Political Roundtable Part XXXIV

[Wizardspride]

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[doclinkin]

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Watch she earns a pardon and testifies that only Dems are in the black book.

[dobrojim]

Hard to find uplifting news these days but here's some

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2025/07/22/climate-change-solar-wind-power-fossil-fuels/9884da62-66fc-11f0-ac4f-195fdb8ee9a8_story.html

UN says renewable energy hits global tipping point.
I remember times when my suggestions about the
inevitability and nearness of crossing this threshold
was treated dismissively by some on this board.
Even having a POTUS who ignorantly believes all
manner of stupid ish about renewables can't overcome
basic economics not to mention sanity.

The 3 cheapest sources of electricity generation are
now on shore wind, solar panels and new hydropower.
It's hard to compete on costs with things that are free
and that is before you factor in externalities.

[dckingsfan]

Hard to find uplifting news these days but here's some

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2025/07/22/climate-change-solar-wind-power-fossil-fuels/9884da62-66fc-11f0-ac4f-195fdb8ee9a8_story.html

UN says renewable energy hits global tipping point.
I remember times when my suggestions about the
inevitability and nearness of crossing this threshold
was treated dismissively by some on this board.
Even having a POTUS who ignorantly believes all
manner of stupid ish about renewables can't overcome
basic economics not to mention sanity.

The 3 cheapest sources of electricity generation are
now on shore wind, solar panels and new hydropower.
It's hard to compete on costs with things that are free
and that is before you factor in externalities.

I don't mean to be a debbie downer but... We have essentially hit 1.5c. Climate change is accelerating to the tune of .37c per decade (and that may be an understatement). We are going to blow right through 2c by the mid-40s.

The feedback mechanisms, melting ice, thawing permafrost, et. al. are now contribute to further warming.

It is terrific that renewables are front and center. But...

Global energy consumption grew by 2.2% in 2024... faster than the average annual increase of 1.3% from 2013 to 2023.

Why? It is primarily driven by rising electricity demand in emerging and developing economies. That is going to keep the old fossil fuel plants online longer.

Sorry...

[Zonkerbl]

Hard to find uplifting news these days but here's some

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2025/07/22/climate-change-solar-wind-power-fossil-fuels/9884da62-66fc-11f0-ac4f-195fdb8ee9a8_story.html

UN says renewable energy hits global tipping point.
I remember times when my suggestions about the
inevitability and nearness of crossing this threshold
was treated dismissively by some on this board.
Even having a POTUS who ignorantly believes all
manner of stupid ish about renewables can't overcome
basic economics not to mention sanity.

The 3 cheapest sources of electricity generation are
now on shore wind, solar panels and new hydropower.
It's hard to compete on costs with things that are free
and that is before you factor in externalities.

I think this is good news... for countries willing to invest in smartgrid technology to make it possible to integrate these random sources of power into the grid in a stable way. USA won't. I imagine China and India will though. China will be the dominant superpower in a few years (sooner rather than later since we elected Trump), they will be consuming all the power while we decline. So I'm encouraged by this.

[closg00]

Read on Twitter

[pancakes3]

Hard to find uplifting news these days but here's some

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2025/07/22/climate-change-solar-wind-power-fossil-fuels/9884da62-66fc-11f0-ac4f-195fdb8ee9a8_story.html

UN says renewable energy hits global tipping point.
I remember times when my suggestions about the
inevitability and nearness of crossing this threshold
was treated dismissively by some on this board.
Even having a POTUS who ignorantly believes all
manner of stupid ish about renewables can't overcome
basic economics not to mention sanity.

The 3 cheapest sources of electricity generation are
now on shore wind, solar panels and new hydropower.
It's hard to compete on costs with things that are free
and that is before you factor in externalities.

I don't mean to be a debbie downer but... We have essentially hit 1.5c. Climate change is accelerating to the tune of .37c per decade (and that may be an understatement). We are going to blow right through 2c by the mid-40s.

The feedback mechanisms, melting ice, thawing permafrost, et. al. are now contribute to further warming.

It is terrific that renewables are front and center. But...

Global energy consumption grew by 2.2% in 2024... faster than the average annual increase of 1.3% from 2013 to 2023.

Why? It is primarily driven by rising electricity demand in emerging and developing economies. That is going to keep the old fossil fuel plants online longer.

Sorry...

but the good news of developing countries (and China financing a lot of their infrastucture) is that they can hit the ground running with building new renewables. tipping point means that economics forces new energy sources to be renewable, and phase out legacy fossil fuels.

future of nuclear is very uncertain though

[dckingsfan]

Hard to find uplifting news these days but here's some

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2025/07/22/climate-change-solar-wind-power-fossil-fuels/9884da62-66fc-11f0-ac4f-195fdb8ee9a8_story.html

UN says renewable energy hits global tipping point.
I remember times when my suggestions about the
inevitability and nearness of crossing this threshold
was treated dismissively by some on this board.
Even having a POTUS who ignorantly believes all
manner of stupid ish about renewables can't overcome
basic economics not to mention sanity.

The 3 cheapest sources of electricity generation are
now on shore wind, solar panels and new hydropower.
It's hard to compete on costs with things that are free
and that is before you factor in externalities.

I don't mean to be a debbie downer but... We have essentially hit 1.5c. Climate change is accelerating to the tune of .37c per decade (and that may be an understatement). We are going to blow right through 2c by the mid-40s.

The feedback mechanisms, melting ice, thawing permafrost, et. al. are now contribute to further warming.

It is terrific that renewables are front and center. But...

Global energy consumption grew by 2.2% in 2024... faster than the average annual increase of 1.3% from 2013 to 2023.

Why? It is primarily driven by rising electricity demand in emerging and developing economies. That is going to keep the old fossil fuel plants online longer.

Sorry...

but the good news of developing countries (and China financing a lot of their infrastructure) is that they can hit the ground running with building new renewables. tipping point means that economics forces new energy sources to be renewable, and phase out legacy fossil fuels.

future of nuclear is very uncertain though

It is good news for the long-term (and why estimates for 2100 have dropped). However, it doesn't seem to be playing out that way for the next 20 to 30 years or so...

First, China's emissions are going to reach a peak but won't necessarily come down quickly as they continue to consume more energy.

Second, the world is indeed consuming more energy than the new renewable energy being added. Global demand for energy continues to rise and pretty quickly. And that is leading to increased use of fossil fuels. So, despite significant growth in renewable energy sources like wind and solar, fossil fuel production is still increasing and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

Third, even though we are making the transition, the CO2 levels in the atmosphere will continue to rise.

So, although we are going to blow right through 2c by the mid-40s we might not blow past 3c in 2100. I guess that is looking at it with the glass half-full (if you will).

[dobrojim]

Basic economics make nuclear's future problematic
at best. This is a good thing.

[Wizardspride]

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[closg00]

What kind of deal will Maxwell get to NOT implicate Trump?

[Zonkerbl]

My understanding is that all reductions in CO2 are worth pursuing, just because we are going to blow by the tipping point doesn't mean we shouldn't stop trying to reduce carbon emissions. Yes, we're past the point of no return in terms of "irreversible damage." But there's an "extinction event" tipping point coming up that we still need to try to avoid.

https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/will-climate-change-drive-humans-extinct-or-destroy-civilization

Unlikely. But the fact that the apocalypse scenario exists in the modeling outcomes is not reassuring. We've all seen the result of optimistic "it can't get any worse than this" thinking. I think we are still very much at risk of wiping the human race off the face of the earth in 100 years or less.

[doclinkin]

What kind of deal will Maxwell get to NOT implicate Trump?

A pardon if she can implicate Bill Clinton. An ambassadorship if she can somehow smear Obama instead.

And an arsenic breakfast if she pins any other kings princes or billionaires.

[Zonkerbl]

What exactly can she do though? She can't erase Trump's name from the files. I guess Trump can erase all the files and then have her testify that he had nothing to do with anything, totally innocent.

See, conspiracy theorists, this is what a conspiracy actually looks like. Extremely public, extremely easy to see through. If the Epstein documents get "mysteriously" erased there won't be any mystery about it at all, we're seeing it happen in real time.

[dobrojim]

Trump asked by reporters who the DoJ should target
in the Obama investigation. Trump began his answer
with the most obvious lie ever saying "based on what
I *read*...."

Now he wants citizens to believe he actually spends
any meaningful time reading.

Watch on YouTube

But Trump needn't worry. Todd Blanche is on the case.
And if Blanche can't get the job done, haul out the OK
US Sen who flatly stated they want to give Trump cover.

[closg00]

What exactly can she do though? She can't erase Trump's name from the files. I guess Trump can erase all the files and then have her testify that he had nothing to do with anything, totally innocent.

See, conspiracy theorists, this is what a conspiracy actually looks like. Extremely public, extremely easy to see through. If the Epstein documents get "mysteriously" erased there won't be any mystery about it at all, we're seeing it happen in real time.

She can set Trump up to do what he always does, run out the clock, Trump and his band of corrupt sycophants will get it done.

[dobrojim]

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/hulk-hogan-racist-liar-scab-obit/

The more I read from him (Zirin), the more impressed I am.

[Wizardspride]

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[dobrojim]

Someone decided to contract for a plane in S FL to fly a
banner saying Trump and Bondi are protecting predators.

I wonder how long before Trump does something about
this. He does have the AF or regulators to order around.

[closg00]

Guys, the American public is about to be gaslit and brainwashed into accepting the pardoning of Ghislaine Maxwell and it will be one the darkest stains on this country’s history.

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