Energy

Is Turkey’s Prosecution of Shady Builders after 12,141 Structures Collapse in Earthquake a Model for going after Big Oil for Climate Disasters?

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Turkish government has issued 100 arrest warrants for building contractors suspected of erecting structures that did not meet building code standards in the 10 provinces most affected by last week’s massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which has left at least 32,000 dead and perhaps twice that. Some of the contractors […]

Climate Crisis

German Chancellor Scholz promises Construction of “four to five wind turbines per day” to reach 2030 Target

Benjamin Wehrmann

( Clean Energy Wire ) – In a bid to achieve the high renewable power expansion targets for the end of the decade, German chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to make the buildout a priority and hold talks with the 16 states every month to assess and improve expansion speed. The envisaged pace until 2030 would […]

Climate Crisis

IEA: Renewables plus Nuclear are able to meet 90% of Globe’s New Electricity demand Through 2025

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The International Energy Agency, in a new report that is just out, estimates that 90% of new global electricity demand through 2025 will be met by low-carbon sources — renewables and nuclear. It is mostly renewables, but the report mentions the French bringing their reactors back on line and the […]

Democratic Party

What the Pundits Get Wrong about Biden and SOTU: People are Confident in his Policies even if they Don’t Think He is Charismatic

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The State of the Union address contained no surprises. Joe Biden’s policies are by now a known quantity. It is remarkable, however, how much progress he made in implementing them in the first two years of his presidency. Those who saw the Republican Party become the party of “no” under […]

Climate Crisis

Rooftop Solar Soared 40% (3 Gigawatts) in Germany Last Year, as Families Flee Unstable Russian Fossil Fuels

Clean Energy Wire

By Benjamin Wehrmann | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Solar PV expansion in Germany jumped 28 percent in 2022, with 7.2 gigawatts (GW) of new installations added to the grid in the past year, according to preliminary figures compiled by industry federation BSW Solar. Roof-mounted installations for family homes increased by 40 percent […]

Climate Crisis

Edwards Air Force Base Near LA to host Largest Solar-plus-storage Project in the World

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County, California, near Los Angeles and San Bernardino, is now home to the largest solar power array on any Air Force base in the country, as of this past week. Indeed, with a goal of “1,118 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) and 2,165 megawatts […]

Climate Crisis

Minnesota House passes Bill mandating Move to Carbon-Free Electricity by 2040

Minnesota Reformer

By Michelle Griffith | – ( The Minnesota Reformer ) – The Minnesota House passed a bill late Thursday that would force Minnesota utilities to move to entirely carbon-free electricity by 2040, after hours of debate that sometimes strayed far off topic. House Republicans sought to derail the bill and score points with over 30 […]

Climate Crisis

Exxon Scientists Accurately Forecast Climate Change back in the 1970s – What if it hadn’t been Covered up and We had Acted

The Conversation

By John Grant, Sheffield Hallam University | – Writers of speculative- and science-fiction often identify a key point in time and explore how a seemingly insignificant event might change the path of humanity. One of these moments came in the 1970s when oil giant Exxon chose to ignore its own commissioned research on the impact […]

Climate Crisis

Gigawatts of Offshore Wind Power in Big Apple Pipeline: Dirty Fossil Power Plants in Queens, NY, to become Green Energy Hubs

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Rise Light & Power LLC announced on Tuesday that it will invest in an offshore wind facility so as to turn its Ravenswood Generating Station in Queens, New York City’s largest fossil fuel power plant, into a clean energy hub. The area around Ravenswood, mostly home to low-income minorities, is […]