OK, I'm all in but we have a LOT OF WORK to do. And just emphasizing "permitting reform" for roof top solar is not going to get us there.
David, your questions were great, and I'm not sure well, or completely answered. The activists who did so well at publicizing the threats of climate change and the contributions of fossil fuels seem to have bifurcated into some solutions tech bros and gals, (they go to your Seattle talks I think) or gone half-MAHA chrunchy and are freaked out about every form of "extraction" and "industrial" and "toxic" and "habitat" part of wind and solar and storage. But maybe it's my milieu.
You asked about the green funding and one of the first times I listened to your pod it was some nitwit blathering about how green billionaires should fund fusion startups. What was that, "effective altruism?" Yeah.
I've watched 500 MW of solar farm proposals get shot down nearby in the last year. A few tiny ones making it through. Almost zilch interest from Colorado climate orgs. Recently Protect Our Winters did start a campaign to support industrial wind and solar. I thought. But then a conversation about "clean" energy made it seem like they were getting sucked down our governor's "Heat Beneath Our Feet" fantasy of geothermal electric. After three years, not a single kWh. Zip. Nada. Bupkis. OK, maybe some waste heat from an oil well generated power at 2% efficiency. (Less, land and spoiled views while trail running, though.) Other orgs just keep repeating divest banks (about 1% of the general public knows what that has to do with anything), stop leasing, drilling, fracking, oil trains, etc. etc.
A lot of local "climate activists" have been convinced that "regenerative ag" is a more sustainable solution. Recently a well-funded local enviro group sponsored a presentation about two-acre farming and living in teepees. WTF, indeed!
Solar panels are not effective or a reliable power source and they are manufactured mostly in Asia. Examples: overcast skies, night, storage. Hydrogen is a better replacement for fossil fuels on a Grid supply level.
When Musk came out with Tesla Roof, the batteries for storage were more costly the the roof top production elements.
OK, I'm all in but we have a LOT OF WORK to do. And just emphasizing "permitting reform" for roof top solar is not going to get us there.
David, your questions were great, and I'm not sure well, or completely answered. The activists who did so well at publicizing the threats of climate change and the contributions of fossil fuels seem to have bifurcated into some solutions tech bros and gals, (they go to your Seattle talks I think) or gone half-MAHA chrunchy and are freaked out about every form of "extraction" and "industrial" and "toxic" and "habitat" part of wind and solar and storage. But maybe it's my milieu.
You asked about the green funding and one of the first times I listened to your pod it was some nitwit blathering about how green billionaires should fund fusion startups. What was that, "effective altruism?" Yeah.
I've watched 500 MW of solar farm proposals get shot down nearby in the last year. A few tiny ones making it through. Almost zilch interest from Colorado climate orgs. Recently Protect Our Winters did start a campaign to support industrial wind and solar. I thought. But then a conversation about "clean" energy made it seem like they were getting sucked down our governor's "Heat Beneath Our Feet" fantasy of geothermal electric. After three years, not a single kWh. Zip. Nada. Bupkis. OK, maybe some waste heat from an oil well generated power at 2% efficiency. (Less, land and spoiled views while trail running, though.) Other orgs just keep repeating divest banks (about 1% of the general public knows what that has to do with anything), stop leasing, drilling, fracking, oil trains, etc. etc.
A lot of local "climate activists" have been convinced that "regenerative ag" is a more sustainable solution. Recently a well-funded local enviro group sponsored a presentation about two-acre farming and living in teepees. WTF, indeed!
And "lithium?" OMG!
Solar panels are not effective or a reliable power source and they are manufactured mostly in Asia. Examples: overcast skies, night, storage. Hydrogen is a better replacement for fossil fuels on a Grid supply level.
When Musk came out with Tesla Roof, the batteries for storage were more costly the the roof top production elements.
Seems like some smart young person could do a TikTok challenge that would highlight solar work or whatever is going on in different communities.
It looks like surrender.
We get to be the ones part of the solution…not surrender