Here in the Midwest Great Lakes states, our congressional delegations have successfully fought for and created the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), a $300-million-per-year program that began in 2010 and was made official last year by Congress. It is making a HUGE difference in restoring the health of the Great Lakes and the communities along their shores. One local site is…
When the new President (I can’t even mention his name) took office in January, it wasn’t the beginning of the challenge to climate science and action in DC. If it weren’t actually happening, I would not be able to imagine that well educated leaders in a free society would actually not only deny that the climate is changing and humans…
If you have no idea what CRA is don’t feel bad. Until very recently I’d never heard of it either. Since the election I’ve been hearing many of my Sierra Club associates talking about how the Republicans are going to use the CRA to reverse much of what the Obama Administration put in place. CRA stands for Congressional Review Act. It is described…
We discovered on November 8th that history does not progress in a straight line. The arc of progress, the road of history, twists and turns and sometimes bends back on itself…just like in our own lives. I’ve paddled a few wilderness creeks like this. Back and forth never being sure where you’re going and if or when this frustrating endeavor will end.…
As a follow up to yesterday‘s piece, I am copying Automotive News’ editorial from last week. This article points out that 2016 was the year of the EV and asks: “What changed? “It’s a move that is driven primarily by the customer,” Speth told us. “Customers see this type of vehicle as cool and sexy, especially younger customers” As a former…
The onslaught of fully electric cars that are competitively priced, get over 200 miles on a full charge and drive better and have more features than their ICE (internal combustion engine) counterparts continues to gain steam (another outdated form of power). You probably recall that I own and drive a Chevy Volt and Debbie has a Tesla S. And now, the…
The end of the summer and fall were extremely busy for me. Thus, I failed to publish a report of the September Annual Sierra Club meeting. Therefore, I am going to do a twofer now and provide an overview of both the September and November meetings. This is not the report that I had anticipated prior to November 8th. We…
As I have been predicting, there are going to be developments that we don’t see coming and will turn conventional wisdom on its head. Well, here it comes!!! Buckle up. Change is going to happen faster and faster. Here‘s the key point: ” a then-audacious campaign to make solar power as cheap as electricity from coal. “Frank van Mierlo holds his…
“If the Rain Comes They Run and Hide Their Heads” said the Beatles 50 years ago in their song Rain. And now it is coming in much greater quantities over shorter periods of time much more frequently. Unfortunately, our infrastructure has not been constructed with this new normal in mind. It’s too late now for our current systems to handle what is…
136. That’s how many years that the global temperature has been measured. And this is going to be the hottest one since 1880. This post continues to follow the theme of what a changing, warming climate means to YOU and other humans around the globe. My recent article about Rain Bombs seems to be playing out in Louisiana unfortunately. It is…