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   DonL said on 1/28/2021 @ 12:54am PT: [Permalink]

   A bit OT, but I have to say it out loud — I have had it with Jimmy Dore.

   Jimmy is giving comfort and credibility to the Proud Boys, Boogaloos and white-supremacist Maga-types who flimsily claim to be supportive of BLM, LGBTQ people, etc etc.

   They are obviously lying thru their teeth, but Jimmy still fell for it.

   Also, Jimmy has virtually written-off AOC and other sincere progressives who are navigating difficult waters right now.

   I didn’t leave Jimmy; HE left ME.

   Here’s my new “Jimmy” meme, using a popular photo used in many memes. I think its appropos:

   https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sCKG...ga%2Bliars.jpg

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   AffordableHairAct said on 1/29/2021 @ 9:37am PT: [Permalink]

   Only ~15% of the American electrical grid comes from renewable resources. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it takes much more energy to burn fossil fuels, make steam, turn turbines and create electricity, run it through the grid to a charging station and run your car with it, than running your car on gasoline. And until we have Nuclear fusion plants… This commitment to electrical cars will be catastrophic unless the energy grid is converted to renewable energy.
   Hopefully there will be an announcement on doing that in the next 20 years.

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   Desi Doyen said on 1/29/2021 @ 5:42pm PT: [Permalink]

   Affordable Hair Act @#2 — That’s a common misconception about electric vehicles, so thanks for the opportunity to help you update your understanding. Numerous studies have now shown that in ALL cases, EVs are cleaner and greener than internal combustion engine cars, even when charged with electricity generated by fossil fueled power plants. See this summary of a comprehensive new MIT study that came out just a few weeks ago:

   Electric Cars Are Better for the Planet ““ and Often Your Budget, Too

   MIT found electric cars were easily more climate friendly than gas-burning ones, in all cases, and were often cheaper, too.

   Since CO2 is cumulative and persists for hundreds of years in the atmosphere, it is imperative that humanity phase out the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible. Transportation is the largest source of emissions in the U.S. So yes, the rapid shift to EVs will help mitigate the actual catastrophic impacts of man-made climate change as we convert our national grid to clean energy.

   Regarding nuclear power, only already paid-for existing nuclear plants can be considered relatively ‘cheap’ as zero-emissions energy sources. Research is still in the experimental stages for new methods of generating nuclear power, as you note, but President Biden is increasing funding for research into advanced nuclear. Current construction of old-school nuclear plants remains extremely expensive (see GA’s troubled Vogtle nuclear project) and generates a large carbon footprint due to the enormous amount of emissions-intensive concrete required. And that’s not even accounting for the as-yet unsolved problem of radioactive nuclear waste, which also requires producing even more CO2 emissions-intensive concrete to store it in perpetuity.

   You may find this twitter thread from climate scientist Zeke Hausfather of The Breakthrough Institute interesting, explaining why renewables and nuclear energy will likely both play key roles in decarbonization.