Category for all Things to Know posts
Natural gas industry leaks makes gas worse than coal Back in July, 2018, Anthony J. Marchese and Dan Zimmerle published an article on CNBC regarding studies attempting to measure the level of leakage of methane gas throughout the industry. They found that, while natural gas was rapidly displacing coal in part [...]
Renewables + Nuclear: Partners in Decarbonization (The following analysis is available for use for any purpose with attribution to the Climate Coalition.) (Click to download a PDF of this information.) “Nuclear or Renewables” is a false dichotomy when 83.1% of the world’s primary energy [...]
The C+ Student's Guide to Understanding Nuclear Energy: Myths, Facts, & Fears in 21 Easy-to-Understand Q&As We are delighted to share Shawn M. Connors' wonderfully-produced handbook about nuclear energy with our community. Shawn is the Founder of the Atomic Garage Movement, a self-proclaimed "C+ Student," and a new member of [...]
C C Why Russian agression is the problem, not nuclear power March 5, 2022 There has been much discussion in the news over the last few days about the problems posed by the Russians attacking the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power plant in the Ukraine. There has also been a great deal [...]
About Greenwashing Consumer, investors, voters, marketers and even corporations are increasingly aware of the harmful environmental impacts of much of what we consume and are striving to make increasingly sustainable choices and options. Unfortunately, demand for better choices has put pressure on those selling products, services and investments to attract the [...]
Exploring Who Opposes Nuclear Energy and Why As anachronistic as it is, anti-nuclear forces still exert a lot of political power in the U.S. and around the world. We shall take a look at some of the prominent corporations, spokespeople, organizations and local activists opposing nuclear. [...]
NYISO's Mischaractization of Key Information The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) releases an annual state of the grid and markets report called Power Trends. According to NYISO CEO, Robert Fernandez, this report "provides the facts and analysis necessary to understand the many factors shaping New York’s complex electric system." In [...]
The Save Indian Point Campaign continues Curtailment and closure of Indian Point Reactor 2 was initiated on April 30th despite the hazards of this work being done during the pandemic. Governor Cuomo and his office ignored petition with over 8,000 signatures as well as our letter [...]
How API tricks you into opposing nuclear With climate change approaching a range of tipping points that will cause climate to shift forever, it is worth pondering the very basic question of who benefits from the world acting on climate and eliminating emissions and who doesn't. When you think of individuals—people [...]
Learn the Facts The agreement to close Indian Point, announced in January 2017, capped decades of controversy over its safety and was seen as a victory for environmental groups and Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had long opposed the downstate plant, despite supporting New York's upstate plants. [...]
The Political Dilemma Posed by Nuclear Power As of the September 2019 Democratic Climate Debate, the following candidates have one way or another "declared" their support for the use of nuclear and/or advanced nuclear power to address climate: Cory Booker, Andrew Yang, Joe Biden, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jay [...]
Who are the “titans” of nuclear? If you are someone who is trying to understand how to solve climate change in the short amount of time we have left, you may have heard that nuclear energy is clean, reliable, and can generate enormous amounts of energy at [...]
MMM The Hidden, Dirty side of Renewables Renewable energy has managed to benefit in popularity with a virtually unblemished brand. Through careful marketing efforts, consumers only see shiny, gleaming images of sparkling solar panels and snow white wind turbines on sunny days. We never get exposed to the hidden [...]
Examining the Record Jerry Brown, who is 80 years old, served as Governor of California twice, once as the 34th governor, serving two terms after the end of Ronald Regan's term, from 1975 to 1983 and then again 28 years later, as the 39th governor, again with two [...]
MMM MMM There have been a wide variety of analyses done of the life cycle emissions from various types of technologies. While there are a fairly wide array of results across all types of technologies, the reasons for these varying results are often not well understood. Because [...]
MMM The Implications of our Action and Inaction Mankind's emissions are causing big impacts on earth's climate and while many of us are focused on what we can do to prevent the situation from getting worse, it is highly like that nothing will be done [...]
How the fossil fuel industry got the media to think climate change was debatable Washington Post, by Amy Westervelt, January 10, 2019. Documents uncovered by journalists and activists over the past decade lay out a clear strategy: First, target media outlets to get them to report more on the “uncertainties” in climate […]
Let Carl Sagan explain the delicate balance of our climate to you, if you don't yet understand it (from testimony before the Senate in 1985). Climate change is already here There is such an abundance of scientific evidence that establishes the causes [...]
There is no other way to put this: a block of Republican politicians are knowingly compromising our lives and our children’s future in order to stay in office. 180 of 535 members of Congress have received $82,882,725 in dirty money from the coal, oil, and gas industries, according to CAPAF’s research. And, […]
Why we are afraid of radiation Most people are deathly afraid of radiation: for decades we’ve been told that radiation causes cancer. This was the initial conclusion when researchers first noted that radiation can cause cells to mutate and become cancerous. However, more recent scientific understandings of how our bodies deal with […]
Current Status on Fossil Fuel Divestment Commitments According to the Go Fossil Free movement, over $6 trillion in assets have been committed by nearly 900 organizations and some 58,000 individual investors to be divested from their fossil fuel investments. Below are a few sample listings of such commitments from some of these […]
Have we made any progress against carbon emissions? According to the annual BP Energy Statistic Review of World Energy report that was released in mid-June, 2018, the answer is a stunning “No!” In 2017, use of fossil fuels grew due to increase in global energy demand, especially of coal. In fact, global […]
Why traditional “environmentalism” falls short If you are reading this page, the chances are good that you consider yourself an environmentalist. You want to protect the environment for future generations just like we do. It is easy to be against pollution and environmental degradation but the question is, what are you for? […]
This wonderful graphic created by Roger Pielke, Jr. shows just how steep the curve needs to be to achieve full decarbonization. If we really have any hope of getting from where we are to where we need to be by 2050, which is in about 12,000 days, we need to […]
How Safe Is Nuclear? Nuclear bombs are not safe. We don't support the use of nuclear weapons of any kind. On the other hand, nuclear energy is incredibly safe. Let's put this into perspective. There is really nothing that has been created by mankind that is 100% [...]
Does hydro generate emissions? The question of whether hydro power is “clean energy” and not a significant source of carbon or methane emissions is under review. Hydro generates its power by letting water turn turbines as a means of creating electricity, which in itself is not a source of carbon dioxide or […]
<br> We hear repeatedly that climate change is a huge problem that we need to solve. Easier said than done! Where to start? Professional problem solvers, such as engineers, typically start with carefully and methodically defining the problem. In our experience, many who are concerned about climate change do not fully appreciate […]
What exactly do we mean by "zero emissions?" Is it different than "clean energy?" What about "low carbon," or "carbon free," or "renewable?" Let's take a closer look. Life Cycle Analysis Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a comprehensive way to measure the climate impact of an energy technology. It is [...]
