Bill, the heron passage is the one that's staying with me. "No one held a memorial service" — that's it exactly. We've built rituals for every kind of loss except this one, the slow kind, the kind that happens one missing bird at a time until the marsh just goes quiet.
I keep coming back to that same tension in my own writing — the $480 billion in avoided costs is real and it matters, but it's never what moves anyone to actually change. It's the empty rookery. It's the one heron raising her young alone. That's the number nobody can argue with, because it doesn't require a spreadsheet to understand.
Thank you for holding both of those truths in the same piece.
"once you’ve installed renewable energy you no longer have to pay for fuel." Not quite true, Bill. I pay Vt Elec. Coop $28/month for the privilege of having my solar panels hooked up to their grid. And depending on how much credit I get when there's more sun in the summer, I still end up paying something more -- anywhere between $100-$200/ month in the winter. And that's with heat pumps, a whole lot of insulation, and southern exposure solar gain.
Here in Houston, Texas, the oil people whine about being abandoned by bankers. The ARE paying a lot more for loans than renewable energy is. Their capital expenditures are almost half of what they were a decade ago says RMI.
Green stocks are now third largest industry says London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). And green stocks are paying better returns, 12% better. In counting they included companies with at least a fifth of income was environmentally focused: solar, clean water, energy efficiency, etc. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19062026/green-economy-hits-10-trillion-in-market-value/
For four years, banks have been making more money on green than fossil said Nat Bullard's 2026 slidedeck. Slide # 40. In slide 42, he said annual investment in power generation is equal to fossil fuels. In slide #54, Nat said the S&P Global Clean Energy Transition Index is a lot higher than the S&P 500 or NASDAQ 100. In #67 he said China is doing half the investing.
Please move your own money to institutions that support clean energy. At least stay out of the big banks and move to a credit union. I found my car insurance company, State Farm, was investing my premiums paid in in fossil fuels. So I switched to AAA who doesn't. Learn more at https://www.alignmoneywithvalues.org/
A major issue is that Big Oil stock valuations are based on their oil reserves, so basically they have to keep pumping for those reserves to have a value. That's why they won't give up and will do everything they can (including financing lobbying and institutions and other actors of AG climate science denial) to discredit clean energy and climate concern.
Re. balcony solar, the states approving them require the units to be UL certified - it's called UL3700. Unfortunately, there are no panels on the market at this time (Including the Bright Solar ones) that are compliant. You risk burning down your house (and not having your insurance cover it) if you are an early adopter of an uncertified panel.
Reading this makes me wonder if the trump admin is actively exacerbating climate change. If so, to what end?
Mar el lago is at sea level. It would be inundated. Would they build a wall around it? Would it become an island, perhaps an independent citystate in the sea of what used to be Florida?
Bill, please use your voice and platforms to advocate for keeping the technology to recycle panels and batteries cleanly apace with adoption. I am sure there are comparisons for the byproducts of all kinds of energy production, but just as a human who is able to enjoy the woods here in VT, it hurts my brain to think about the consequences of recycling technology not being available as panels and batteries age out on a massive scale.
Sometimes I wonder if there is a quote somewhere about a civilization being judged by how it deals with the garbage it generates.... seems like there should be!
Google Ai says To recycle the entire unit responsibly, utilize specialized solar recycling firms like SOLARCYCLE or First America Metal Recycling. Or sell them for $20 or $30 on craigslist.
I was just confirming how bad the smoke is, wasn't try to get anyone to do anything. I don't believe there is much more the Canadians can do to keep the forest fires down, might just have to hope for rain.
We live in an apartment complex for seniors. Some no longer drive but we do yet there is not even one charging station for the 100 apartments that's here. So at best we are forced to have hybrid vehicles. Yet our state Maryland is all out on setting up solar and even the credits for that go ONLY to home owners! How are we seniors who downsized from houses to sell available housing on to others supposed to help the move to renewable energy when the multiple dwelling folks won't allow us a shot at those ways to help? We pay on average more per square footage of dwelling space but each year that goes up without allowing for renewable energy to help cut the costs!
Great point, I have heard that you can invest in some of the smaller solar projects and then get that power. So you can invest enough that it's like one or two or even more of the solar panels is yours and that power supplied by those panels is yours to sell or to deduct from your bill. I'm sorry I don't have a link but I'm sure if you Google it in your area you'll find it
Super interesting article — thank you. It really shows how clean energy is already cheaper, safer, and just plain sensible, while fossil‑fuel interests keep dragging us backwards & the thermometer upwards. I’m wondering how regular folk l(ike me) can actually find and support clean‑energy suppliers with our wallets. A lot of this info feels buried, and trust is pretty low, so any pointers would be great...
Super interesting article — thank you. It really shows how clean energy is already cheaper, safer, and just plain sensible, while fossil‑fuel interests keep dragging us backwards & the thermoter upwards. I’m wondering how regular folk (like me) can actually find and support clean‑energy suppliers with our wallets. A lot of this info feels buried, and trust is pretty low, so any pointers would be great.
Herons often abandon rookeries and set up shop elsewhere--this may have happened in the case recounted here, but it's hard to know. So maybe there is some hope in this otherwise distressing incident.
Trump seems to be doing everything possible to make the fossil fuel industry richer. I guess that is the payoff for their financial contributions to his campaign. As we know everything with Trump is transactional. You pay him and you get rewarded. Perhaps what is most frustrating is that the American public voted for someone who has claimed climate change is a hoax. You would presume in a well functioning democracy that given a threat such as climate change the voters would overwhelming elect someone who pledged to fight climate change and not someone calling climate change a hoax. But since climate change is way down the list of issues that most voters care about that didn't happen.
Yes, but don't we all ignore impossible problems? Our stories about our climate could be "We can do this, we're half way there. Please do this little easy thing." Just recently this story has become true.
Millions of us in this country are taking actions to fight climate change but there is no substitute for the vast amounts of money that the U.S. federal government can devote to the effort.
Bill, the heron passage is the one that's staying with me. "No one held a memorial service" — that's it exactly. We've built rituals for every kind of loss except this one, the slow kind, the kind that happens one missing bird at a time until the marsh just goes quiet.
I keep coming back to that same tension in my own writing — the $480 billion in avoided costs is real and it matters, but it's never what moves anyone to actually change. It's the empty rookery. It's the one heron raising her young alone. That's the number nobody can argue with, because it doesn't require a spreadsheet to understand.
Thank you for holding both of those truths in the same piece.
agree.
"once you’ve installed renewable energy you no longer have to pay for fuel." Not quite true, Bill. I pay Vt Elec. Coop $28/month for the privilege of having my solar panels hooked up to their grid. And depending on how much credit I get when there's more sun in the summer, I still end up paying something more -- anywhere between $100-$200/ month in the winter. And that's with heat pumps, a whole lot of insulation, and southern exposure solar gain.
If your government had any sense, those fuckers would be paying you a tariff for the electricity that you are generating for them.
Sure, you're paying for access to the grid. But you're not paying for the sunshine.
Good topic. At the end I have an easy action.
Here in Houston, Texas, the oil people whine about being abandoned by bankers. The ARE paying a lot more for loans than renewable energy is. Their capital expenditures are almost half of what they were a decade ago says RMI.
There's been huge movement of capital from dirty to clean energy. Rocky Mountain Institute said in their 2024 report that we're halfway through the Great Capital Reallocation. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/dlm_uploads/2024/06/RMI_cleantech_revolution.pdf
Green stocks are now third largest industry says London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). And green stocks are paying better returns, 12% better. In counting they included companies with at least a fifth of income was environmentally focused: solar, clean water, energy efficiency, etc. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19062026/green-economy-hits-10-trillion-in-market-value/
For four years, banks have been making more money on green than fossil said Nat Bullard's 2026 slidedeck. Slide # 40. In slide 42, he said annual investment in power generation is equal to fossil fuels. In slide #54, Nat said the S&P Global Clean Energy Transition Index is a lot higher than the S&P 500 or NASDAQ 100. In #67 he said China is doing half the investing.
Please move your own money to institutions that support clean energy. At least stay out of the big banks and move to a credit union. I found my car insurance company, State Farm, was investing my premiums paid in in fossil fuels. So I switched to AAA who doesn't. Learn more at https://www.alignmoneywithvalues.org/
We need your help to finance solar in Madagascar. Will you lend $25 or more? https://www.kiva.org/lend/3200760
We're almost done financing the 2 electric cars for taxi drivers in Senegal. https://www.kiva.org/lend/3192962
A major issue is that Big Oil stock valuations are based on their oil reserves, so basically they have to keep pumping for those reserves to have a value. That's why they won't give up and will do everything they can (including financing lobbying and institutions and other actors of AG climate science denial) to discredit clean energy and climate concern.
Re. balcony solar, the states approving them require the units to be UL certified - it's called UL3700. Unfortunately, there are no panels on the market at this time (Including the Bright Solar ones) that are compliant. You risk burning down your house (and not having your insurance cover it) if you are an early adopter of an uncertified panel.
The sky is falling 🌠🍁🍁🌠. Chicken 🐓🍗 Little was right 👍. That's why he 🤞 ❌ crossed the road 🛣️ ‼️👌👹🌹👋🐯
Reading this makes me wonder if the trump admin is actively exacerbating climate change. If so, to what end?
Mar el lago is at sea level. It would be inundated. Would they build a wall around it? Would it become an island, perhaps an independent citystate in the sea of what used to be Florida?
Gotta wonder.
Yes, logic has nothing to do with it. Get out the vote for the mid-term elections.
Bill, please use your voice and platforms to advocate for keeping the technology to recycle panels and batteries cleanly apace with adoption. I am sure there are comparisons for the byproducts of all kinds of energy production, but just as a human who is able to enjoy the woods here in VT, it hurts my brain to think about the consequences of recycling technology not being available as panels and batteries age out on a massive scale.
Sometimes I wonder if there is a quote somewhere about a civilization being judged by how it deals with the garbage it generates.... seems like there should be!
Google Ai says To recycle the entire unit responsibly, utilize specialized solar recycling firms like SOLARCYCLE or First America Metal Recycling. Or sell them for $20 or $30 on craigslist.
The smoke is so bad where I live that it looks like a dystopian warscape we need to get off the oil and gas kick ASAP!
What are you doing about it? What are you asking folks to do?
I was just confirming how bad the smoke is, wasn't try to get anyone to do anything. I don't believe there is much more the Canadians can do to keep the forest fires down, might just have to hope for rain.
As we win on getting rid of fossil fuels, it's time to turn our attention to land use. WRI says the indigenous do better on keeping fires down. They say we can give them more power to manage forests. https://www.wri.org/insights/extreme-wildfires-indigenous-community-leadership
A new study says indigenous can teach us a lot about land use to sequester more carbon. https://grist.org/indigenous/indigenous-cultural-practices-are-a-climate-solution-report-finds/
Give the power to folks who know what they’re doing and have the credentials to prove it.
We live in an apartment complex for seniors. Some no longer drive but we do yet there is not even one charging station for the 100 apartments that's here. So at best we are forced to have hybrid vehicles. Yet our state Maryland is all out on setting up solar and even the credits for that go ONLY to home owners! How are we seniors who downsized from houses to sell available housing on to others supposed to help the move to renewable energy when the multiple dwelling folks won't allow us a shot at those ways to help? We pay on average more per square footage of dwelling space but each year that goes up without allowing for renewable energy to help cut the costs!
Great point, I have heard that you can invest in some of the smaller solar projects and then get that power. So you can invest enough that it's like one or two or even more of the solar panels is yours and that power supplied by those panels is yours to sell or to deduct from your bill. I'm sorry I don't have a link but I'm sure if you Google it in your area you'll find it
The lust for oil is no better illustrated than by the priapic penetration of a raped earth.
The lust for oil is no better illustrated than by the priapic penetration of a raped earth.
The lust for oil is no better illustrated than by the priapic penetration of a raped earth.
Super interesting article — thank you. It really shows how clean energy is already cheaper, safer, and just plain sensible, while fossil‑fuel interests keep dragging us backwards & the thermometer upwards. I’m wondering how regular folk l(ike me) can actually find and support clean‑energy suppliers with our wallets. A lot of this info feels buried, and trust is pretty low, so any pointers would be great...
Super interesting article — thank you. It really shows how clean energy is already cheaper, safer, and just plain sensible, while fossil‑fuel interests keep dragging us backwards & the thermoter upwards. I’m wondering how regular folk (like me) can actually find and support clean‑energy suppliers with our wallets. A lot of this info feels buried, and trust is pretty low, so any pointers would be great.
Herons often abandon rookeries and set up shop elsewhere--this may have happened in the case recounted here, but it's hard to know. So maybe there is some hope in this otherwise distressing incident.
Trump seems to be doing everything possible to make the fossil fuel industry richer. I guess that is the payoff for their financial contributions to his campaign. As we know everything with Trump is transactional. You pay him and you get rewarded. Perhaps what is most frustrating is that the American public voted for someone who has claimed climate change is a hoax. You would presume in a well functioning democracy that given a threat such as climate change the voters would overwhelming elect someone who pledged to fight climate change and not someone calling climate change a hoax. But since climate change is way down the list of issues that most voters care about that didn't happen.
Yes, but don't we all ignore impossible problems? Our stories about our climate could be "We can do this, we're half way there. Please do this little easy thing." Just recently this story has become true.
Millions of us in this country are taking actions to fight climate change but there is no substitute for the vast amounts of money that the U.S. federal government can devote to the effort.