Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Executive summary for Renewables 2024

A year or two back, I had a conversation with the IEA about using their renewables data to present at Angry Bear. They asked that I keep true to the presentation. They also ask that I not use their oil reports as that is sold to customers of that report. It must be more detailed […]

Why electric cars of the future might be smaller, safer, and fewer

by Lloyd Alter Carbon Upfront There is a sense of humor here being shown by Lloyd. He is asking Elon Musk to build differently than what he would do if planned by the market. Granted electric vehicles have been a part of what Tesla offers. Lloyd is asking Elon to go a step farther and […]

Initial jobless claims: welcome back to hurricane season

 – by New Deal democrat Step away from the ledge, everybody; and pay no attention to the DOOOMers, who are surely out in force this morning: the big increase in initial claims was almost all about Hurricane Helene. By the numbers, initial claims increased 33,000 to 258,000, the highest number since August 2023. The four […]

Why avoided or imaginary emissions are the future of carbon accounting

by Lloyd Alter Carbon Upfront Scope 4 emissions help me justify my flight to New Zealand and compensate for its carbon footprint. I apologize for my posts not showing up at the usual times; I got back from Australia and New Zealand with a crushing jet lag that I still haven’t recovered from, with a […]

Stress and the PhD

I was married by the time I started graduate school. I suspect that being in a committed relationship, and in particular with someone who was also a grad student, kept me centered during the stressful times. Perhaps these were different times, but a recent study shows that today’s PhD students are struggling with mental health […]

Who Voted Against FEMA Relief Before Helene Battered Their Home States

As Category 4 Hurricane Helene approached the Florida Panhandle, a number of Republican senators and representatives voted against supplementing disaster relief in a government funding extension which was passed by both houses of Congress. Many of the Republican lawmakers voted against the provision of additional necessary funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) represent states that were hit particularly hard by Hurricane Helene. […]

The science of prophecy

The existential threat to humanity in this century is climate change. It is estimated that upwards of half a billion people will be displaced by flooding, fires and desertification due to global warming. But such frightening predictions are based on climate modeling. How reliable are these models? It turns out, remarkably reliable: “Climate change doubters […]

EV fueling ports vs gas station nozzles

Kevin Drum has a post up about the present and future of EV charging stalls in the US. As of 2023, the number was 184,000, with public charging stalls outnumbering Tesla stalls 6:1. Is that a lot or a little? Well, lots of people say that they’re holding off buying EVs because of the range, […]