QUICK NEWS, April 18: The Clinton-Sanders Climate Change Exchange; Solar To Dominate By 2030 – Futurist; MidAmerican Plans To Be ALL New Energy, 85% Wind

The Clinton-Sanders Climate Change Exchange The Clinton-Sanders exchange on climate change was a dumpster fire

David Roberts, April 17, 2016 (VOX)

Editor’s note: It is worth clicking through to read all of this lengthy debate summary.

“…[C]limate change finally got a decent chunk of time in Thursday night's Democratic primary debate…It was not particularly substantive…What it revealed, for the most part, are the candidates' flaws — Clinton's defensiveness and inability to articulate a broad vision; Sanders's monomania about money in politics and propensity to back whatever the left wants, even when it is mutually contradictory…[It included Clinton’s] long, complex, and not always pretty [history with the oil and gas industry and Sanders’ implication that the small difference in the donations they have received is] de facto evidence that the fossil fuel companies already think she's on their side…Next, Sanders pressed Clinton on whether she supports a [probably politically untenable] carbon tax, now widely seen as the sine qua non of serious climate policy…Then the discussion turned to fracking, which, for reasons unclear, has become a kind of stand-in for climate seriousness…

click to enlarge

“Clinton remains temperamentally averse to absolutes and simple prescriptions, so she always ends up sounding lawyerly. She seems unable to mount a convincing case for incrementalism, unlike the current president, who can make incrementalism sing. She is the anti-Obama, all notes and no music…[Incrementalism] has accumulated for Obama into a serious climate legacy…Clinton wants to build on Obama's progress. Sanders wants to go for another grand legislative solution. She remains unable to articulate a compelling larger vision; he remains unable to explain how he would overcome the obvious political obstacles…When they grapple honestly with those differences — that will be the climate debate I've been waiting for.” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Solar To Dominate By 2030 – Futurist Ray Kurzweil: Here's Why Solar Will Dominate Energy Within 12 Years; Growth is exponential—just like processing power.

David Z. Morris, April 16, 2016 (Fortune)

“…[Futurist Ray Kurzweil said solar] could become the dominant force in energy production in a little over a decade. That may be tough to swallow, given that solar currently only supplies around 2% of global energy—but Kurzweil’s predictions have been overwhelmingly correct over the last two decades, so he’s worth listening to…[His basic point] was that while solar is still tiny, it has begun to reliably double its market share every two years—today’s 2% share is up from just 0.5% in 2012…Many analysts extend growth linearly from that sort of pattern, concluding that we’ll see 0.5% annual growth in solar for the foreseeable future, reaching just 12% solar share in 20 years. But linear analysis ignores what Kurzweil calls the Law of Accelerating Returns—that as new technologies get smaller and cheaper, their growth becomes exponential…[Kurzweil says that if] the current 2% share doubles every two years, solar should have a 100% share of the market in 12 years…[but] Kurzweil’s prediction is only partially grounded in the real world…[because fossil fuel giants are definitely not going down without a fight…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

MidAmerican Plans To Be ALL New Energy, 85% Wind MidAmerican Energy aims for 85% wind power

Donnelle Eller, April 15, 2016 (The Des Moines Register)

“…[MidAmerican Energy took a giant, $3.6 billion step toward getting 85 percent of its energy from wind and 100 percent renewable energy with the buy of the 2,000 MW Wind XI project. Because of federal tax credits, the plan] won't increase consumers' energy bills…MidAmerican serves 752,000 electrical customers and 733,000 natural gas customers in Iowa, Illinois and South Dakota…[The company hopes to get approval from the Iowa Utilities Board] by mid-September…The project, with about 1,000 turbines, wouldn't be completely constructed until 2019…The company has spent $6.6 billion on wind generation over the past 12 years. It will get close to 60 percent of its energy from wind by year's end…[The utility will still need some fossil fuel generation back up until utility-scale battery storage and smart grid improvements are widely available and cost-effective]…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet