Embarrasingly, opposition to the 2012-2013 push for regime change did not come from leading Democrats but from Republicans (at the media level, motivated simply by opposition to Obama). What happened to (portion of) the Democratic party that once stood up against the Bush invasion of Iraq?
Times have changed much. There are a dozen reasons ranging from idealistic to pragmatic, but the notion of opposing such wars has faded in US politics, not even top 10 now, I don't think.
Yet we continue to make our society ever more militaristic. Trump filled his Cabinet with Generals (and that is regarded positively by the "Resistance" !). Defense spending looks to set new records while government programs are dismantled. Defense contractors have a front row seat.
Democrats, using utterly inexplicable logic, support expansion of the executive branch's secret security powers.
It's nice we still have one or two people like J. Sachs who are at least given the opportunity to be heard in a "respectable" venue.
Unfortunately, support for enhancing the powers of the national security apparatus is bipartisan. Despite the fact that this apparatus is controlled by the Trump administration.
There is some sort of wishful thinking among so many people I meet, that the various agencies who work in secret to defend the homeland -- that they are secretly Democrats and will save the US from being taken over by Republicans.
Maybe, if conditions reach some kind of perfect-storm ideal, they might kick out Trump. But you'll get exactly the same policies with a fresh new Republican smiling face, and you will also get a *far* more powerful national security regime that knows it is now in charge of the political system.
At scale (replacing the entire vehicle fleet), charging EV's is a serious infrastructure challenge. Charging with solar is a doubly serious challenge. Most likely we're really looking at wind power, when it is available (about 50% cap utilization in favorable locations). This is still a major improvement.
This infrastructure challenge must be faced at the same time as retiring coal and nuclear.
Norway and the Netherlands have ideal geography for offshore wind, their consumer fuel costs are higher, and their mass transit is better. For them it is a natural step. For Germany the conditions are less ideal, but they can afford it.
Zero interest rates is essential, since the cost of building renewable energy is primarily construction and financing.
The US is a more tricky situation. All the prerequisites have to be put in place from scratch. (1) the political will, (2) the availablility of mass transit (3) return back to near zero interest rates (4) raise the price of the competing power sources, which are absurdly cheap in the US, to the point where fossil fuel costs are comparable with interest payments on renewable projects, (5) additional challenges of geography in many parts of the US - more miles driven, longer power transmission distances, nonideal solar and wind availability for east coast population centers...
Aw, lets give the middle east a break! last thing they need is another war. The popular uprising theme is a threat from us to the mid-east dictators, to insure they continue to behave.
Embarrasingly, opposition to the 2012-2013 push for regime change did not come from leading Democrats but from Republicans (at the media level, motivated simply by opposition to Obama). What happened to (portion of) the Democratic party that once stood up against the Bush invasion of Iraq?
Times have changed much. There are a dozen reasons ranging from idealistic to pragmatic, but the notion of opposing such wars has faded in US politics, not even top 10 now, I don't think.
Yet we continue to make our society ever more militaristic. Trump filled his Cabinet with Generals (and that is regarded positively by the "Resistance" !). Defense spending looks to set new records while government programs are dismantled. Defense contractors have a front row seat.
Democrats, using utterly inexplicable logic, support expansion of the executive branch's secret security powers.
It's nice we still have one or two people like J. Sachs who are at least given the opportunity to be heard in a "respectable" venue.
But actually, the situation is grim.
Unfortunately, support for enhancing the powers of the national security apparatus is bipartisan. Despite the fact that this apparatus is controlled by the Trump administration.
There is some sort of wishful thinking among so many people I meet, that the various agencies who work in secret to defend the homeland -- that they are secretly Democrats and will save the US from being taken over by Republicans.
Maybe, if conditions reach some kind of perfect-storm ideal, they might kick out Trump. But you'll get exactly the same policies with a fresh new Republican smiling face, and you will also get a *far* more powerful national security regime that knows it is now in charge of the political system.
Bipartisan. That's your take-home here.
Just to compare to the US:
At scale (replacing the entire vehicle fleet), charging EV's is a serious infrastructure challenge. Charging with solar is a doubly serious challenge. Most likely we're really looking at wind power, when it is available (about 50% cap utilization in favorable locations). This is still a major improvement.
This infrastructure challenge must be faced at the same time as retiring coal and nuclear.
Norway and the Netherlands have ideal geography for offshore wind, their consumer fuel costs are higher, and their mass transit is better. For them it is a natural step. For Germany the conditions are less ideal, but they can afford it.
Zero interest rates is essential, since the cost of building renewable energy is primarily construction and financing.
The US is a more tricky situation. All the prerequisites have to be put in place from scratch. (1) the political will, (2) the availablility of mass transit (3) return back to near zero interest rates (4) raise the price of the competing power sources, which are absurdly cheap in the US, to the point where fossil fuel costs are comparable with interest payments on renewable projects, (5) additional challenges of geography in many parts of the US - more miles driven, longer power transmission distances, nonideal solar and wind availability for east coast population centers...
Aw, lets give the middle east a break! last thing they need is another war. The popular uprising theme is a threat from us to the mid-east dictators, to insure they continue to behave.