With no help coming from the Trump administration Governor Bill Walker signs bill creating Alaska's own climate change strategy.

Courtesy of the Fairbanks News Miner:  

Gov. Bill Walker signed an administrative order Tuesday creating the Alaska Climate Change Strategy as well as forming a leadership team to address climate change in Alaska. 

The order also calls for state departments to review previous work on climate change and identify immediate responses they can take. 

Walker said the time was now to take a stand against climate change. 

"Alaskans should be at the forefront of innovation and response," Walker said. "In addition to developing solutions that ensure community and economic resilience while mitigating environmental harm, we must also engage with national and international partners to strengthen Alaska's voice in global decision-making."

Walker identified the challenge of moving toward renewable energy sources for a state that is so heavily dependent on fossil fuel production, both practically and fiscally.

Walker noted that, while the Legislature continues to struggle to balance the budget, issues related to climate change cannot wait for fiscal stability. 

"It’s certainly a challenge in the fiscal situation we’re in right now to go out and look for new money," he said. "There may be ways we use the existing funds more efficiently, and I think we just need to be thinking a little more long term in some of the decisions we make."

As an Alaskan I am very heartened by this proactive attitude coming from the state government, but as a progressive I worry that this is still much too tentative of an approach and decades too late to make enough of a difference.

It should also be noted that President Obama laid out very comprehensive plan for helping Alaska tackle this issue, but when Trump came in he trashed the entire thing.

The same certainly could happen with this if Alaskans are ignorant enough to replace Walker with a GOP governor.

Remember, elections have consequences.

Fact Check.org releases final numbers on Obama's presidency.

Courtesy of Fact Check.org: 

The numbers are nearly all in now. What they show about what really happened during the eight years that Barack Obama was president is sometimes different from what politicians claimed. 

• The economy gained a net 11.5 million jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to below the historical norm. 
• Average weekly earnings for all workers were up 4.1 percent after inflation. The gain was 3.7 percent for just production and nonsupervisory employees. 
• After-tax corporate profits also set records, as did stock prices. The S&P 500 index rose 166 percent. 
• The number of people lacking health insurance dropped by 15 million. Premiums rose, but more slowly than before. 
• The federal debt owed to the public rose 128 percent. Deficits were rising as Obama departed. 
• Home prices rose 20 percent. But the home ownership rate hit the lowest point in half a century. 
• Illegal immigration declined: The Border Patrol caught 35 percent fewer people trying to get into the U.S. from Mexico. 
• Wind and solar power increased 369 percent. Coal production declined 38 percent. Carbon emissions from burning fossil fuel dropped 11 percent. 
• Production of handguns rose 192 percent, to a record level. 
• The murder rate dropped to the lowest on record in 2014, then rose and finished at about the same rate as when Obama took office.

 Overall those are pretty damn good numbers. 

Critics of the President can complain that the numbers could be better, and that opportunities were missed, but they have to be reminded that everything the President accomplished he did with the Republicans attempting to obstruct him every step of the way.

I can hardly wait to compare this to the final numbers on the Trump presidency.

Rick Perry is working to end funding for renewable energy, also closes office working on climate change abroad. Welcome to the future ladies and gentlemen.

I wear glasses now which proves I'm smart, debonair, and..what's that third thing?

Courtesy of Salon:

Energy Secretary Rick Perry is cooking up a case to stifle further federal support of renewable wind and solar energy. He’s ordered a dubiously sourced staff study that is aimed to paint renewables as an unreliable source for the nation’s electric grid. 

The study, due June 23, seeks to determine whether federal tax and subsidy policies favoring renewable energy have burdened “baseload” coal-fired generation, putting power grid reliability at risk. It is being spearheaded by Energy Department political appointee Travis Fisher, who’s associated with a Washington policy group that opposes almost any government aid for renewable energy. 

Fisher wrote a 2015 report for the Institute for Energy Research that called clean energy policies “the single greatest emerging threat” to the nation’s electric power grid, and a greater threat to electric reliability than cyber attacks, terrorism or extreme weather. 

The Institute for Energy Research and its advocacy arm, the American Energy Alliance, has been the “influential force in shaping Donald Trump’s plans to dismantle Obama administration climate initiatives,’’ according to Bloomberg News.

Damn is that depressing to learn.

Oh and it gets even worse.

Courtesy of  the New York Times:


The Energy Department is closing an office that works with other countries to develop clean energy technology, another sign of the Trump administration’s retreat on climate-related activities after its withdrawal from the Paris agreement this month. 

The 11 staff members of the Office of International Climate and Technology were told this month that their positions were being eliminated, according to current and former agency employees. The office was formed in 2010 to help the United States provide technical advice to other nations seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

The small office also played a lead role preparing for the annual Clean Energy Ministerial, a forum in which the United States, China, India and other countries shared insights on how best to promote energy efficiency, electric vehicles and other solutions to climate change.

After all of the hard work that President Obama put into making this country energy independent and moving us away from planet killing fossil fuels, here comes this Texas shit kicker to undo the whole thing.

And while we are all distracted by the Russian investigation Trump and his progress hating cohorts are slowly dismantling all of the advances we have made in the last eight years.

And it is not just in renewable energy. They are also undermining our civil rights, our education system, and even our access to affordable health care.

We need to keep all of this fresh in our minds as we approach 2018. Because that will be our first opportunity to start to put things right again.

Or should I say "Left again?"

For the first time in history there are more solar jobs than coal jobs in Virginia.

Courtesy of WTVF: 

Virginia has long been coal country, but the solar power industry has been increasing its foothold in the Commonwealth over the last few years. And now, Michael Pope reports that a significant shift is taking place.

Virginia now has more jobs in the solar industry than the coal industry. Numbers from the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy show a 40% drop in the number of people working in the coal industry over the last five years. Henry Childress with the Virginia Coal and Energy Alliance says coal produces more energy with fewer employees. 

“Coal will produce more jobs I think in the long term. But we’ve had to cut back because everyone feels like it’s not worth it to use coal anymore. And I feel that there will be a time when we will have to turn back to coal to meet the demand.” 

For now, though, the solar industry has more employees in Virginia than the coal industry. That’s a dramatic shift for a state that has a long history with coal. 

Yeah I think that this Childress fellow is engaging in a little wishful thinking there. 

These solar power jobs will only continue to increase while the coal jobs are eventually going to disappear forever as renewable energy becomes ever more affordable. 

The fact is that the whole planet is going green, and even though Virginia may be dragging their coal blackened heels, they will inevitably have to face that reality.

Welcome to the future where you could soon be applying paint to your house to absorbs solar energy and power your home.

Courtesy of Digital Trends: 

Imagine if painting the outside of your house not only made it look easy on the eye, but also took care of all of your home’s energy needs.

This, it seems, could soon be a reality as researchers in Australia have come up with a “solar paint” capable of absorbing moisture from the air and turning it into hydrogen fuel for clean energy. 

Based at RMIT University in Melbourne, southern Australia, the research team has developed a unique paint containing a newly developed compound that acts like silica gel — that’s the stuff used in those little sachets that absorb moisture to keep things like food, medicines, and electronics in good shape. 

But where they differ is that the new material, called synthetic molybdenum-sulphide, “also acts as a semiconductor and catalyzes the splitting of water atoms into hydrogen and oxygen,” a report on the university’s website explained. 

RMIT lead researcher Dr. Torben Daeneke said his team discovered that “mixing the compound with titanium oxide particles leads to a sunlight-absorbing paint that produces hydrogen fuel from solar energy and moist air.”

Okay we may not yet have flying cars, but you have to admit that they we are living in amazing times. 

As predicted Donald Trump pulls out of the Paris accord. Today was the day that America stopped being a leader in fighting climate change.

Courtesy of NBC News:

The United States will pull out of a landmark global coalition meant to curb emissions that cause climate change, President Donald Trump announced Thursday. 

"The United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord," Trump said to applause from the crowd gathered in the White House Rose Garden. 

He added that the U.S. will begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or a new treaty on terms that are better for American businesses and taxpayers.

"So we're getting out, but we will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that's fair," he said.

Yeah that suggestion that Trump is going to try to get us a better deal is all bullshit.

Trump has no intention of working that hard unless he gets something from it personally.

Dana Bash, reporter from CNN, suggested that the speech sounded like Mad-Libs for conservatives:

JAKE TAPPER (HOST): And Dana, I know a line that the president said that struck a lot of us was when he cast the Paris agreement as quote, "a massive redistribution of United States wealth to other countries." 

DANA BASH: Right, because the whole theme against President Obama during both of the elections against him was that he was a Democrat who wants to redistribute wealth. That is a buzz word, a signal to conservatives that we got your back and we're going to make sure that sort of the big bad Democrats who want to socialize and globalize and do everything that would hurt you and your jobs won't happen. 

And there were a series of those buzz words, it was almost like mad libs for conservatives, this speech, and it was a long one. The thing -- one of the things that struck me is after all of the reporting that we've done about the discussions, and the debates, and the pressure that he got from his daughter, from his -- Ivanka, from his son-in-law Jared, from his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson -- there wasn't an olive branch in here. 

It's like those people were walled-off in the writing of this speech, and it was clearly written by the Steve Bannon and Stephen Millers of the world.

And that's really it in a nutshell.

This speech is clear indication that Stephen Bannon is back in the driver's seat and that Trump is dancing to the tune that he is playing.

Reactions to this speech have been rather vocal to say the least.

Here is the obligatory response from Al Gore.

My statement on Today’s Decision by the Trump Administration to Withdraw from the Paris Agreement: https://t.co/eDEFv5b1nS pic.twitter.com/SzHJU3D0Mr

— Al Gore (@algore) June 1, 2017

The Secretary-General of the UN was also quite unhappy: 

The decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change is a major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security.

California Rep. Speier claims that Trump has now made himself irrelevant. 

Rep. Speier on President Trump's decision to pull out of the climate deal: "He has made himself totally irrelevant" https://t.co/Rs1iv6n9db

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 1, 2017

Former President Obama had this to say: 

"The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created," Obama said. "I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack." 

He added: "But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I'm confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we've got."

Even the Weather Channel could not contain their disappointment:

The headlines on the homepage include: 

So What Happens to Earth Now? 
Still Don't Care? Proof You Should 
...and More Proof... 
...and Even More Proof... 
...Or the Imminent Collapse of a Key Ice Shelf... 
...Or Antarctica Turning Green 
...Or California's Coast Disappearing Into the Sea

Here's how the Huffington Post responded.

And as promised Elon Musk has removed himself from Trump's economic council.

Of course Trump also had his supporters for this decision.

Of course most of them believe that there is no definitive proof the earth is round, think dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time, and believe Donald Trump is really worth 10 billion dollars.

"Fossil fuels have lost. The rest of the world just doesn’t know it yet."

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

The details of this transition are spelled out in a new, must-read, 4000-word article in the Financial Times, “The Big Green Bang: how renewable energy became unstoppable.” 

What is most remarkable about the article is that it appears in the Financial Times. The free-market oriented paper is the “most important business read” for the world’s top financial decision makers and “the most credible publication in reporting financial and economic issues” for global professional investors, according to surveys.

Electric cars that were hard to even buy eight years ago are selling at an exponential rate,” explains FT’s environment correspondent Pilita Clark, “in the process driving down the price of batteries that hold the key to unleashing new levels of green growth.” 

Indeed, one key reason the clean energy revolution is unstoppable is the dramatic and ongoing improvements in battery cost and performance. Advanced batteries are game-changing not only for the electrification of transportation, but also for the continued rapid penetration of renewables.

Just another reminder that though it appears at times that we are in the craziest of times politically, we are also witnessing the dawning of a new age technologically. 

And in fact it is this very technology that will undercut the funding from fossil fuel companies that traditionally favor conservatives, and even remove the main reason for meddling in the affairs of Middle Eastern countries to gain access to their oil supplies.

Despite what Donald Trump has promised coal is not going to see a resurgence, and it will be President Obama's investment in renewable energy that will see us to a brighter, and less polluted, tomorrow.

Shell Oil appears to throw in the towel and pledges to spend a billion dollars a year on renewable energy while asking for a fossil fuel tax.

Courtesy of The Independent: 

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is to increase its spending on renewable energy to $1bn (£800m) a year, its chief executive announced as he warned the public’s faith in the industry was “just disappearing”. 

Ben van Beurden suggested the public backlash against fossil fuel firms could threaten the industry’s future. 

He also said it was essential that countries imposed a price on carbon emissions to help phase out the use of coal and oil, sources of large amounts of greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. 

This perhaps surprising message – a request from a business for governments to make their costs higher – was delivered at an energy conference in Texas, Reuters reported.

Well we knew this had to be coming around at some point. After all just about the whole world is now focusing on renewable energy now. 

I just can't help but wish Shell and all of their other big oil buddies would have done this twenty five years ago when it would have actually made a big difference.

US Solar energy companies now employ more people than coal, gas, and oil combined.

Courtesy of The Independent:  

Solar energy in the US employs more people than traditional coal, gas and oil combined, a report has found, in a revelation that could undermine Donald Trump’s argument that green energy isn’t good for the economy. 

The latest report from the US Department of Energy (DOE) reveals solar energy accounts for the largest proportion of employers in the Electric Power Generation sector, with wind energy the third largest, while the coal industries have declined in the past 10 years. 

Solar energy employed 374,000 people over the year 2015-2016, making up 43 per cent of the sector’s workforce, while the traditional fossil fuels combined employed 187,117, making up just 22 per cent of the workforce, according to the report. 

“Proportionally, solar employment accounts for the largest share of workers in the Electric Power Generation sector. This is largely due to the construction related to the significant build out of new solar generation capacity,” the report states. 

Look a fast growing industry that promises more jobs,  a guaranteed return for investors, and no negative impact on the environment.

Gee if only our country were run by a smart businessman type who recognized a great opportunity for economic growth.

Las Vegas becomes the largest American city to switch to 100% green energy.

Courtesy of the Independent:

Last week, Las Vegas reached its decade-long goal of completely powering the city with renewable energy, making it the largest city in the United States to do so. 

“Las Vegas is one of the few cities in the entire world that can boast using all of its power from green sources,” Mayor Carolyn Goodman told reporters at city hall last Monday. 

The city reached the goal thanks to the opening of Boulder Solar 1, a 100-megawatt solar plant located near Boulder City. Now, the city’s government buildings, streetlights, and parks are fueled the renewable energy.

Apparently the city has been working toward this goal since 2008, and  have now reduced energy emissions by 30%.

And this Sarah Palin is why we do not need to spend billions on oil exploration in the Arctic.

Thank you President Obama.

Sarah Palin openly admires Vladimir Putin while condemning America's President for closing the Arctic to oil exploration.

This article is from Palin's favorite new Right Wing rag, the Young Conservatives.

Here is how it begins: 

Russia just built and employed icebreakers to control Northern passageways while busily flagging life-sustaining resource-rich underseas acreage, with zero pushback from the U.S 

In laymen’s terms, The Great Bear seized on America’s weak “uni-party” that controls our government, and watched our politicians go along to get along with Obama’s agenda built on disdain for an “all of the above” energy plan, a nonchalant attitude about bankrupting our government, and overall ignorance about purpose of national borders. 

Way to go Democrats. And capitulating Republicans.

In Palin speak this translates into "Russia beddy smart. America beddy stoopid!"

Palin also demonstrates open disdain for both parties apparently for not protecting our border with Russia.

In fact we have a whole military force stationed up here for that very purpose and they have proven quite adept at keeping the Russians at bay. Well, until Donald Trump invited them to hijack our last election that is.

And it gets better, or worse depending on your perspective: 

The uni-party (The "uni-party?" When were the two parties EVER unified in the last eight years? Did I sleep through that part?) was amply warned by average Americans for eight years. We said we must secure borders – including up North via controlling transportation corridors that Russia wants. I said we must plant the flag to claim our underseas resources, we have to explore, and we must drill, baby. 

Despite the ridicule, we kept up the chant until finally ousting shortsighted politicians who heretofore fooled voters into believing they, in self-preservation mode, had our interests at heart. (Yeah, trying to protect the planet for future generations,. Those bastards!)

We knew of which we spoke.

We watched other nations innovate and build infrastructure – and lay claim to the Arctic – whilst our leaders slept. Our pleas for leadership’s great awakening were ignored, or at best, mocked. As more and more land got locked up, we got locked out of opportunity to safely develop God-given natural resources for mankind’s responsible use.

Palin and her ghostwriter then attempt to teach a history lesson about the purchase of Alaska that most grade school children would find flawed, before getting back to the meat of her rant.

The Left’s suddenly convenient blame game against Russian President Putin has been to deflect from failure. America’s alpha male pack in charge is intimidated by Putin and instead of pulling up their mom jeans to better position us, they pivot to stir up fights for things like a grown man’s “right” to pee in a little girl’s bathroom. (Well that is a rather simplistic and inflammatory interpretation of the law to protect the rights of our LGBTQ citizens.)

Say what you will about Putin; I say I have respect for our neighbor, for you never have to guess on who’s side he is committed. (Well based on what happened during the election I would have to say Donald Trump's side. Which is of course Putin's side.)

Without a doubt the Left’s failure set us back. But we still have the energy supplies, technology and workforce – all we lacked was the political will – so it’s not too late to reposition. (For the record President Obama oversaw the biggest boom in oil production in America's history. And his administration made great strides in moving the country toward green energy as well. We don't need to reposition, we need to STAY positioned.)

America’s security and sovereignty are at stake. That is why, when the starting gun goes off on January 20, a new race to the top of the world begins. For those of us who want peace and freedom more than anything else on earth, we know how to win it through strength. America can grow her muscle again built on energy and mineral deposits, year-round navigable waterways, the world’s most abundant sustainable fisheries, and so many more offerings of the North, many having been recognized by Lincoln’s team. 

Alaska and the Arctic are enormously significant. Fittingly, The Last Frontier’s simple state flag is the literal illustration of where America can look for answers. On a field of blue, Alaska’s stars of gold point to The Great North Star. May new leaders look to it and realize it’s Creator can be our guiding light. 

– Sarah Palin

I find it ironic beyond measure that a woman whose candidate was selected to lead this country by a Russian dictator has the gall to suggest that it was President Obama who failed to stand up to Russia.

In fact it was that "steel spine" that Palin is always talking, demonstrated by both President Obama AND his Secretary of State, which inspired Putin to try and secure the election of a candidate that he knew he could control.

As for drilling in the Arctic, well MOST Americans not only know how costly that will be, and how big of a risk it poses to our environment, but they also realize that we simply do not need that kind of risky venture anymore.

Like I mentioned above Obama resided over the biggest oil production boom in our history and ALSO positioned the country to move away from its reliance on fossil fuels, which not only removes much of the reason for our aggressive actions in the Middle East, but also makes us far more self reliant.

Actually it is the Russian economy, which relies on oil and natural gas production for about half of its fiscal revenue, that is in danger of collapsing if there are no new oilfields discovered or if the world turns more sharply toward renewable energy sources, NOT America.

President Obama has in fact helped to place us in a very enviable position.

And since Vladimir Putin cannot replicate that success, he chooses instead to place his own Manchurian candidate in place to level the playing field by bringing America back down to his level.

Something that he was only able to accomplish with the help of useful idiots like Sarah Palin, and her ilk.

Is the Trump transition team targeting members of the Energy Department who are working to save the planet? Kinda looks like it.

Courtesy of WaPo:  

Donald Trump’s transition team has issued a list of 74 questions for the Energy Department, asking agency officials to identify which employees and contractors have worked on forging an international climate pact as well as domestic efforts to cut the nation’s carbon output. 

The questionnaire requests a list of those individuals who have taken part in international climate talks over the past five years and “which programs within DOE are essential to meeting the goals of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan.

”Trump and his team have vowed to dismantle specific aspects of Obama’s climate policies, and Trump has questioned the reality of climate change. The questionnaire, which one Energy Department official described as unusually “intrusive” and a matter for departmental lawyers, has raised concern that the Trump transition team is trying to figure out how to target the people, including civil servants, who have helped implement policies under Obama.

Well it appears that Muslims and Mexicans are not the only groups that Trump wants identified and rounded up. It is also any scientists or Energy Department employees who might not be on board with raping the planet and ushering in a global climate Armageddon.

I am almost afraid to wake up tomorrow to find out about the next terrifying thing that Donald Trump is planning for our country.

Conservative fake news sites have a new target, Elon Musk.

Courtesy of Quartz:

Many of the attacks on Musk begin with something factual: His businesses were built, legally, with the help of billions in government contracts and incentives for renewable energy and space transport. But they go on to accuse Musk of fraud and wasting taxpayer dollars; some compare him to a convicted felon. At least three conservative sites have run negative pieces about Musk—by a nonexistent writer named “Shepard Stewart”—that include “Elon Musk Continues to Blow Up Taxpayer Money With Falcon 9” and “Elon Musk: Faux Free Marketeer and National Disgrace.” Two later retracted the stories. 

“There’s a very obvious precedent” for this, says Sam Jaffe, managing director of Cairn Energy Research Advisors. “That’s Hillary Clinton.” 

Jaffe says that whoever is behind the attacks is aiming at Musk personally because they fear he could go into politics. He cited the allegations of fraud (emails) and negligence (Benghazi) levied at Clinton during the presidential campaign, charges that cemented the public’s perception of her as shady. “It’s the exact same thing as Musk. There’s a portion of the political spectrum that is scared to death of Musk as politician. They see him as a threat. They’re starting that process.”

Jesus these people are disgusting.

But hey if they can derail a juggernaut like Hillary Clinton, and we let them get away with it, then why wouldn't they go after somebody who may present a future challenge like Elon Musk?

And believe me, he really could be an unstoppable political force in a couple of years.

Millennials LOVE the guy, including my daughter who thinks he walks on water and that he is the future of America's progress with renewable energy, transportation, and space exploration.

Hopefully after what we saw with this last election her generation is going to be much more careful as to where they get their information.

47 of the world's poorest countries are committed to going 100% green between 2030 and 2050.

Courtesy of BBC: 

Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Haiti, among others, say they will update their national plans on cutting carbon before 2020. 

Delegates here welcomed the move, saying it was "inspirational". 

These two weeks of negotiations have been overshadowed to an extent by reaction to the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency. 

But in an effort to show that even the world's poorest countries are committed to dealing with global warming, the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) members have issued a promise to fully green their economies between 2030 and 2050. 

Termed the Marrakech Vision, the plan promises that the 47 members will: "strive to meet 100% domestic renewable energy production as rapidly as possible, while working to end energy poverty and protect water and food security, taking into consideration national circumstances".

Well look at that. The poorest nations on the planet are working to save the planet, while in America we just voted in a guy who thinks that climate change is a Chinese hoax. 

Once again the world moves forward, while America trips over its own feet.

Sarah Palin gets herself all excited and has herself a gusher over the possibility of a Trump administration raping the planet a little harder.

Courtesy of the fracking moron's Facebook page: 

Drill, Baby Drill! American Made Energy Makes America Great Again (Not to be all science-y or anything but you cannot MAKE energy. You can only release energy or harness energy.)

Permian, ANWR, Prudhoe, Bakkan.... and so much more. NOW is the time to shut off the Saudi oil cartel flow valve and develop our own God-given natural resources. The only excuse not to become energy independent is a political excuse. (Exactly which is why President Obama spent so much of his time and political capital toward developing renewable energy sources. But of course that's not what she means is it?)

The inherent link between energy and security, and energy and prosperity, is real and recognized by every American except sketchy politicians and deceived faux environmentalists. We have the resources, we have the technology, we have the manpower. America has the highest environmental and worker safety standards in the world... it's time to say, "Screw Arab oil. We're making America great again!" We've always led in oil, gas and mineral development innovation. Let's tap it. (There is a reason those are called "fossil fuels," because they are rapidly becoming old and outdated. Kind of like your moldy old catch phrases.)

Politics have kept us beholden to countries that do not like us and use energy as a weapon. It's a farce when Pres. Obama and other progressives claim we're not reliant on those resources anymore. And a sicker farce is the claim we must go to war over oil. (Okay well that "sicker farce" was a product of the George W. Bush administration, NOT the Obama administration. Let's put the blame where it belongs.)

Shut off foreign rulers' flow that has kept their peasants poor and terrorizingly (Not a word.) desperate, and watch the world become a safer place.  (Do you know what else might help to accomplish that? Abolishing religion. Just a thought.)

And here at home, shovel out the BS "Peak Oil" claim that demands we abandon conventional energy sources in favor of unrealistic, uneconomic, unreliable, lobbyist- driven green energy boondoggles. ("Peak oil" is the point in time when the maximum rate of extraction of petroleum is reached, after which it is expected to enter terminal decline. Some would suggest that we have already reached it or are about to reach it soon.)  Drill now while we shore up realistic renewables for a legitimate "all of the above" future energy plan. (Why waste more money drilling up dirty oil, and mining pollution causing coal, which damages our environment when we are making such progress with renewable energy sources that leave the atmosphere virtually untouched, the blogger asked himself knowing that using logic and facts like that would only confuse and anger the co-author of this Facebook post.)

Be ready for faux environmentalists - with their disdain for American jobs dressed in Carhartts and steel toed boots - to target this massive Texas find, despite all commonsense and responsible reason to explore and produce. (Confused "commonsense" and "responsible" with "illogical" and "unnecessary" again.)


It's time to unleash the private sector on new refineries, rigs, pipelines, infrastructure, service provisions, etc... all basic needs for more responsible domestic extraction, and all leading to the USA boom our working class deserves.

Man you can almost feel how excited she is at the prospect of having an administration in place with as little respect for the planet as she has can't you?

You know I thought about simply ignoring this, because you know Sarah Palin who?

However the fact is that she, and others of her ilk, really do now have a sympathetic ear in the White House, and we stand the very real possibility of seeing years of research and development concerning renewable energy tossed aside like one of Donald Trump's former wives.

Trump himself has said that he believes that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by "Jina," so even if he does not choose Palin as the Secretary of the Interior, the person he does pick will very likely be almost as dangerous to our environment.

I just had a terrible thought.

Do we think it conceivable that Trump will believe in Palin's mythological energy bona fides and actually ask her for advice on energy and oil exploration?

Well since he apparently appointed a racist, antisemitic,  misogynistic pig as his adviser I think that seems more than feasible.

Okay how soon will those commercial trips to Mars be available again?

I'm asking for a friend.

That's right, nobody ever sheds a tear for the lost Blockbuster jobs.

So I saw this the other day on Reddit, and like a lot of you I thought it was pretty funny.

But then I started to think that it was also a great commentary on progress and the importance that folks place on only certain lost jobs from certain industries.

Now I was not sure if Blockbuster ever really had a workforce of 60,000, but as it turns out it did: 

At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster had 60,000 employees and 9,000 stores worldwide with a market value of $5 billion and revenues of $5.9 billion. 

So the meme is accurate in that regard.

However its larger point is that changes in technology, consumer tastes, and even government regulations often means the loss of certain jobs that communities have relied upon.

The example that always occurs to me is the impact that automobiles had on the buggy manufacturers, not to mention the ranchers who raised horses to pull them, and the farmers who grew hay to feed those horses.

That is at least three industries that suffered in the wake of the new technology, and yet I would bet that very, very few of us are sorry that those advances were made.

So yes coal miners are going to lose their jobs, and in the short run that is going to cause a negative economic impact to those families and to the states that rely on that industry.

However in a hundred years from now will any of our great, great grandchildren REALLY shed a tear for the coal industry or regret the move toward renewable clean energy sources?

No, I seriously doubt that they will.

Besides that you can bet that in a hundred years Netflix will have gone the way of Blockbuster and there will be some new entertainment giant that has taken its place. (Probably one that sends movies and television shows straight into our brains via microchips we will have surgically implanted for that very purpose.)

So yes progress will continue forward, and I am sure that politicians will continue to argue against it for the sake of their constituents still laboring in the soon to be obsolete industries, but that does not mean it will not happen. Nor does it mean that it should not happen.

By the way, where is my damn flying car?

Hillary Clinton promises "enough clean energy to power every home in America" by her second term.

Courtesy of The Hill:  

If elected president, Democrat Hillary Clinton says she can create enough green energy to power every home in America by the end of her second term. 

“By the end of my first term, we will have installed a half a billion more solar panels, and by the end of my second term, enough clean energy to power every home in America,” Clinton said at the Blue Jamboree in Charleston, S.C., on Saturday. 

The Democratic presidential front-runner said her plan to subsidize alternative sources of energy would not entail a middle-class tax hike. 

In fact, Clinton said she would reduce taxes for working-class families. 

“And people say, well, can you do that without raising taxes on the middle class? Absolutely,” she said. “That’s why I’m going to be fighting for tax cuts that help hard-working families get ahead.”

Okay look I am already supporting Hillary, and I think her path to the White House is fairly free of serious obstacle, however I am going to say right here that if she makes promises like this she sure as shit better be planning to keep them. 

Getting the country off of fossil fuels and onto renewable energy sources is a big deal to the progressive community, and if she fails to keep this promise she risks losing their support not just for herself, but for the Democratic party altogether.

Do I think it can be done?

You bet your ass I do.

And I think if Hillary is serious about making this happen, that she can do just that. So long as she recognizes that the blowback from big oil is going to be unprecedented.

And that is saying something considering what we have seen during the Obama administration.

Nine huge US companies pledge to go 100% renewable energy.

Courtesy of Reneweconomy: 

Fortune 500-listed companies Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, NIKE, Inc, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Steelcase, Voya Financial, and Walmart have pledged to source 100 per cent of their electricity from renewable energy. 

The pledges are part of the “RE100” global campaign by non-profit groups, The Climate Group and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which encourages companies to commit to 100 per cent renewable energy. 

CEO of The Climate Group, Mark Kenber, said: “Research shows that the most ambitious companies have seen a 27 per cent return on their low carbon investments – no wonder new names keep joining RE100. 

“Lowering risk, protecting against price rises, saving millions and boosting brand is what shaping a low carbon economy is all about,” Kenber said. 

“Today these companies are signalling loud and clear to COP21 negotiators that forward-thinking businesses back renewables and want to see a strong climate deal in Paris.” 

The private sector is key to reducing global carbon emissions as it accounts for more than half of the world’s electricity consumption.

Some of the companies have target dates as far out as 2050, but others are shooting for faster turnarounds at around 2020 or even 2015.

A company called Steelcase reached their goal last year.

All in all it indicates that if a corporation really wants to commit to becoming 100% fossil fuel free, they can do it.

And that is good news for the future of this planet. And you know, those of us living on it.

Hillary Clinton finally talks about the Keystone XL pipeline. She's against it.

Courtesy of the Washington Post: 

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton declared opposition to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday, ending a long and politically uncomfortable silence on an issue that has become a touchstone for environmentalists and liberal voters. 

“I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I believe it is – a distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change,” Clinton said at a community forum here. The debate over Keystone “interferes with our ability to move forward,” Clinton said. “Therefore I oppose it.”

Well that is certainly going to help Hillary with the liberals in this country.

Clearly Hillary realizes that our future energy concerns do not lie in fossil fuels, and is going to continue President Obama's emphasis on renewable energy resources.

In other positive Hillary Clinton news she has laid out a plan to strengthen Obamacare and do something significant about the high cost of prescription medications: 

"As president I want to go further," she said Tuesday. "I want to strengthen the Affordable Care Act." 

Her drug plan would start by capping the amount of out-of-pocket expenses consumers can be charged under insurance plans at $250 per month. Of course, transferring the extra costs onto the insurance companies wouldn't solve the all of the problems, since insurers would likely make up for their expenses through higher premiums. 

She said earlier this week that her goal is to implement policies that would reduce spending on prescription medications by $100 billion over the next 10 years and proposed a number of strategies reach that goal. For example: 

• Speeding up approval of generic drugs to clear any backlog. 
• Allowing consumers to buy their medications from countries where American pharma companies sell them at cheaper rates. (This would require the FDA to ensure that the drugs being sold in other countries are the same medications as the ones sold here.) 
• Grant Medicare the power to negotiate with drug companies on the prices they charge. This has long been a standard proposal pushed by Democrats who argue that the 40 million Medicare recipients would have a system-wide effect on the price of drugs. 
• Add requirements to drug companies who receive federal support, forcing them to redirect more of their profits back into R&D.

Now THAT kind of talk is what is going to move the needle in her direction and bring her poll numbers back up.

That is good stuff and demonstrates that Hillary is well aware of where the base of the Democratic party has moved, and what they are looking for in a leader.

New report from Greenpeace suggests that the world could be completely off fossil fuels by 2050.

Courtesy of Reneweconomy: 

A new report released by Greenpeace International on Monday has reinforced the view that there are no major economic or technical barriers to shifting the world to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050; nor to the complete phase-out of fossil fuels. All we need now is the political will to do it. 

Greenpeace’s Energy [R]evolution scenario 2015 phases out coal, oil, gas and nuclear energy as fast as technically and economically possible, by expanding the renewable energy share to 42 per cent in 2030, 72 per cent in 2040 and 100 per cent in 2050.

The report also says that the transition will cost a great deal of money, as much as  1 trillion dollars a year, but that the savings are even larger.

“The investment costs for the switch to 100% renewables by 2050 is about $US1 trillion a year,” the report says. 

“But because renewable energies don’t need fuel, the average fuel cost savings are $US1.07 trillion a year. So the investment over the period is met in full (107 per cent) by fuel cost savings, with the cross-over happening between 2025 and 2030. 

Beyond 2050, there are no further fuel costs in renewable energy, thus stabilising energy costs for socities, as well as reducing energy sector emissions to near zero.

I don't know it all might be a little too optimistic, but then again if we don't commit to making it happen we'll never know.

Of course, as we know, the oil and coal companies will do everything in their considerable power to delay this as long as possible.