@steveharrell
Retired professor, unretired ethnographer, polyglot, part-time climate activist, occasional contrarian. Taiwan, China, and Whatcom County--Post mostly plants, mountains, energy transition. Occasionally political snark.
I'm sure the post is good--his almost always are. I'll read it later. Bur meanwhile, the headline and subhead are worth the $8 subscription:
billmckibben.substack.com/p/sunlight-t...
I don’t know how accurately we can determine yields that long ago, but much of today’s industrial ag is characterized by labor efficiency, not necessarily high yields. Also, today’s monocrops are susceptible to diseases and pests that have led to the reliance on pesticides.
This is a sweet story, but buried in it is the fact that Ralph Munro belonged to a day gone by, when an honest and upright person could still be a Republican.
www.bellinghamherald.com/news/state/w...
Interesting trends, from Inside Clean Energy: Gas is down (good), coal is up (bad). Nuclear is flat (showing its long lead time), and renewables are way up, though not up enough.
A really kind of paradoxical outcome. The owners of WA's only surviving coal plant, which would have closed (because the power is not needed) had not Trump ordered it to stay open, now want to convert to gas. But if the power is not needed....???
www.utilitydive.com/news/washing...
So were farmers able to produce any crops at all during the 10,000 years between the first agriculture and the invention of glyphosate? Appears not...
capitalpress.com/2026/03/04/u...
This is appalling and totally predictable.
mailchi.mp/insideclimat...
I wonder how much the LNG lobby had to do with the decision to go to war? That along with Bibi wagging the dog of settler dispossessions in the West Bank?
heatmap.news/energy/iran-...
Short run, fossil fuel prices rise, so producers profit. But won't it provide an incentive for consumers and utilities to turn to less expensive and less bombable renewable energy?
billmckibben.substack.com/p/surviving-...
Caesar Rodney? OK. But from the headline I thought it was going to be George Washington.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/c...
I don't, but someone ought to be able to pick up this thread, no?
Lord gave Noah the rainbow sign
No more water but the fire next time
heatmap.news/climate-tech...
Is this good? I can't help thinking this is not good. Better than a free-for-all, maybe.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/c...
"The law is firmly on our side." Wishful thinking?
www.greenpeace.org/usa/what-tod...
I've been thinking lately that the ugliest word in the English language is "airstrike."
Everywhere but here. Wait, what? Also here it turns out.
renewablesnow.com/news/germany...
A decarb benefit (yes, congestion pricing contributes to decarbonization) that we don't think often enough about: cleaner air.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
"The “paradox” of Trump’s push for more domestic mining: A push to increase supply while eliminating one of the biggest sources of demand." Nobody said they were smart...
heatmap.news/economy/trum...
Something to think about. When the last ICE cars have been sold, but there are still some on the road, and owners can't afford to switch to EVs (or are too stubborn to want to), where will they buy fuel?
insideclimatenews.org/news/0502202...
The motivations for this can only be a combination of greed and spite.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/c...
The herons have returned to Post Point.
This is not so much "we're going to take their oil" as "we're going to stop their oil from moving and raise the price that our oil extractors receive, as well as the incentives to drill more. But wind and solar don't have to be shipped. Of course, the components do.
heatmap.news/energy/trump...
It's because he turned on Trump. My enemy's enemy is my friend, no matter how much of a warmonger he is.
The utter failure of the Trump administration's war on renewable electricity generation: 93% of new capacity in 2025 came from solar (51%), wind (14%), and batteries (28%).
www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...
History rhymes (crudely) once more:
Country has awful dictator
US issues regime-change calls
US bombs leave big crater
Awful dictator eventually falls
Chaos, ensuing soon later
Brings nostalgia for awful dictator
Thousands of snow geese gather and roost near an abandoned house at dusk in Delaware.
Snow Geese Galore! #Flyday #scape #birds #nature #EastCoastkin
When I see this sort of thinking, it brings the Fermi Paradox to mind. Also Ogden Nash:
Consider the auk;
Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.
Consider man, who may well become extinct
Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.
This is a thoughtful, balanced, scientifically-backed discussion.
They’re heroic and doomed. And their vocabulary! “Misleading,” “needs context,’ “exaggerated,” “false.” Those are genteel synonyms for “hooey,” “whopper,” “Are you kidding me?” and “Do you really think I’m that stupid?”
and reading their attempts to correct and qualify Trump’s ludicrous assertions is like watching a team of workers in hazmat suits and mops trying to contain the spread of a toxic spill.