Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Defeated vice president Mike Pence got the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Friday. Here is why he is a hypocrite. Pence served for four years in the Trump administration, which initiated a visa ban against Muslims. Although he had in 2015 called any such ban “unconstitutional,” he folded when Trump insisted on […]
Biden Pick, Native American Deb Haaland to head Dept. that once Vowed to “Civilize or Exterminate” her People
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) will be president-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Department of the Interior. She is the first Native American to head the department, and her appointment is full of ironies. The Department, formed in 1849, includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs and has a long history […]
Solar just made Banks write off a $1 bn. Australian Coal Plant as Worthless; What’s in Your Retirement Portfolio?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Daniel Mercer at the Australian Broadcasting Company reports that the newest coal-fired power plant in the country, the 10-year-old, nearly $1 bn. USD Bluewater facility, has been written off as worthless by its investors. Southwestern Australia has so much cheap solar energy that the coal plant’s prospects cratered, especially once […]
Greening America: Can Biden’s new Team of Buttigieg and Granholm save us from the Climate Crisis?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Washington Post is reporting that Joe Biden will make Pete Buttigieg his secretary of transportation and Jennifer Granholm his secretary of energy. This is very good news for climate policy. Energy is perhaps the most important portfolio in the Biden cabinet, since it is key to greening America and […]
Iran’s Pres. Rouhani to Biden: We will Fulfill our Nuclear Obligations on Day One if you Return to 2015 Deal
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iranian president Hassan Rouhani was asked Tuesday in an interview with a state-owned news outlet under what conditions Iran would return to the 2015 nuclear deal with the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5), including the U.S., plus Germany (+1) He replied, “A thing we are saying […]
Pandemic Failure, Vaccine Success Indict American Monopoly Capitalism
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The contrast between the unprecedented failure of the United States to deal successfully with the coronavirus pandemic, and the success of pharmaceutical companies in coming up with effective vaccines in record time is bittersweet. The reason for the difference is that no one could make any money on mitigating the […]
No, Joseph Epstein, Doctors aren’t only Physicians, and Jill Biden earned her Title: Use It
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Essayist and writer Joseph Epstein took a shot at incoming First Lady Jill Biden at the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. In his op ed, the former editor of The American Scholar urged her to stop having herself referred to as “Dr. Jill Biden” on the grounds, he said, that […]
Up to 90% of electricity from solar and wind the cheapest option by 2030: CSIRO analysis
By Paul Graham | – With the cost of energy generated from wind and solar now less than coal, the share of Australia’s electricity coming from renewables has reached 23%. The federal government projects the share will reach 50% by 2030. It is at this point that integrating renewables into the energy system becomes more […]
How Biden could save $437 Bn, create millions of Jobs, by Reversing Trump Tariffs on Solar Panels
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Michelle Lewis at Electrek discusses a new study that finds hundreds of billions of dollars in savings and millions of jobs created if the US can power a quarter of its households with rooftop solar. Australia already gets 5% of its electricity from rooftop solar, and some states, such as […]
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