Some people continue to wrongly characterize climate change as a new fad

the [U.S.] military, including the Navy, has been worried about climate change for decades"
By 2001, Navy submarines had documented a “striking” thinning of new Arctic Ocean ice.
The Navy issued its “Climate Change Road Map” in 2010, It stated: “Climate change is a national security challenge with strategic implications for the Navy.”
The article has an interesting timeline of what we knew when.

By the late 1970s, the phrase “climate change” began regularly appearing in academic research papers, government reports and even newspaper stories.

One of the suggested solutions for the Fermi paradox is global warming, but given how early
we knew that seems unlikely, it means their politicians would have to be more corrupt/stupid than ours.
09513347-a287-494d-90a0-988278024355-1912_Climate_change_item.jpg
 

Greta Graduates

Initially a one-person demonstration, Thunberg’s act would go onto inspire a global protest for climate action. Millions of children in over 180 countries took part in school strikes for the climate in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic forced the “Fridays for Future” movement to find new avenues to protest.

Thunberg was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2019 — the same year she received criticism from the likes of then-U.S. President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Earlier this year, Thunberg was arrested alongside other campaigners during a protest against the demolition of a small German village to make way for a coalmine.

UK Labor party delays Green Package

... with its world-leading promise to end all new domestic oil and gas developments, the Labour party’s £28bn-a-year investment pledge to green industries marks the scale of climate ambition we need to see from a future British government. These commitments mark Labour out as a potential major climate leader ... the investment pledge clearly demonstrates that the party is in tune with the economic realities of today’s world.

... Labour’s plans to delay the full rolling out of its green investment programme...

Polling shows that Labour’s £28bn-a-year pledge is widely popular. Further polls show that 71% of Britons support greater investment in renewable energy, while, across all voter groups, people want the government to do more on the climate crisis.

Why has Labour U-turned on its green investment pledge?

Ms Reeves said there would be "no dither, and no delay" in tackling the climate crisis....So why has Ms Reeves kicked the pledge into the second half of the next Parliament, if Labour wins? ... she hadn't foreseen what then-Prime Minister Liz Truss would do to the economy.
With interest rates up, the cost of borrowing rises too, making the £28bn pledge more expensive to deliver.
 

Punishing heat wave extends across the Caribbean

Puerto Rico is slogging through a prolonged and historic heat wave, which “astonished”
meteorologists are attributing to a confluence of weather and ocean patterns, as well as human-
caused climate change. The heat index has reached as high as 125 degrees, and the dangerous
heat is expected to continue through the weekend.
imrs.php
The National Weather Service, which has issued both excessive heat watches and warnings for different parts of Puerto Rico, has urged residents to take precautions amid “prolonged periods of dangerously hot temperatures and high humidity.”

State Farm & Allstate won't renew in California

Insurance companies across the country are increasingly altering where and how people can live in flood, storm or wildfire-prone areas. State Farm and Allstate have made national headlines recently for their decisions to not offer new homeowner policies in disaster-prone California, and other companies have pulled out of or dramatically raised rates in Louisiana, Florida and Colorado. ...whether or not you believe climate change is a problem, your data-driven insurance company already does — and it's responding, in most cases faster than government regulators.
 
You stated this.
"Fox and other outlets try to make the solutions sound scary and expensive so people feel helpless.
Let's take those trillions you keep talking about that. You know that's the estimate for the world to get to carbon zero by 2050.
So, if we spread it out over 27 years (assuming net-zero by 2050) across the world that comes to about $40/person/year."

I think your figures are a bit off. One of the reasons is the current debt and it's associated entrust.
How much is the US in debt for each person?



National Debt – Just Facts


$95,043

Current. * As of June 5, 2023, the U.S. Treasury's official figure for the debt of the federal government is $31.8 trillion, or more precisely, $31,825,678,823,229. [9] This equates to: $95,043 for every person living in the U.S.[10]

 
How much is the US in debt for each person?
That is self inflicted. In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected and promised to cut the top marginal tax rate. This he did, and the top marginal tax rate was lowered over his 8 years in office from 73% to 28% on incomes over just $29,750 - the lowest this rate had been since 1925.
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.... the world that comes to about $40/person/year."
... I think your figures are a bit off...
Well let's see.... $10 Trillion x (1000 Billion / trillion) / 27 years / 8 billion people = $46.30 / year / person
Yep! You were right! Good eye!

...How much is the US in debt for each person? $95,043
So with the additional $46, that's $95,089... a 0.04% increase if it was new money.

But honestly, if anything, the debt/deficit argument is a reason why we should switch since eliminating fossil fuels saves us money. Confused? Well...

Gas turbines don't last forever, moving parts and burning fuels at high temperatures induces a lot of fatigue. Those plants need constant maintenance and only last 25 to 30 years [ref]. That means each one in existence today will be at its end of life before 2050 and need to be replaced. That costs money.

The $10 trillion to electrify isn't new money we have to borrow. That money was always going to be spent to replace the existing aging infrastructure. By replacing it with a lower LCOE technology (that is, renewables) we SAVE money.
 
By replacing it with a lower LCOE technology (that is, renewables) we SAVE money.
And that is why I am not worried (and have not been worried for over a decade) about fossil fuels, the trend is clear.

What is going to be interesting is where manufacturing is going to take place, right now China seems to leading on renewable energy. Will Republicans come to their senses?
 
...Will [politicians] come to their senses?
Not likely. But, just as lower natural gas prices pretty much killed coal, you can bet the lower cost of renewables will kill natural gas. Peaker plants are already on the way out. It'll be interesting to see if high TOU rates disappear with them.

For example, the new 190MW peaker power plant being built for Texas in Caldwell County has 4 Wärtsilä 50SG (four-stroke, spark-ignited gas engine generating set that runs on natural gas, biogas, synthetic methanol, and is capable of hydrogen blending ref). They sure covered their bases for renewable fuels.

But, obviously 4x19 = 76 MW, where's the other 114 MW? See image right... and of course batteries:
A subsidiary of Spain-based Acciona wants to build the battery storage plant in Caldwell County, south of Austin.
So, it is happening because it's a lot lower cost (Peaker plants have high LCOEs). Hopefully, I didn't munge up the facts, I'm not familiar with the project, it was just the first peaker plant I googled.

What we need is better education to investors piling money into dead-end projects like pipeline/drilling locations and for the government to stop providing inducements. Those investments should be considered high-risk so when they go belly-up there's no expectation of a bailout. Incentives have been offered to investors in the past because we needed oil, but any exploration/building of today won't see the project finished for over a decade, and by then it'll all be on the downturn.

Don't worry though, I'm sure in the end any GHG reductions that do occur the politicians will take credit for it.
 

NOAA Forecast​

Ran across this today, NOAA generates experimental forecasts based on their models out to a year. Below are monthly snapshots:

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Considering California isn't showing a "wetter" than normal year, suspect the model isn't taking El Niño into account, so early days.
Still, pretty cool.

There's a whole spate of graphs here. This one was particularly disturbing, suspect it means very bad things for the 2024 hurricane season (Man, that's a lot of nuclear bomb equivalents (63e12 joules/Littleboy).

There are also sites now combining historical data with projected data such as Climate Explorer:
Are you curious about how climate change will affect your region in the coming decades? Graphs and maps in The Climate Explorer can help you get a sense of the past, present, and future climate projected for your location.

I like that Climate Explorer shows the range of uncertainty, beware of websites that don't as they're probably more on the hysterical or denier side. But, they are nice ways to see what the RCPs say about where you live. Other countries may have similar sites, if you know of one please post it.

Investing in America: $2.6 Billion Proposed to protect coastal communities

Not a lot, but it's a start at adaptation.

Possibly the insurance companies will come back with sufficient adaptation? Even for our "government" insurance we have inspectors for some things. Basically, they're the same as building inspectors. If you want insurance or a discount you have to pay to get inspected to prove you have sufficient mitigation (e.g., hurricane ties, hurricane windows for a break on wind insurance).
 

Held v. Montana

Yesterday was the first day of the case, OMG the DRAMA! It'll be interesting to see what happens. If they win, it'll make a great movie.
The youth plaintiffs do not seek money. They are asking the court to declare that Montana's fossil fuel energy policies and actions violate young people’s state constitutional rights. The youth want the court to tell the government that it is unconstitutional to keep exploiting fossil fuels and they need to keep fossil in the ground and transition to clean energy no later than 2050.

MT+Trial+Webpage.png


If we look back at all the cigarette lawsuits:
The tobacco companies were successful against these lawsuits. Only two plaintiffs ever prevailed, and both of those decisions were reversed on appeal. ref

You'd think it would be an easy case, but it won't be. The problem is it's not about if climate change is real or not, it's about if Montanna fossil fuel activities are harmful to Montanna; so what's happening worldwide isn't important:
In the recent court filing, Seeley wrote there are five facts in dispute to be taken up at trial, including “whether climate impacts and effects in Montana can be attributed to Montana’s fossil fuel activities.” ... the case’s full weight rests on a constitutional underpinning — whether the Legislature’s cumulative reforms to MEPA violate Montana’s constitutional mandate that “the state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.” ref

Why they will most likely lose

Assistant Attorney General Michael Russell succinctly stated that the trial is merely a legal question about a law that no longer exists — a reference to provisions of the state’s energy policy promoting the use of fossil fuels, which the state Legislature repealed in April.

Montana lawmakers in March repealed the State Energy Policy in what the plaintiffs’ lawyers described as a thinly veiled attempt to undermine the case. Lawyers for the youth had argued that even without the policy, they could still challenge the state’s promotion of fossil fuels. ref

Seeley, however, noted that her only cause of action would have been to declare the provision unconstitutional — and it’s already been removed.

So, Why didn't the judge dismiss the case:
Seeley did leave intact the claim in the lawsuit that challenges a provision barring state agencies from considering climate change under the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). The young challengers say it violates the state constitution, which lists the right to a “clean and healthful environment” as the first of one of a half-dozen inalienable rights. ... Seeley in her ruling said there appears to be a “reasonably close causal relationship” between the state’s permitting of fossil fuel projects, climate change and the young people’s alleged injuries ref
Many see this as giving "the kids their day in court".

Who's who

Witnesses for the defense:
Witnesses will include 12 of the 14 youth plaintiffs (including Rikki Held), Dr. Steve Running, Dr. Cathy Whitlock, Dr. Lori Byron, Dr. Jack Stanford, Dr. Daniel Fagre, Michael Durglo, Dr. Lise Van Susteren, Mark Jacobson, Mark Haggerty, Kevin Trenberth, and Anne Hedges.
Looked into some of them, very impressive. But it's not really climate change that's on trial, it's about a vague violation of something that was repealed. So, Whitlock may well be the most important witness. Susteren will probably go over similar to the cigarette cases.
  • Dr. Steve Running - U of Montana, team member of NASA MODIS, standing Committee for Earth Studies of the National Research Council and on the federal Interagency Carbon Cycle Science Committee. He has served as a Co-Chair of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model Land Working Group, a Member of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program Executive Committee, and the World Climate Research Program, Global Terrestrial Observing System. He currently serves on the advisory NASA Earth Science Subcommittee, and the NOAA Science Advisory Board Climate Working Group. Dr. Running contributed to the reports of the IPCC, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
  • Dr. Cathy Whitlock - Fellow, Montana Institute on Ecosystems, Director, MSU Paleoecology Lab. Has done research and published papers on the climate changes in Montana, including the Montana Climate Assessment.
  • Michael Durglo - Head of the CSKT’s Tribal Historic Department, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
  • Dr. Lise Van Susteren - a general and forensic psychiatrist in Washington, DC, and expert on the physical and mental health effects of climate disruption.
Judge: Kathy Seeley is a district court judge for the 1st District Court in Montana. She joined the court in 2008 to replace Judge Thomas Honzel.

Plaintiff Attornies - Roger Sullivan, 35 years career focused on securing justice for Montana’s workers and advocating for Montanans’ constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. Nathan Bellinger, of Our Children's Trust.

Attorney General Michael Russell
 
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Silencing Insurers

Under pressure, several major insurers, including AXA, Allianz, Lloyd’s and Swiss Re, have pulled out of a United Nations-organized alliance committed to a global goal of net-zero emissions by mid-century. There’s a word for companies going quiet in the face of orchestrated attacks: “greenhushing.”

But while the insurers’ departures from the alliance might look like a victory for politicians and political donors who want to delay action on climate change, the companies say leaving doesn’t change their business decisions.
 

Watched this movie other night and thought it was interesting. Basically the guy states everything you and we are proposing is a wash. He claims we already have free energy devices now. Sorta of what Tesla talked about but was marked as crazy. He states if it were released then everything as we know it would crash. To which if you think about it would be true. Something just to think about. I have read time and time again that Tesla wanted to solve world problems with free energy but was suppressed by powers that be to capitalize from all of us. Conspiracy theory or truth. Was Tesla crazy like they claim. The govt wasted no time scooping up everything Tesla developed or wrote down when he died. Strange but like most gifted inventors Tesla died mostly broke and all alone. Wealthy ppl govt laid claim. Conspiracy. He says UFO are us ?????
 
...He claims we already have free energy devices now....
Sounds like a "nut" case, the laws of thermodynamics show there's no such thing at a classical level.

In a non-closed-cycle approach, there are many energy sources such as sunlight or geothermal that appear "free". But, you still have to manufacture/buy the panel, or maintain the grid, so still not free.

... He states if it were released then everything as we know it would crash....
The fed estimates that the average household income spent on electricity is under 5%. So, to the average person, it wouldn't have a major impact. Countries dependent on oil exports to fund their programs/government on the other hand would be in trouble and those heavily vested in fossil fuels and other technology would probably lose a lot of money - so not disruption free by any means to the rich.

Even aside from electricity, fossil fuels have a lot of uses (e.g., plastics), so they would still be around.

It would also take a lot of time to transition, for example to convert all the vehicles that move goods. So it would probably be an immediate stock crash on fuels, followed by a rally of more sensible investors. Similarly, countries would have time to change, but most politicians would probably waste it arguing than coming up with a viable plan.
 
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Back to where it all started:

While capitalism will naturally take care of electrification at this point (e.g., electricity & ground transport), is that enough? Or does that still leave too many GHGs being added to the atmosphere?

Ignoring water vapor and ozone (ignored as they are both antiGHGs and GHGs depending on
atmospheric location) the main GHGs are:
  • 79.4% Carbon dioxide (CO2), half-life 120 years
  • 11.5% Methane (CH4) half-life of 9.1 years, breaks down into CO2
  • 6.2% Nitrous oxide (N2O), half-life of 114 years
  • 3% Industrial gases (Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Sulfur
    hexafluoride (SF6), Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3))
Aviation accounts for 1.9% and 3% from ships, so electrification removes 30% of Electricity
and from Transportation 26% x (1.0 - 1.9% - 3%) = 54.7%.

That still leaves us with 45.3% to eliminate.

Residential & Commercial is primarily heating and cooking, with electrification let's assume
we can recover all but 1%. That brings us down to 34.3% with only 30% left to look at.
ghge-sources-overview.png

Agriculture
From the agricultural breakdown below 15% is energy use that could be recovered via electrification, but that's only 1.35%. The rest is going to be trickier. 34.3% - 1.35% = 32.95%.

Ag-sources.png


Industrial
The image below is California-specific, but if representative then a lot of the
GHGs produced are from refineries, which electrification would greatly reduce.
Pipelines and refineries would still be needed as fossil fuels are very important to many products like plastics. But roughly it looks like electrification would cut at least half of that sector's GHGs, which brings us down to 32.95 - 11% = 22%.

1686745616553.png

So, electrification get's us down quite a bit, but looks like we'd still need another 22% reduction. See anything I missed?
 
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Here's another analysis, very similar to the one above. From theirs, it looks like 26.8% still remains to be dealt with after electrification. Well, more than that as the "red" section includes leaky gas piplelines, aviation, and "other industry". Hmmm, it also includes 7.8% "Unallocated fuel combustion" which I suspect is fuel burned to make fuel. So, possibly the numbers match up better than expected. Data is 7 years old too.


GHG-Emissions-By-Sector-1200px.png
 

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