Fossil Fuels – WIND WORKS

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In essence, Trump’s bombing of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure has crystallized a fundamental reality: energy systems dependent on oil are inherently vulnerable unless a country is a petrostate. That’s true for all but one of these major economic blocs, the United States, with China leading globally in the rush to become an electrostate. Countries recognizing this vulnerability are already moving swiftly to reduce their exposure. This acceleration in electrification and renewable energy investment is not merely about responding to climate change, it is about ensuring national security, economic stability, and resilience against future geopolitical upheavals.

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The path to Canada’s electrified future is clear and achievable. It offers a chance not only to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also to build a stronger, more resilient economy, foster innovation, and secure sustainable energy independence. Leveraging insights gained from Ireland’s process, Canada can confidently embark on its energy transition journey, transforming its abundant renewable resources into lasting prosperity and environmental stewardship for generations to come.

This is the first in a series of articles on electrifying our house so we can “stop burning stuff.”

Yes, we already have electricity, but we use fossil gas for heat, hot water, and cooking. That’s what we plan to electrify, eliminating fossil gas from our home.

Our gas is provided by PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric Co.), our notorious utility company. Notorious because it killed eight people in San Bruno, California in a massive gas explosion in 2010 then they followed that up by killing another 85 people by starting the Camp Fire in 2018. In 2020 the company filed for bankruptcy, and since then been resuscitated. However, to its customers it’s still the same old PG&E.

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Californians pay some of the nation’s highest electricity rates. They’re also being devastated by the consequences of fossil fueled climate change, including more deadly and expensive wildfires, droughts and heat waves.

Politicians need to stop promising they’ll confront these challenges and start doing it.

The recent fires in Los Angeles County should serve as a political rallying cry to accelerate the phaseout of oil and gas. Instead, they’re threatening to derail Sacramento’s long-promised focus on more affordable energy.

Brandi Carlile, at a Gorge Amphitheater concert a couple years ago, remarked that her father, a hunter, told her the most dangerous animal was one that was wounded and cornered. This is a good characterization of the present fossil fuel industry.

They are cornered and dangerous because the simple truth is that the fossil fuel industry is no longer economically competitive.

I’ve been invited to the White House only once. Jimmy Carter was the only President to ever invite me. For … Read more

Meanwhile, incumbents (utilities), long used to dominating the debate and government policies have been caught on the receiving end of the anti-renewables propaganda they spewed in the past, and which have been weaponized wittingly or unwittingly by the political opponents of the greens, usually the rightwing populists, who are ascendant right now. So the current debate on energy is highly polarized, mostly tribal, and renewables are on the losing side in the public debate. It does not matter much because the march of solar and batteries is relentless and irreversible, but it makes policy making harder, and investment decisions scarier.

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The time has come to voice our fears and be honest with wider society. Current net zero policies will not keep warming to within 1.5°C because they were never intended to. They were and still are driven by a need to protect business as usual, not the climate. If we want to keep people safe then large and sustained cuts to carbon emissions need to happen now. That is the very simple acid test that must be applied to all climate policies. The time for wishful thinking is over.

A refinery by night: an oriental city with illuminated minarets, a party ship on motionless waves, a hive of phosphorescent bees … thus can you imagine it from a certain distance away. From afar, everything suggests a party, a grand reception in some city of the future, and images still more enchanting (if you squint a little): a checkerboard of flaming figures, a fortress of stars, an extra-terrestrial vessel descended from the heavens.

Critics of carbon capture respond that it is a giant boondoggle that has never worked and never will work. Just a few weeks ago, our own Michael Barnard posted an article in which he said carbon capture is “an overly hyped, overly hoped for solution that isn’t and won’t scale remotely economically.” He suggests when you are digging a hole for yourself, at some point it is best to stop digging and start facing reality.