Monday, March 30, 2015

Solar panel owners and utilities battle it out in California | Grist

Solar panel owners and utilities battle it out in California | Grist 



Net metering, utilities grafting customers. The three IOU's in California were not supposed to be profit machines... they were supposed to serve the public interest. Their selfish profit0protecting fees are excessive and risk reducing and penalizing solar use. Not in the public interest.



Utilities must modernize as per the article, "...utilities will have to act more like grid managers, connecting power
from a host of sources (much like data flowing into a server from many
places."



“There’s no outcome 10 or 20 years from now that looks anything like
what utilities have been before,” Farrell says. “It’s going to happen
anyway, and you just have to choose whether you’re gonna like it or
not.”

Limiting Global Warming at 1.5*C Much More Appropriate

Here Life systems.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Beautiful Buddhist Temples

This would fall under the category of things worth chronicling. I appreciate many aspects of Buddhist culture and religion. Just looking at these gives a sense of peace. That is a beautiful thing.

Here

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Two Headlines, Google News, Back to Back

You decide how disgusted to feel. "California first to feel hydro-energy crunch of drought"  "Rise in oil boosts stock price" http://www.chroniclebulletin.com/m/?id=6797    

Friday, March 20, 2015

Obama Administration Unveils Federal Fracking Regulations -- NY Times

Here Good. About time.

As I've previously blogged here about fracking, "Here The costs of fracking: uses way too much water, unknown chemicals are shot into the ground, results in flammable faucets, methane released to create more climate disruption, health impacts for innocent citizens during extraction, use of tap water, burning as a fuel, creation of geological fractures and earthquakes, lawsuits to settle the damages, oh my god. No more please."

Obama Sends Message to Iranian People as Nuclear Talks Near a Deal -- LA Times

Here Obama's outreach, including young people in Iran, is a vital and smart inclusion in U.S. policy.

I hope they can make a real deal, and no secret work is done by Iran. I think inspections and monitoring need to be 100% and unrestricted for the U.N.

""If Iran’s leaders can agree to a reasonable deal, it can lead to a better path — the path of greater opportunities for the Iranian people," he said. "More trade and ties with the world. More foreign investment and jobs, including for young Iranians. More cultural exchanges and chances for Iranian students to travel abroad."

Monday, March 16, 2015

California Has About One Year of Water Left, per LA Times

Here Will you choose to ration now? Their headline asks. Water should be ridiculously high priced now, with serious fines for overuse, if we want to get serious about this resource. If we get great rainfall and increased demand, the prices should then go down again. Clear.

Now Global Warming May Result in 7 meters of Rising Seas: That's Over 20 Feet

Here I'm awestruck and humbled. And furious. The greed of people perpetuating this. The denial of good people that are keeping us from stopping the greedy people.
4 out of 9 planetary boundaries that incubate life on Earth have now been crossed. The article presents info on these boundaries fairly well.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Throw Florida’s apparent rejection of the phrase ‘climate change’ onto the pile of anti-climate politics - The Washington Post

Throw Florida’s apparent rejection of the phrase ‘climate change’ onto the pile of anti-climate politics - The Washington Post 

Yeah, let's get real.  97% of climate scientists assert climate change is real and
largely man-made. See NASA link at bottom. Many Republicans, even most
in some polling questions, want action and are concerned. See link
below. The author's statement of this governor's obstinate ignorance and
denial 'reflecting' the 'Republican base' is off-base. Maybe some
long-time coal and oil mercenaries like Inhofe and McConnell have
despoiled the GOP party's platform to deny science and allow pollution,
and deny man-made climate change's existence, but most of us know
better. It would be best and most adult if these guys would admit what
is happening, and try to cut down on the pollution of their industries.
That seems what the Republican base is solidifying it's position around:
....... "The poll found that 83 percent of Americans, including 61
percent of Republicans and 86 percent of independents, say that if
nothing is done to reduce emissions, global warming will be a very or
somewhat serious problem in the future." ....... "... 67 percent of
respondents, including 48 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of
independents, said they were less likely to vote for a candidate who
said that human-caused climate change is a hoax." ..... "Ninety-one
percent of Democrats, 78 percent of independents and 51 percent of
Republicans said the government should be fighting climate change." ....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/politics/most-americans-support-government-action-on-climate-change-poll-finds.html?_r=0

97% of scientists agree on man-made climate change -- reported on the
***NASA website*** , the scientists of scientists, not just some liberal
conspiracy bloggers. 97% is a ridiculously high consensus. If
scientists can land a man on the moon, they can figure out why the
planet is heating. An easy fact to digest, unless you own an oil field
and are in complete denial. A free thinking person really shouldn't
remain a flat-earth society person given this information, or worse just
because his state governor is best friends with the oil field owner.
And worse if you live on the coast.... where many if not most Floridians
and people on our planet live. The romance of being a climate change
denier is unattractive and just getting old. At some point you have to
get with reality, particularly if you are a governor. http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/

U.S. Companies Stashing a Trillions Out of a Country to Avoid Taxes

Here  Seems pretty shady. Sure profits are good. But heaping piles of untaxed cash out of the country, while we struggle to adequately provide excellent public schools, road and bridge maintenance, well-trained  law enforcement, environmentally degraded community clean-ups, etc. is pretty unsightly.
There should be some pride and repatriating that money, and the improvement the tax revenue will bring to America.

"The president met March 2 with the chief executive officers of Xerox Corp., Micron Technology Inc., Qualcomm, IBM and EMC Corp., which have a combined $114 billion in accumulated offshore profits.
“The president and the executives also discussed a shared desire to work with Congress to enact pro-growth, business tax reform,” the White House said in a statement.

Friday, March 6, 2015

ISIS Destruction of Historical Sites Heartbreaking

Here  This is such low behavior for humans. It makes one equally sad and angry. The destruction of cultural artifacts of Nimrud (once the capital of the largest state on earth) is an act of genocide, trying to wipe a culture's history from existence. It really makes me angry. I hope the coalition can stop ISIS and reverse their gains. I wish ISIS was willing to do that peacefully. I do hope in the future "neanderthal/animal-like/radical' personalities can find more productive realities than ISIS and destruction. It is hard to watch.

"... the government in Baghdad said the fighters were defying "the will of the world and the feelings of humanity."

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Oil is so Dirty, and So are the Oil Companies

Here  "State officials have ordered oil companies to shut 12 more wells that injected oil-field wastewater into drinkable aquifers beneath California’s drought-stricken Central Valley, regulators reported Tuesday."
Some think the oil industry should be allowed to regulate itself.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Kerry Asserts U.S. Should Get the 'Benefit of the Doubt' on Reaching a Deal with Iran on Nuclear Weapons

Here  Probably. And if Iran can't comply, they want to hide or delay for some reason that is not likely good. See my other blog posts on Iran (at sidebar right, or search at top).
There is a limit to the time Iran has for this, and the limit is now pretty much reached, in my opinion.
They should be tradeless, isolated, and no country should buy their oil. Already.

Sunset, Venice 12/20/2012

Sunset, Venice 12/20/2012
I've been thinking some about the Winter Solstice, the Mayan end of the 30,000-year-cycle on 12/21/12.

What if in fact the world did end? Even though this probably will not happen, to live consciously it is honest for us to take a bit of an inventory.

Am I happy with how I've lived my life? (Yesterday, I thought mostly yes, with some areas for improvement, as below.) Are there changes I would make?
Would I have tried to forgive those that were hostile or disappointing to me?
Would I spend more time with those I loved the most, telling them that, feeling that more?
Would I be happier, grateful for what I have, what I've experienced, the joy, the beauty in this world?

Maybe the answer is yes to all of the above.
So this time can serve as a point of rebirth for all of us. If we think about it.

Because somewhere along the line I realized I think maybe mankind deserves it. !
The way we are killing each other, killing the planet.
How selfish we are, and snotty to those around us. Petty, competitive. Why is this? Do we have to behave this way? (I say no, it greatly detracts and misdirects energy from the full-time celebration in which we could engage, the great multi-cultural, multi-rhythmic dance we can sustain here.)

Maybe God or the Great Universe is fed up, and will pull the rug out from under us.
Don't think I can say we could blame Him/Her/It.

But it probably won't happen. (Probably not! This time.)

Still we are finite on this ride.

It is a time to think, am I happy with how I've lived my life?
Hopefully most of us can say yes.

For the part of us that have a little worry, a little sadness....
This is the time to be present.
This is the time to be the person you want to be, that can die at peace, that can hope to every day be able to look yourself and the Universe in the eye and say, how beautiful, smiling, and thank you. Let's do that.

Antidotes to Violence, a.k.a., Take Charge of Where Your Head's At - here

Tell Congress to Strengthen Gun Control Laws NOW - here

Good News & Brain Food News -
Christians & Muslims Gather, for Peace here
Good News - Top RIO+20 Summit Posts here
The 'Busy' Trap - NYTimes.com
here