The Atlantic has an article about a pressing pandemic problem with orphaned children. Losing a parent may be one of the most destabilizing events of the human experience. Orphans are at increased risk of substance abuse, dropping out of school, and poverty. They are almost twice as likely as non-orphans to die by suicide, and … [Read more…]
Commentary: Utility profits the unspoken factor in California’s rooftop solar fight
In the New Yorker, Bill McKibben wrote an essay titled “In a World on Fire, Stop Burning Things” Here, he references many new reports which fortify the case for moving to renewable energy now and reinforcing the need to stop burning. On the last day of February, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its … [Read more…]
Interview – Energy efficiency guru Amory Lovins: ‘It’s the largest, cheapest, safest, cleanest way to address the crisis’ by John Vidal “Solar and wind are now the cheapest bulk power sources in 91% of the world, and the UN’s International Energy Agency (IEA) expects renewables to generate 90% of all new power in the coming … [Read more…]
March 9, 2022, Petaluma CA I just searched this blog for the word DROUGHT and found all the entries dated from 2020. I decided to start this journal due to the household conversations we’ve had on how we are going to ration our irrigation water this year. Water is due to become even more expensive … [Read more…]
In The Guardian: Use of ‘sexist’ and ‘racist’ in the New York Times increased over 400% since 2012. Why? We analyzed 27m news articles published between 1970 and 2019. Our study reveals a substantial shift has occurred, and it may have important implications. by David Rozado, Musa al-Gharbi and Jamin Halberstadt Contemporary US media workers … [Read more…]
The Guardian: ‘Noise radar’ in Paris will catch raucous cars and motorbikes System promises to issue tickets automatically in attempt to address sound pollution in the city Under existing legislation authorities can already sanction the owners of noisy vehicles, but police need to have the necessary equipment and catch the driver in the act. The … [Read more…]
In the Guardian: Abolish internet shopping in Belgium, says leader of party in coalition Paul Magnette, the Socialist party leader, describes e-commerce as ‘social and ecological degradation’ There are no options for commenting on this idea on the Guardian itself, so after you read it, come back here and let us know what you think.
Jason Epstein, Editor and Publishing Innovator, Is Dead at 93 His literary and marketing instincts brought quality paperbacks to American readers and led to the creation of The New York Review of Books. New York Times Christopher Lehmann-Haupt Feb. 4, 2022
01/16/2022 – Santa Rosa Press-Democrat ‘Doing our part’ EDITOR: Dave Stein reduced home-based solar generation to costs (“Solar power costs,” Letters, Wednesday). He misses one of the basic reasons many of us did invest in solar: to reduce greenhouse emissions. It is the same reason we invested in insulating the attic, installed energy-efficient windows and … [Read more…]