Dyson considered himself a “humanist” and while he was critical of climate science he did believe humans could change the climate and thought climate change was a good thing. this goes again to a misunderstanding of science. Yea scientist even climate scientists aren’t all in lockstep and there is plenty of disagreement. In situations like this the evidence has to be weighed. The argument that well Freeman Dyson is a smart guy so let’s just accept his opinion is the Appeal to Authority. Yes he’s a smart guy but that doesn’t mean his opinion is right without looking at his evidence.
An ad by a French/German public TV station (funded by mandatory fees to the government). Rarely do they have some interesting documentaries, but mostly, nobody ever watches that station. Sick government indoctrination.
The New Apocalypticism Climate catastrophe as secular, millenarian prophesy https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/the-new-apocalypticism
Biden is transforming the energy sector with money and buy America provisions. No doom no fear mongering. It's the right way and you can't say otherwise
tl;dr take-home: Environmentalists should remember: The question is not whether mining will occur but where. If not under regulated conditions in this country, it could well be in places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s leading cobalt source. Though companies there have cleaned up their acts recently, working conditions remain poor, and a significant minority of the substance still comes from artisanal mines, often dug by children. Opinion: Electric cars and solar cells rely on Chinese minerals. Here’s how to curb the risks. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/25/china-critical-minerals-climate-change-batteries/ from the WaPo editorial board. Excerpt: The U.S. transition to cleaner energy technology is underway, supported by new incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act. Benefits to the planet could be significant. Yet so could the geopolitical risks to the United States. Moving from fossil fuels to wind and solar power means shifting from reliance on resources the United States produces to reliance on imported ones. And for many of the materials — lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt — the United States’ long-term adversary China is a key producer, processor or both. . . . To cite one example: China dominates rare earth elements, crucial inputs for green technologies (and defense systems). Last month, Beijing moved to limit exports of two such elements, gallium and germanium, probably as a response to Washington’s blocking of Beijing’s access to advanced technology that the United States and its allies control. . . . The United States has designated 50 “critical” minerals; it needs a strategy to secure global supply chains in them. The Inflation Reduction Act took an initial step, in the form of domestic content rules for electric cars. Yet the complex law confused consumers and irritated European allies, whose industries feared U.S.-subsidized competition. Washington and Brussels managed to prevent the dispute from undermining their united front against Russia’s war in Ukraine. It was a reminder, however, that, unless pursued in harmony, neither vital clean-energy goals nor vital foreign policy interests can be achieved. A smart policy to limit reliance on China would follow these principles: Keep calm: U.S. dependence on mineral imports can give China — or others — long-term leverage but does not necessarily threaten a shock like the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo. An oil cutoff can immediately cripple transportation and businesses; by contrast, a mineral cutoff could halt production of new solar cells and electric-car batteries, while existing ones keep going, as a recent analysis of mineral geopolitics by the International Renewable Energy Agency notes. Like petroleum, critical minerals can, and should, be stockpiled in strategic reserves. Unlike petroleum, they can be recycled. Though not likely to be substantial in the short run, or even meet more than a minority of demand in the long run, battery recycling could add a meaningful margin of resiliency to the supply chain. Congress should fund research into maximizing its potential, as the bipartisan infrastructure law has started to do. Start digging: Just as expanded domestic oil and gas production helped overcome petroleum import dependence, a commitment to U.S.-based mining and mineral processing could reduce the geopolitical risks of the transition to green energy. And yet it can take seven to 10 years to get environmental and other permits — twice as long as in Canada. This red tape has to be cut. The Biden administration has at times moved in the opposite direction, as when it blocked a copper and nickel mine on federal land in Minnesota. In addition to environmental considerations, there were legitimate concerns about the effects of mining on nearby Indigenous resources, as there are regarding a lithium mine being developed in Nevada. Creative new approaches to resolving these concerns could help all parties involved get to yes. A new Aspen Institute task force report on the issue proposes clarifying the standards for prior consultation with tribal nations, to distinguish between groups most and least directly affected by mining. With more than half of the current U.S. mining workforce expected to retire by 2029, according to the Aspen report, the United States needs a labor-force policy to support mining. U.S. schools conferred just 314 mining and mineral engineering degrees in 2021, essentially unchanged from a decade earlier, when the economy and population were smaller. Environmentalists should remember: The question is not whether mining will occur but where. If not under regulated conditions in this country, it could well be in places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s leading cobalt source. Though companies there have cleaned up their acts recently, working conditions remain poor, and a significant minority of the substance still comes from artisanal mines, often dug by children. Be realistic: China’s market share in mining and processing is so substantial that the United States could not replace it, even with gargantuan subsidies or ultra-streamlined regulation for domestic production. Nor would sourcing all minerals domestically necessarily be optimal. A protected and subsidized domestic supply chain could snap, too, forcing a costly scramble for new sources abroad. Resiliency through interdependence is both preferable and feasible: Countries aligned with the United States produce or process copper (Chile and Peru), lithium (Chile and Australia) and cobalt (Australia, Finland and Belgium). Several have free-trade agreements with the United States, making electric-vehicle inputs they provide eligible for the Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives. Further “friend-shoring” deals could create and coordinate a free flow of critical minerals among like-minded countries. There could be an opportunity to start this and other conversations in Paris on Sept. 28, when the International Energy Agency hosts the firstCritical Minerals and Clean Energy Summit. The United States has to help keep the planet safer for future generations without playing into the hands of governments that would make the planet less safe for this country and the values it represents. The time for talking about that is running out, though, and the time to act is fast approaching. more at the link
The reason why obamacare failed so miserably was because he forced people to have insurance or he penalized them. Dumb and stupid governoring bcz the subsidies were low and plans were expensive. Biden in exchange is just handing people money but forcing people to buy America goods which then helps unions which then helps democrats. It's transforming red states with blue policies
New technology is being developed to collect rare earth metals from places like the sea bed and in ways that are much more sensitive to the environment.
Very cool new tool and eyes. While Republicans want to get rid of the EPA, with newer and better sensors, we see how far we still have to go to simply reduce harmful pollutants. The government plays an important and necessary role in ensuring clean air for all of us. Republicans undermine that role (usually for the benefits of their donors). Houston (and pretty much all major cities) don't look too good. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-shares-first-images-from-us-pollution-monitoring-instrument Aug 24, 2023 On Thursday, NASA released the first data maps from its new instrument launched to space earlier this year, which now is successfully transmitting information about major air pollutants over North America. President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that all people have a right to breathe clean air. Data from the TEMPO mission will help decision makers across the country achieve that goal and support the Biden Administration’s climate agenda — the most robust climate agenda in history. From its orbit 22,000 miles above the equator, NASA’s TEMPO, or Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution, is the first space-based instrument designed to continuously measure air quality above North America with the resolution of a few square miles. “Neighborhoods and communities across the country will benefit from TEMPO’s game-changing data for decades to come," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "This summer, millions of Americans felt firsthand the effect of smoke from forest fires on our health. NASA and the Biden-Harris Administration are committed to making it easier for everyday Americans and decisionmakers to access and use TEMPO data to monitor and improve the quality of the air we breathe, benefitting life here on Earth.” Observations by TEMPO will significantly improve studies of pollution caused by rush-hour traffic, the movement of smoke and ash from forest fires and volcanoes, and the effects of fertilizer application on farmland. In addition, TEMPO data will help scientists evaluate the health impacts of pollutants and aid in the creation of air pollution maps at the neighborhood scale, improving understanding of disparities in air quality within a community. Data will be shared with partner agencies that monitor and forecast air quality, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Launched in April aboard a Maxar Intelsat 40e satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, TEMPO makes hourly daytime scans of the lower atmosphere over North America from the Atlantic Ocean to Pacific coast and from roughly Mexico City to central Canada. The primary instrument is an advanced spectrometer that detects pollution normally hidden within reflected sunlight. The science mission is a collaboration between NASA and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The first pollution maps released by NASA from the mission show concentrations of nitrogen dioxide gas from pollution around cities and major transportation arteries of North America. TEMPO measures sunlight reflected and scattered off Earth’s surface, clouds, and atmosphere. Gases in the atmosphere absorb the sunlight, and the resulting spectra are then used to determine the concentrations of several gases in the air, including nitrogen dioxide. The visualizations show six scans made between 11:12 a.m. and 5:27 p.m. EDT on Aug. 2. Closeup views focus on the southwestern U.S. from Los Angeles to Las Vegas; from central and eastern Texas to New Orleans; and the Interstate 95 corridor between New York and Washington. The data were gathered during TEMPO’s "first light" period from July 31 to Aug. 2, when mission controllers opened the spectrometer to look at the Sun and Earth and start a variety of tests and solar calibrations. “TEMPO is beginning to measure hourly daytime air pollution over greater North America,” said Kelly Chance, SAO senior physicist and TEMPO principal investigator. “It measures ozone, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, aerosols, water vapor, and several trace gases. There are already almost 50 science studies being planned that are based around this new way to collect data.” The TEMPO instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and integrated with the Maxar-built Intelsat 40e. Since launch, teams from NASA, Ball Aerospace, and SAO have been checking and calibrating the satellite’s systems and components. The instrument will begin full operations in October, collecting hourly daytime scans, the first instrument to observe pollution over North America in this way. “We are excited to see the initial data from the TEMPO instrument and that the performance is as good as we could have imagined now that it is operating in space,” said Kevin Daugherty, TEMPO project manager at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “We look forward to completing commissioning of the instrument and then starting science research.” TEMPO is part of NASA's Earth Venture Instrument program, which includes small, targeted science investigations designed to complement NASA's larger research missions. The instrument also forms part of a virtual constellation of air pollution monitors for the Northern Hemisphere which also includes South Korea’s Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer and ESA’s (European Space Agency) Sentinel-4 satellite. ...
So, in other words, Biden is giving away other people's money to buy himself votes? Thanks for clearing that up.
There have been a rash of articles related to these minerals. Two more below. This feels like we have been in the midst of a key transitional point to the new green economy, and maybe like Oil from the Middle East, whoever has more control of the reserve will likely be on top. China has the advantages of starting early and not caring much about human right abuse (an advantage that might turn into a disadvantage once Africa is 'rich' enough to move on) while the US is starting to catch up and finally entered the game. TLDR of the 1st one: The authors argue that the present Inflation Reduction Act limits US cooperation with African countries for key minerals vital for renewable energy transition, even though Africa has 30% of global reserves. The author suggests amending the IRA to include African Growth and Opportunity Act nations meeting human rights and labor standards, envisioning more diverse US suppliers, stronger economic and climate bonds, ensured access to essential resources for the US clean energy economy, and pivotal collaboration to advance shared climate goals and reduce reliance on China. TLDR of the 2nd one:The authors argue the US lacks access to vital metals and minerals needed for its green energy transition, as China has secured much of the global supply from Africa with little regard for human rights, while the US has minimal partnerships in Africa compared to China. However, the US can build partnerships with nations upholding human rights beyond Africa, like Indonesia, to secure sustainable supply chains, meet climate goals, compete in the pivotal green economy where China has a head start but the US seeks leadership through domestic innovation. Africa’s Critical Minerals Could Power America’s Green Energy Transition Biden’s IRA is shutting African countries out of supply chains for critical minerals. Including them would be a strategic and diplomatic win. By Witney Schneidman, the CEO of Schneidman & Associates International, and Vera Songwe, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/03/africa-minerals-biden-ira-green-energy-agoa/ August 3, 2023, 3:00 AM Few U.S. presidents have done as much as Joe Biden to strengthen ties with African nations. Last December, the president hosted nearly 50 African leaders for a three-day summit in Washington. During the meeting, the administration committed to invest at least $55 billion in Africa over the next three years, including private sector initiatives of more than $15 billion. Since then, various senior U.S. officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, have visited the continent. Biden has also pledged to visit before the year is out. But when it comes to one of the most important issues on the administration’s agenda—climate change and the transition to a green economy—Africa is missing. As a result, the United States is forgoing an opportunity to deepen commercial ties with the continent, partner with African nations to strengthen supply and production chains, and diversify away from its reliance on China for more than 50 percent of 26 critical minerals. ... How China's Grip on Metals Could Crush Biden's Clean Energy Plans By Anna Skinner AND Jon Jackson On 8/18/23 at 3:00 AM EDT President Joe Biden outlined an aggressive green energy transition plan in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which aims make America a world leader in low-carbon technology. But the United States will face setbacks unless it can access the metals and minerals needed to make the plan a reality—as archrival China has already secured the lion's share of the world's supplies, which primarily come from mines in Africa. While the U.S. has spent money attempting to quell the rise of Islamist groups on the continent, China—and, to an extent, Russia—have built ties with many of Africa's leaders to lock down the vital resources needed to lead the green energy transition. Now experts warn that Beijing has stolen a march on Washington in the battle for materials vital to what is shaping up to be one of the biggest challenges and economic drivers of the 21st century. ...
Anyone can say that about almost every single POTUS. Another way to view this is that the US has always invested in certain things because it believes they're good for the US. The Interstate system, NASA, Agriculture, Oil, and now Green Energy. This is, of course, not anywhere near an exhaustive list. The argument people usually have is whether it's good for the US, a good investment, or a good policy. But that's too much for some people to delve into. Instead, buying votes is an easy political talking point, and it might be true, but it's lazy.
Republicans have been spending billions on fake tax credits for decades trying spur the same sort of manufacturing boom and always failed. Bidens new approach by forcing made in America domestic content is what's creating a boom It's just funny how trump big thing was Foxconn which turned out to be a scam. Biden is delivering a new Foxconn every week These right wingers are such losers. Instead of passing trillion tax cuts they shouldn't invested it properly
Trickle-down economics has been a dismal failure. It’s one reason why many Republicans have pretty much given up on real arguments and instead tapped into social issues, political slogans, and recently, outright lies.
This is what I don't understand from right wingers. Is @AroundTheWorld smart enough to read? Is he aware that no republican president has ever balanced the budget in 30+ years? Oh no biden is spending other people's money! Who the hell wasn't? Bush's deficit dwarf those of Clinton nd Obama. Always austerity bullshit
