Essays & Other Articles

This section archives articles and essays on topics that don’t quite fit into the other categories on energy. They include articles on high-mileage vehicles, chain-reaction accidents, our neighbors, Tule fog, and . . . well . . . other subjects.

Paul Gipe Cycling The Bluffs Bakersfield Californian Cropped

Getting Back on the Horse

By

Paul Gipe

Getting Back on the Horse After months staring at my expensive bicycle I finally got on it. Ok, I wasn’t …

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Well, What do you say?

By

Paul Gipe

Had to run an errand to Rite-Aid. I occasionally see homeless hanging out there in the morning. It was hot …

Featured Offshore

Finally, The EU’s Market Policy Recognizes Reality

By

Paul Gipe

After decades of ideological mismanagement of the blocs’ electricity market policy, change may be on the horizon. The EU’s policy has nearly obliterated the continent’s renewable energy industry, leading to the easily predictable–and predicted–dependence on Russian gas and oil. It took the invasion of Ukraine and skyrocketing energy prices for the EU to ask “how did we get it so wrong.”

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The White House & Me

By

Paul Gipe

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

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We’re Back after a Long Hiatus: wind-works is Up

By

Paul Gipe

After nearly six months my web site wind-works.org is back up. Thanks to the tireless effort of Matthias Bank the …

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Serendipity or How We Survived a Thunderstorm and Ate a Delicious Bear Claw

By

Paul Gipe

We’re continuing our Pandemic Peregrinations to explore our region of California. To that end we try head out most Thursdays for day trips in our Chevy Bolt. On this trip we drove to Mount Pinos in the Los Padres National Forest. It’s the closest place you can go to escape the sweltering heat of Bakersfield in August.