QUICK NEWS, March 26: Parenthood In A Time Of Climate Change; Study Shows New Energy The Cheapest Buy

Parenthood In A Time Of Climate Change War, famine and drought: More women say they won't have children because of climate change

Elizabeth Weise, March 26, 2019 (USA Today)

“…Is the future simply too horrific to bring children into? Some couples, frightened by the prospect of droughts, wars, famines and extinctions brought on by climate change, are making that decision…A Facebook group for women to discuss the idea launched this month, and [#Birthstrike is adding 70 supporters daily] in Europe and the United States…Conceivable Future, a U.S.-based group, has held more than 50 house parties in 16 states in recent years where women worried about global warming discuss forgoing motherhood…[P]eople in 13 of 26 countries polled by the Pew Research Center last month [said] it is the top international threat…And women more than men are worried…[with 66 percent of women and 51 percent of men citing] global climate change as a major threat…

click to enlarge

[The latest UN report showed even the least impacts will include] more wildfires, more droughts, more floods, rising sea levels and the loss of almost all coral reefs…Whether that’s affecting women's family planning isn’t known. The U.S. birthrate has been falling for years, and in 2017 was [the lowest since record-keeping began in 1909 at] just 60.3 births per 1,000 women…[American women have not been polled but] 22 percent of 6.500 Australian women in their 30s said that because of climate change] they were considering having [no children] or no more children…To be sure, the decision to not have children isn’t a full-on movement; it's more a discussion that’s beginning to bubble up…The goal isn’t to get women and men to pledge not to have children, but instead to provide a place to talk about a topic that most people don’t want to discuss even as humanity barrels into what they believe will be a dark and dystopian future…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Study Shows New Energy The Cheapest Buy More bad news for coal: Wind and solar are getting cheaper

Matt Egan, March 25, 2019 (CNN)

“The simple laws of economics threaten to doom America's remaining coal power plants. Wind and solar costs have plunged so rapidly that 74% of the US coal fleet could be phased out for renewable energy -- and still save customers money…[According to an Energy Innovation report, 86% U.S. coal plants are at risk] by 2025 as solar and wind costs continue to plunge…[The report shows it is] increasingly more expensive to operate existing coal plants than build clean energy alternatives…[Despite the White promise to revive the beleaguered coal industry, 211 gigawatts of existing US coal capacity -- or 74% of America's fleet -- was at risk [in 2018] from local wind or solar [within 35 miles of plant locations] that could more cheaply churn out just as much electricity…

click to enlarge

North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Texas are the US states that have the greatest amount of coal plants at risk…By 2025, Midwestern states including Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin are expected to have high amounts of coal capacity under pressure from renewable energy…[Though it may be economically feasible to shut down a coal plant and replace it with wind or solar, state] regulators must sign off on such decisions. And many power plants will decide to pass the extra costs on to customers…[And] coal is still a major employer in parts of Appalachia, making any shutdown potentially damaging to the local economy…[But] the share of total power generation from coal-fired power plants plunged from 48% in 2008 to just 28% last year…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet