Monthly Archives: May 2017

Federal government subsidies, tax breaks, costs of renewable and fossil energy production GAO 2014

Posted on May 30, 2017 by

[ I’m far more interested in the energy returned on invested than money since that’s what really matters.  So I often stopped taking notes, and didn’t organize them. But the tables and figures give you an idea of subsidies and … Continue reading →

Posted in GAO Government Accountability Office, Subsidies | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Interdependencies of Energy Infrastructure, Water, and Climate Change GAO 2014

Posted on May 28, 2017 by

[ This report shows the interdependencies of Climate Change and the nation’s energy infrastructure, which is especially vulnerable because it’s so old and falling apart already. Another GAO report discusses the energy-water nexus.  Interdependent systems are more vulnerable – climate … Continue reading →

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U.S. GAO on mutually dependent water and energy

Posted on May 26, 2017 by

[ This post contains excerpts from a Government Accountability Office on the interdependency of water and energy.  Mutual dependencies make the essential systems that keep us alive more fragile, since disruption in one can cause shortages or failures in related … Continue reading →

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Why Civilizations Fail by William Ophuls

Posted on May 23, 2017 by

[ These are my notes from the book, not a proper book review, and since the notes are disjointed, you’d be wise to buy the book–  it’s excellent!  Plus then it’s on your shelf for future generations to understand what … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse of Civilizations | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Ugo Bardi on money, gold, and silver

Posted on May 18, 2017 by

What follows is from a really great book: Bardi, Ugo. 2014. Extracted: How the Quest for Mineral Wealth Is Plundering the Planet. Chelsea Green Publishing. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, … Continue reading →

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Why can’t we have a global government?

Posted on May 17, 2017 by

MacKenzie, D. September 6, 2014. Imagine there’s no countries…it isn’t hard to do, sang John Lennon. Actually it is. Is there an alternative?  NewScientist. Nation states cause some of our biggest problems, from civil war to climate inaction. Try, for … Continue reading →

Posted in GOVERNMENT | 2 Comments

Climate change effects on conflict, social unrest, health, mass migration, food, and national security

Posted on May 14, 2017 by

[ Since oil shortages from exponential decline rates of conventional oil will affect every aspect of civilization from farming to electricity to supply chains far harder and sooner than sea-level rise and other climate change problems, think “energy shortage” whenever … Continue reading →

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Climate change effects on hydropower in California

Posted on May 11, 2017 by

[ The main impact is on hydropower, the largest source of renewable electric power in California, and besides natural gas, the only other way to balance wind and solar power, (unless utility-scale energy storage batteries become available).  But hydropower is often … Continue reading →

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Climate change is already collapsing nations

Posted on May 9, 2017 by

  Ahmed, Nafeez. 2017. Failing States, Collapsing Systems BioPhysical Triggers of Political Violence. Springer. “The last half century has seen a dramatic increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events in the form of droughts, wildfires, extreme rainfall, … Continue reading →

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Jeff Masters: Nations that Collapsed because of Drought

Posted on May 8, 2017 by

[ Will the American Southwest be the next civilization to collapse?  Lynn Ingram, a professor at U.C. Berkeley discusses this in her 2013 book: The West without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts, and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us about Tomorrow. … Continue reading →

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